Ian Bell

A new contract agreement Aug. 28 brought an end to a 55-day strike at the Simplot Canada fertilizer plant in Brandon, Man. Members of the United Steelworkers of America Union (Local 7184) voted Friday to accept a four-year contract with the company. The deal will see their wages increased five percent in the first year, […] Read more

For every acre of stubble that farmers burn in their fields, $9 go up in smoke, according to Manitoba Agriculture. That’s enough money to pay for broadleaf weed control on that acre for one year. Manitoba Agriculture hopes farmers will consider that before burning crop residue this fall. The department believes there’s a lot to […] Read more

Anne Waldner will never forget her family’s frantic efforts to fend off the flood that swept through the Red River Valley last year. The Waldner family built sandbag dikes around two houses on their farm near Rosenort, Man. A temporary dirt dike was built to protect their sow barn from approaching flood waters. A lot […] Read more

The Manitoba government should look at the big picture when approving projects such as the Maple Leaf hog plant at Brandon, according to the Manitoba Environmental Council. The processing plant, scheduled to open next July, is expected to become a cornerstone for expansion of Manitoba’s hog industry. But the environmental council wonders whether the province […] Read more

WINNIPEG – Michel Durand knows that growing buckwheat can be a roller coaster ride for prairie farmers. He has seen very low yields and extremely high yields on his family’s farm near Notre-Dame-De-Lourdes, Man. But Durand remains confident that buckwheat has a place on the Canadian prairies. That confidence is heightened by research aimed at […] Read more

Brian McElroy found himself in a race against time this spring. He wanted to grow industrial hemp but needed a licence from Ottawa. McElroy, a certified seed grower near Darlingford, Man., got his licence in late May. He seeded his hemp June 3. “It would have been nice to have had the licence four weeks […] Read more

RAPID CITY, Man. – A sweltering heat has settled over the field where Jamie Frank is scraping dirt from a shallow excavation in the ground. There’s no breeze to chase the heat away during this hazy summer day, and it’s easy to break into a sweat. But as he scrapes away the soil, Frank seems […] Read more

La RIVIERE, Man. – Throngs of people watch a harvesting machine sweep through a field of hemp plants reaching two to three metres tall. A compact swath spills from the harvester as it makes a few quick passes up and down the field. The machine then draws to a halt under the guidance of its […] Read more

Sifting through a stack of files in her Brandon office, Susan Archibald shares a glimpse of the work that flows across her desk each month. Archibald is senior investigator for the Brandon office of the provincial ombudsman. The office opened May 1 to handle complaints from people who feel unfairly treated by the province or […] Read more

Clayton Campbell plucks a seed from a buckwheat plant and slips it into his pocket. The seed and the plant are precious – some people would even say they’re priceless. They represent a scientific breakthrough that could revolutionize buckwheat crops around the globe. The plant is unique because it’s the first self-pollinating buckwheat species developed […] Read more