GRISWOLD, Man. – He may not “smite the black metal” much these days, but blacksmith Stuart Reimer finds that the hammer and anvil can still come in handy, just as they did for his forebears in decades past. “I do everything. Everything from engine rebuilding to welding manufacturing, general repairs and this and that,” said […] Read more
Stories by Daniel Winters
Feral cattle present genetic opportunity
Tissue samples from feral cattle on a remote, uninhabited island off the southern coast of Alaska show that the animals are not related to common North American breeds. According to some accounts, Russian settlers first brought cattle to the Chirikof Island in the late 1700s, while others were shoved off ships and swam ashore periodically […] Read more
Manitoba hog producers offer alternative to barn moratorium
Faced with the imposition of a permanent moratorium on hog barn expansion in much of Manitoba, the hog industry has thrown a new bargaining chip onto the table. Dubbed the zero percent solution, the Manitoba Pork Council is proposing that Bill 17 be amended to allow new and expanding operations to spread manure at rates […] Read more
Interlake soldiers on in swamp
Instead of dumping hoppers full of oats into a waiting grain truck, the Plett family spent a rare dry harvest afternoon trying to extricate a combine from slimy muck. With Milton on the combine and a handful of children looking on, they hooked up a chain. With a plume of black diesel smoke, Joas on […] Read more
Manitoba squeezes out more oil
Manitoba’s oil industry has lately enjoyed a resurgence, with production from new fields and horizontally drilled wells raising production in 2007 to around 22,000 barrels per day. However, statistics show that in recent years, the industry has had to work harder to raise production because the easiest and best-producing deposits are drying up. In 1969, […] Read more
Interlake rain overwhelms ranchers
Heavy downpours in late August and bad weather that continued into September have all but dashed the hopes of ranchers in Manitoba’s Interlake of harvesting a hay crop. In the area between Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba, home to nearly half of Manitoba’s 600,000 breeding cows, the situation is so dire that some are calling […] Read more
Live BSE test of cattle proteins shows promise
Scientists have made a discovery that may allow accurate BSE tests on live animals. Researchers found that changes in the levels of a protein in cattle urine can indicate the presence of BSE with 100 percent accuracy in a small sample. It was also determined that changes in the relative abundance of a set of […] Read more
Tragic accident provides wake-up call
Ste. Rose DU LAC, Man. – Next time you put on an old worn pair of work gloves, take a close look at the finger where your pinky goes. If there’s a little dangling piece of leather hanging loose, think of Eldon Schroeder. That, and a careless moment while he was operating a p.t.o.-powered rolling […] Read more
Workers’ compensation gets broader scope
The Manitoba government has announced that agriculture and a number of other industries will be covered by workers compensation rules starting in 2009. Labour minister Nancy Allan, who is responsible for the Workers Compensation Board (WCB), said that 30,000 employees in industries that are higher risk, such as agriculture, and an estimated 7,500 employers would […] Read more
Who’s your farmer?
With the goal of reacquainting city folk with their country cousins who grow their food, the Harvest Moon Festival is entering its seventh year. The three-day annual event, which is always held under the full moon at harvest time, runs Sept. 12-14 at Clearwater, Man. With only 1,000 tickets available, the organizers aim for an […] Read more
