Ian Bell

A coalition of concerned citizens wants the province to hold a public hearing into the Maple Leaf Meats plant being built at Brandon, Man. The Westman Community Action Coalition believes a hearing is the best place to probe issues related to the giant hog processing plant Maple Leaf has planned for the city and its […] Read more

The quest to find uses for a dormant meat-packing plant at Brandon won’t be left on the back burner. Even though IBG Global Meats of Teulon, Man., is postponing plans to produce kosher and halal meats for export to Middle East and Pacific Rim countries, the company is looking at the United States market. “In […] Read more

Hoping to find strength in numbers, several community groups formed a coalition last week to tackle the issue of rail-line abandonment in Western Canada. The Western Rail Coalition was created by seven groups in Manitoba and Saskatchewan that want short-line railway companies to set up in their regions as the country’s two major companies, CN […] Read more

Researchers are in the process of developing new wheat varieties that will be resistant to wheat midge, a tiny insect that’s attacking prairie fields. The development of midge-resistant wheat is being done at Agriculture Canada’s cereal research centre in Winnipeg. It’s hoped that at least one of the new varieties will be available by 2000, […] Read more

Simplot Canada was awarded a court injunction last week that prohibits striking workers from blocking traffic entering or leaving the company’s Brandon, Man., plant. The injunction, awarded by the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench, went into effect July 16. It also forbids threats or coercion against anyone going to and from the fertilizer plant. Earlier […] Read more

They’re here. The dreaded wheat midge are again present in fields across Manitoba. The female midges emerged and began laying their eggs in late June. “Right now is when farmers should be out in their fields checking to see if they have midge or not,” said Bob Lamb, a research scientist at Agriculture Canada’s cereal […] Read more

The strike at Simplot’s fertilizer plant in Brandon, Man., continued this week, with about 190 members of the United Steelworkers of America union still off the job as of July 13. Simplot’s human resources manager Ed Kokoski issued a statement July 10 saying no negotiations have been held with the union and none were planned. […] Read more

Manitoba’s elk industry came under fire last week, with the Winnipeg Humane Society calling for a review of how the animals are captured and tended. The humane society describes the elk industry as out of control in Manitoba. To support that allegation, the society cited cases where elk died during roundups or while having their […] Read more

Wayne Collins tends to look on the bright side. Although his Manitoba municipality was damaged by flooding this month, he said there was a silver lining in the clouds that unleashed the torrent of rain. “At least we’ll have pasture for the cattle,” said Collins, reeve for the western Rural Municipality of Russell. “All spring […] Read more

When Larry Schweitzer went looking for ways to make his Manitoba farm more profitable, his attention was drawn to cattle. The demise of the Crow Benefit grain transportation subsidy had made shipping his grain more costly, and Schweitzer found it was “getting tough to make things match up.” As the owner of a mixed farm […] Read more