Ian Bell

A quasi-judicial panel of the Manitoba Securities Commission met Oct. 6 to consider an application from Consolidated Growers and Processors for an exemption under the Securities Act. CGP, a company promoting the industrial hemp industry in Western Canada, came under investigation earlier this year after questions were raised about shares being sold in the Dauphin, […] Read more

While harvesting a field of durum last week, North Dakota farmer Mark Birdsall pondered a question that has stirred suspicion within his industry this fall. Expected durum yields in his state have slid to 25 bushels per acre, down from earlier expectations. And about 200,000 acres of durum will not be harvested this year. Hail, […] Read more

Garth Patterson remains bullish about the future of the prairie chickpea industry, despite the toll taken by wet weather and frost this year. Chickpeas were hampered this spring by too much rain in parts of southern Saskatchewan, the prime growing region. And fall frosts damaged later-seeded crops. “It’s been a setback this year with the […] Read more

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. – Two young boys listen eagerly to the story of how a sailor rushed to free dogs from a kennel on board the sinking Titanic. The narrator of the story, Steve Santini, speaks with gripping detail of the sailor’s actions on that chill night in April 1912. Behind Santini, a model […] Read more

Monsanto’s decision to back away from the terminator gene technology drew a lukewarm response from the National Farmers Union last week . “It’s welcome news in a very small sort of way,” said NFU president Cory Ollikka. In an Oct. 4 letter to the Rockefeller Foundation, Monsanto said it would not develop the so-called terminator […] Read more

Dave Wood was upbeat last week as the Maple Leaf pork plant at Brandon, Man., moved into its second full month of slaughter. Wood, the company’s plant manager in Brandon, said it is processing about 2,000 hogs a day, double what the company had targeted for early October. “We’re going to go into a bit […] Read more

Marcel Hacault foresees a day when federally inspected hog packing plants in Manitoba will buy only from farms within the Canadian Quality Assurance program. The chair of the Manitoba Pork Council is not sure when that day will be, but he knows it is drawing closer. Overseas buyers of Canadian pork, especially Japan, are scrutinizing […] Read more

Peter Kalden was clinging to a hope last week that the Manitoba government may one day allow hunting of farmed elk in the province. Kalden, an elk grower from St. Martin, Man., had his fingers crossed even as the new provincial government was sworn into power. Within the new NDP government are MLAs who, while […] Read more

There were some reassuring signs for hog producers last week, following the release of the United States Department of Agriculture’s report on swine. The report showed that as of Sept. 1, the number of breeding sows in the U.S. was down eight percent from last year. The drop was bigger than expected, said Janet Honey, […] Read more

There were times when he drilled dry wells in search of oil. And there were times when he hunted for gold where none was to be found. Risk taking has been part of Jack Simplot’s life since he was a child. By taking risks he built an agricultural empire and became one of the wealthiest […] Read more