Ian Bell

Al Calder is like most farmers these days – always on the lookout for a crop that promises profit. That’s why he and his brothers, Murray and Russell, decided to plant soybeans four years ago on their farm near Letellier, Man. They’ve had good results, and soybeans remain part of their crop rotation. “It’s just […] Read more

Bob Harrison doesn’t need charts, graphs or overhead projectors to describe the current outlook for western Canadian grain farmers. He can sum it up in two blunt words. “It sucks,” said Harrison,46, who farms more than 2,000 acres near Dauphin, Man. Faced with low grain prices and rising input costs, Harrison wonders whether he’ll still […] Read more

Patti Spurrill had her fingers crossed last week. She’s hoping to get a second cut of alfalfa this year, thanks in part to the glut of rain that spilled into southwestern Manitoba earlier this month. The three-day rain flooded basements and knocked out a radio station, but it also perked up pastures and hay fields. […] Read more

The head of the Canadian Wheat Board brushed aside criticism last week that initial payments for the 1998-99 crop year are too low. Lorne Hehn views the initial prices as realistic considering the state of world markets. With world wheat production expected to approach near record levels this year, wheat prices are at their lowest […] Read more

A decision to grow fall rye has meant mixed blessings for Leonard and Linda Gundrum, who farm near Crystal City, Man. Their crop yielded more than 40 bushels per acre this year and it was harvested at a brisk pace due to fair weather. However, prices for rye are a pittance when compared to last […] Read more

Dynamic Pork revealed plans two weeks ago to create a contract hog production network in the Killarney area of southwestern Manitoba. The venture is expected to yield 37,000 hogs per year, said Dynamic Pork director Ken Foster. A good supply of grain and a low concentration of hog farms were cited as reasons for choosing […] Read more

Pets bludgeoned to death with boards and baseball bats, cattle dying from starvation and dogs living in the squalor of puppy mills. Those are some of the extreme cases of animal abuse recorded in Manitoba. Manitoba Agriculture receives close to 300 complaints each year from people alleging abuse or neglect of animals. Some complaints prove […] Read more

Maurice Schultz has been hearing “some really bad stories” lately about a crop disease in fields around Carnduff, Sask. It is fusarium head blight, a disease gaining a toehold in eastern Saskatchewan. It’s the same disease that has plagued Manitoba for years. Farmers with fusarium in their fields are worried, said Schultz, assistant manager of […] Read more

SWAN RIVER, Man. – Efforts to get a short line rolling in the region were sidetracked this month, when CN Rail confirmed it won’t part with one of the branch lines needed for the venture. Proponents of the short line had approached CN about selling a branch line that runs from Swan River to Preeceville, […] Read more

Terry Fehr had good reason to smile last week as he crisscrossed the countryside in search of summer’s sweetest rewards. The beekeeper was finding a strong flow of honey in his bee colonies, a signal that this could be a bountiful season for the Gladstone, Man., producer. But based on past experience, Fehr knows the […] Read more