Ian Bell

Mike Coates was upbeat last week as he began harvesting corn at his family’s farm near Carman, Man. The yields were looking good and, due to a ruling by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, prices for his corn could rise early this winter. The CITT issued a preliminary ruling Oct. 10 that corn shipments from […] Read more

A North Dakota official gave no hint last week that his state will back away from tougher regulations for imported Canadian livestock. The proposed new rules under Bill 1276 would require Canadian livestock to be tested for tuberculosis, brucellosis, bluetongue and anaplasmosis. North Dakota has proposed the testing despite Canada’s disease-free status as recognized by […] Read more

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. -Wood chips, peat moss, panels of Styrofoam insulation and plastic pop bottles. Those are some of the materials the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute tried when looking for ways to lessen the odor from lagoons holding liquid hog manure. The idea was to reduce the area of the lagoon exposed to the […] Read more

Larry McIntosh knew what to expect whenever the media turned its attention to the debate about genetically modified organisms in food. The media reports would trigger calls to Peak of the Market, a company that markets the lion’s share of vegetables grown in Manitoba for the fresh market. Some days as many as 45 people […] Read more

Legislative amendments that allow farm implement dealers to carry competing equipment lines took effect Oct. 1 in Manitoba. The amendments to the province’s Farm Machinery and Equipment Act also prohibit a manufacturer from terminating a dealer’s agreement without cause and a court order. “While the intent of the amendments is to address dealer purity issues, […] Read more

CRYSTAL CITY, Man. – Harvey Bergen had no idea four years ago what the future had in store for PhiBer Manufacturing Inc. He and area farmer Phil Friesen formed the company in 1996 to manufacture farm equipment. They saw an opportunity to fill niche markets that larger manufacturers were passing over. What Bergen could not […] Read more

A greater supply of hogs means workers at the Maple Leaf hog processing plant in Brandon soon will resume a five-day work week. Maple Leaf went to a four-day work week this spring, giving a tight supply of hogs as the reason. Fewer hogs were killed at the plant because of the reduced work week […] Read more

SOURIS, Man. – Don Lovatt is remembered as a man who helped his neighbors whenever the chance arose. Several of those neighbors returned the kindness last week, arriving at the Lovatt farm in combines, trucks and tractors to harvest fields of canola, wheat and oats. Lovatt died in late July only weeks after being diagnosed […] Read more

Residents of the Red River Valley south of Winnipeg turned out in force this spring to challenge the building of a dam across the valley near Ste. Agathe. They may learn this fall whether that is still an option. The idea of a $475 million dam near Ste. Agathe was one of two main options […] Read more

North Dakota farmers have torn a page from what was once a Cinderella story in Western Canada. Growers in the northern American state are embracing canola as a profitable crop that can help break disease cycles in small-grain rotations. North Dakota growers this year planted an estimated 1.2 million acres of canola and some industry […] Read more