Favouring single shots over cocktails makes Hutterites the perennial winners of hog litter size contests, says a University of Alberta hog breeding specialist. “It is no surprise to me at all that our Hutterite brethren that use natural mating clean us up every year in terms of pigs per sow per year,” George Foxcroft, head […] Read more
Ed White
Stories by Ed White
See bank before crisis, says financial adviser
Farmers know why they need to borrow money to run their farms and they always think they’ll be able to make the payments. However, farm debt experts at Manitoba Ag Days told farmers that they not only need to better explain their finances to lenders but also need to understand their finances themselves. “You know […] Read more
Farmers told to seek help for depression
Every time Gerry Friesen was depressed and couldn’t face his family, he’d go out to the barn and work with the pigs. “I thought hard work would get me through it and hide it from my family,” said Friesen, who suffered depression for years. But working in the barn made him feel worse about his […] Read more
Pulsing with a sugar high
Do you like the feeling of a sugar high? Does it cheer you up by lifting you out of feeling down? Or does it make you a little giddy and likely to make bad decisions? David Kohl wonders what is going to happen when the world gets over its present financial sugar high. And he […] Read more
Currency of the PIGS
Oh, how the Greeks have fallen. And fallen. And fallen and fallen and fallen. Today’s is a situation common in Greek history. Look, here are some old, broken statues that prove it: Yes, the Greeks are used to falling on the field of battle, and into foreign subjugation. These warriors were probably felled by the […] Read more
Bouncing off the bottom?
The commodity markets – ag, oil, metals – seem to have hit something on the way down and bounced up a bit. There’s been a couple-of-days rally going on and it’s hard to tell at this point if the thing has lots of bounce left in it, a bit, or is getting towards a state […] Read more
Asset prices in an opaque market
Some markets are open and transparent and easy look into. Just take a look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average: I am able to see that at this minute it’s at precisely 9,971 because it’s a public market. (Finally under 10,000. How far down will it go? Last time it was under 10,000 was early […] Read more
Manitoba at risk for clubroot
BRANDON – Manitoba farmers could face a worse situation than those in Alberta if clubroot gets into the Red River Valley. An Agriculture Canada researcher told farmers attending Manitoba Ag Days that weather conditions in the Winnipeg area are more conducive to clubroot than those in the Edmonton area. “We have quite a bit of […] Read more
Weanling demand sends prices up
Many hog farmers were able to jump on the recent rally in hog prices before it ended. The rally has ended, but the relief from the unexpected run up has allowed many weanling producers to continue. “It may encourage some people to make decisions other than what they were thinking about,” said hog producer Garry […] Read more
Manitoba ponders straw burning ban
Crop residue burning might be banned, but there are no plans yet to do so, Manitoba’s agriculture minister told farmers at Keystone Agricultural Producers’ annual convention last week. “I’m not ruling anything out,” he said. “All the options are open and it’ll depend on the advice I get.” Last fall, residue fires outraged many Winnipeggers […] Read more
