Taller cultivars, doubled seeding rates and a crop rotation that includes peas pays off handsomely in wild oat suppression and reduced input costs. Led by weed scientist Neil Harker of Agriculture Canada’s research centre in Lacombe, Alta., federal researchers at Lacombe, Brandon and Beaverlodge, Alta., have found that Test 42, a rotation of direct seeded […] Read more
Stories by Daniel Winters
German trip unveils virtues of wind power
Two instructors from Assiniboine Community College recently returned from a whirlwind five-week wind power training program in Germany, one of the world’s leaders in renewable energy. “We spent well over a week travelling all around the country with service technicians from various areas working on windmills,” said Dietrich Schellenberg, a farm equipment instructor at ACC. […] Read more
No grain disruptions seen in CPR maintenance strike
As of May 28, the strike by 3,200 Canadian Pacific Railway track maintenance employees that began on May 16 had not hurt grain movement in Western Canada, industry representatives said. CPR spokesperson Breanne Feigel said rail traffic was continuing to move normally with management and other operational workers reassigned to replace the strikers. Last week, […] Read more
Berkshire hogs make comeback with chefs
In the space of a year, Bruce Daum has resurrected the flagging fortunes of Manitoba’s Berkshire hog industry and made crucial inroads into the New York market for high-end food. By developing personal relationships with buyers through in-person visits, the former Berkshire hog producer from Brandon has arranged for 125 of the heritage breed pigs […] Read more
Bison ranchers cheer grading change
Long sought changes to the bison carcass grading system have come into effect. Since the summer of 2005, the Canadian Bison Association has been spearheading a lobbying effort to put slower-growing bison heifers on an equal footing with bulls. Under the old regulations, heifers were often downgraded into the C grade, which cost producers up […] Read more
Scrapie testing needs goat herds
The Canadian goat industry is encouraging producers to participate in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s scrapie surveillance program. Since mid-May, the CFIA and the Canadian National Goat Federation have operated a voluntary tagging program for goats as a way to randomly test for scrapie, a brain wasting disease similar to BSE in cattle. Tags are […] Read more
Maple Leaf sells feed mills
Maple Leaf Foods has agreed to sell its animal nutrition business to Dutch global feed giant Nutreco for $500 million. The sale includes 18 feed mills owned by Maple Leaf Animal Nutrition, with the exception of two in Manitoba, said Michael Vels, chief financial officer of Maple Leaf Foods Inc. Maple Leaf’s feed division is […] Read more
Brandon’s early days revived in book
With celebrations underway for Brandon’s 125th anniversary, history buffs might be interested to know that a reprinted version of Beecham Trotter’s book, A Horseman and the West is now available. T. Keith Edmunds, publisher of Rosser Avenue Press and operator of Pennywise Books, found the tome in the local library and decided it was the […] Read more
Equipment a ‘hot’ commodity
Call it a sign of the times. Farm equipment thefts have been drawing so much attention of late that Manitoba’s Keystone Agricultural Producers has begun including reports of missing equipment in the weekly updates that it e-mails and faxes to members. “If something is stolen, we’re going to put it into our weekly alert,” said […] Read more
Farm supply firm fined for improperly trading securities
Donald and Gerald Hodgson, former owners of bankrupt farm supply and grain brokering firm Crop Tech Rivers, were sentenced May 17 at Brandon Provincial Court for 28 violations of the Securities Act. The pair pleaded guilty on Jan 22 to 14 counts of trading securities without having them duly registered and 14 counts of not […] Read more
