Ian Bell

MacGREGOR, Man. – Bill McCaskell likely never imagined 10 years ago that he would be where he is today. Raised on a dairy farm near Redvers, Sask., he trained to become a minister and youth worker after finishing high school. He then took on a position as counsellor at a school in MacGregor, about 20 […] Read more

A phone call from a Saskatchewan farmer helps underline the importance of research into the cadmium content of grains and oilseeds. The farmer has called a research scientist at Brandon, Man., to ask about cadmium content in flax. He wants to export the crop to Europe. Cynthia Grant, a scientist at Agriculture Canada’s Brandon Research […] Read more

Manitoba’s Filmon government tried last week to take a second cut of political hay from an already harvested field, said NDP MLA Rosann Wowchuk. The government issued a news release March 31 stating that it will spend $3 million to help train workers for the Maple Leaf plant under construction at Brandon, Man. Media were […] Read more

Worried about the implications for trade, North Dakota is continuing its efforts to stamp out a recent outbreak of bovine tuberculosis. The TB was found at a dairy farm in Morton County, N.D. The state board of animal health voted last month to have the 115-cow herd destroyed. As of April 1, more than half […] Read more

A group of durum growers plans to press forward with efforts to get an exemption under the Canadian Wheat Board act. The durum growers want to start a pasta plant either in Western Canada or in a neighboring state. The plant, proposed by Prairie Pasta Producers, would operate as a new-generation closed co-operative. On March […] Read more

MELITA, Man. – Looking out his kitchen window, John Snyder sees a field awash in water and encrusted with ice. The field has already been flooded by local spring runoff, something Snyder has grown accustomed to. Pumping water from the field is almost an annual rite of passage at the Snyder farm, located a short […] Read more

The snowstorm that blasted Manitoba and Saskatchewan last weekend knocked out power, made driving treacherous and piled up to 40 centimetres of snow on some parts of the Prairies. A five-hour power outage was reported in an area east of Dominion City, Man., on Easter Sunday. Dairy producers were among those affected, including the family […] Read more

A swine production company was charged and fined two weeks ago for dumping garbage and dead pigs into an open pit, contravening environmental laws. The Puratone Corporation was ordered to remove the pigs and other refuse from the pit, located at its ASR Pigs Ltd. operation near La Broquerie, Man. The company was also ordered […] Read more

A meeting last week failed to dispel a dark cloud of doubt that lingers for people farming near an oil battery in southwestern Manitoba. An oil company and government officials said there is no evidence to suggest the battery near Tilston, Man., is a source of health problems for local landowners. But those assurances, given […] Read more

From an office building in Portland, Oregon, Ken Thompson conveys a message that contains caution overlapped with optimism. Thompson, president and chief executive officer of Isobord Enterprises, worries that people’s expectations of the company are inflated. He defies a popular perception that Isobord is an industry that converts straw into gold. The company’s $150 million […] Read more