Ian Bell

NEEPAWA, Man. – With sweat beading on his forehead, Bruce Bremner pauses to survey the wreckage around him. A canola crop that once stood two metres tall now hugs the ground. Splintered tree trunks jut from what was once a shelterbelt, and two wooden sheds lie in a mangled heap. Bremner’s farm took the full […] Read more

SIFTON, Man. – Making hay was not something Brian Hupalo enjoyed while growing up on a farm. He remembers the scratches that came from stacking square bales on his father’s land. It was what he describes as terrible, manual work. Now that he is grown up, Hupalo works as assistant manager at an Agricore elevator […] Read more

Calling it a bold new step, Maple Leaf Foods last week said it will bring a version of its Signature Pork program to Western Canada’s hog producers. The program, already used in Ontario, is aimed at improving hog quality and the competitiveness of the Canadian hog industry. The program includes contracts and bonuses, and support […] Read more

A Manitoba elk grower charged under Manitoba’s Wildlife Act says the province has no business telling elk producers what they can or can’t do with animals grown on their farms. Chris Switzer, who raises elk near Swan River, Man., was charged by the province after one of his employees took two men on a guided […] Read more

MINTO, Man. – Until two years ago, Bryan Jackson overwintered his cattle in pens with loose housing. Hay bales were fed out of round bale feeders. Straw bales were rolled out every few days to keep the cattle dry. But in late 1998, Jackson started to rethink the winter care of his 40 cows. He […] Read more

MORDEN, Man. – Mark Milne oversees a network of hog farms and fears the industry could be strangled by too many government rules. Abe Hoeppner was a small-scale hog producer until four years ago. He blames big business for driving smaller producers out of hog production. Bill Harrison owns a paint and decorating business in […] Read more

Paul McCaughey has no doubt about the merits of alfalfa as a grazing crop. It can fix nitrogen into the soil, improve fertility and increase the average daily gain of beef cattle on pasture. One of the challenges is selecting alfalfa varieties best suited for grazing on the Prairies. Grazing tolerance is an important part […] Read more

For some people in Manitoba, it smells like money. To the critics, it smells like pig manure. During the past decade, Manitoba’s hog population has more than doubled to almost five million. There are predictions it could double again. The possibility has launched a battle between environmentalists and farmers. It has resurrected the controversy within […] Read more

Manitoba Pork Council chair Marcel Hacault has watched the experience of livestock producers in the United Kingdom, where land-use restrictions have made it difficult to farm. He figures British farms are valued more as tourist attractions than as producers of food. He said farmers in Manitoba are starting to feel the same kinds of pressures. […] Read more

Manitoba’s agriculture minister made a promise four years ago that she may never keep. Rosann Wowchuk promised hog producers in 1996 that single-desk selling would be reinstated in Manitoba if New Democrats got elected. She made the promise as the then-Conservative government prepared to dismantle the province’s marketing monopoly for hogs. At the time, Wowchuk […] Read more