Ian Bell

The Grain Services Union alleges that Agricore used a private security firm to spy on one of the union’s regular membership meetings in Swan River, Man., last month. The GSU also said it has confirmed the same firm was employed to monitor other union meetings and social functions this year. The union, which represents 700 […] Read more

Charges were stayed last week against a Saskatchewan farmer who challenged the Canadian Wheat Board’s export monopoly in the mid-1990s by hauling grain to the United States without an export licence. Norm Colhoun of Lumsden, Sask., was among many farmers who protested against the monopoly by hauling grain across the border without permits or licences […] Read more

North Dakota may have to rework regulations proposed earlier this year for livestock imported into the state from outside the United States. State veterinarian Larry Schuler said the state wants to revisit the proposed regulations under Bill 1276 because of questions about whether they would satisfy international trade rules. “We just want to make sure […] Read more

Pesticide Free Production Canada this year gathered information from 37 Manitoba farms that tried growing crops without pesticides. Most of the crops were spring and winter cereals. Three-quarters of the crops made it through to harvest without the need for pesticides, said Orla Nazarko, a masters student at the University of Manitoba. The fields where […] Read more

MINTO, Man. – John Cranfield looks at consumer attitudes about food and sees opportunity. In Canada, the United States and Europe, chemicals used in crop production top the list of consumer concerns about food, said Cranfield, an agricultural economist at the University of Manitoba. That is helping push demand for so-called environmental foods and is […] Read more

Research scientist Julie Small says producers can earn an extra $30 a head by feeding their steers in the evening. The acting program leader of integrated beef systems research at the Agriculture Canada Brandon Research Centre began a study two years ago comparing the weight gains of steers fed at 9 a.m. versus 8 p.m. […] Read more

Motorists may have a hard time keeping their eyes on the road next summer when driving past the pastures of Agriculture Canada’s Brandon research centre. If all goes as planned, one of the pastures will feature 78 beef cows, each with a set of twins. Even more striking will be the color of those calves. […] Read more

Tim Treadway returned to his life as a homesteader last week after a few days of modern medical treatment in Winnipeg. Treadway is one of four people who were plunked in an isolated plot somewhere in southern Manitoba this spring to spend a year living much the same as prairie settlers did in the 1870s. […] Read more

BRANDON – Sheldon Willey went to a public meeting last week to share his thoughts on regulating hunt farms in Manitoba. He expected to talk about bush densities and the minimum number of acres he should have when hosting wild boar hunts on his farm near Rossburn, Man. Instead, he learned the province plans to […] Read more

LOWE FARM, Man. – The tone of Wilf Harder’s voice sharpens as he talks about the Canadian Wheat Board election and the candidates who he thinks want to destroy the board. He calls it devious and morally wrong for people who do not believe in the CWB to seek election as farmer directors for the […] Read more