Michael Raine

Dare to dream: tropical vacations, lottery jackpots, spanking new Cadillacs … . Not necessarily. When Manitoba farmer Elgin Routledge slumbers, his brain often turns to more practical matters. “It came to me in a dream. It really did,” he said. Routledge has long known that bending over the hopper of a grain auger while operating […] Read more

Livestock partner Al Hingston, former head of Saskatchewan Agriculture’s livestock production section, has joined Canada Livestock Services Ltd. of Marsden, Sask. Hingston is a full partner, and will manage international training and technology transfer programs to support livestock genetics sales. The training division will be managed out of Regina. Council receives grant The Canadian Agricultural […] Read more

Canadian seed growers are trying to turn a retreat by federal regulators into an advance in Canada’s reputation for quality grain. The Canadian Seed Institute is taking over the job of accrediting and monitoring the players in the Canadian seed industry, a job formerly done by the federal government. “As an industry, we think we […] Read more

The people who run Harvest Meats, of Yorkton, Sask., think their decision to sell to Fletcher’s Fine Foods will help Harvest to grow. Fletcher’s announced last week it is buying Harvest. The deal involves the exchange of shares and money, but details were not disclosed. Harvest employs about 115 people making sausages, luncheon and smoked […] Read more

There’s bad news and then there’s not-so-bad news. It was the case of the latter for shareholders of United Grain Growers Ltd. when the company released its financial results for the first quarter of the 1997-98 fiscal year. The firm reported a loss of $1.8 million or 12 cents per share for the first quarter. […] Read more

Back in the saddle again, cattle producers from the Dakotas, Wyoming, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Wisconsin are making plans to process their own beef. Efforts earlier in the year to create a farmer co-operative able to breed, feed, slaughter and market their own animals were thrown after organizers failed to round up enough investors. Northern Plains […] Read more

BLUFFTON, Alta. – A container load of feta builds in a mountain of white plastic pails in the back of a plain building on Johan and Barb Broere’s farm. Bound for Montreal restaurants, the “cow feta” is one of 30 cheeses the couple produces on the Alberta side of the Rocky Mountains. Cheese making was […] Read more

Many Manitoba cattle producers are nervously awaiting results of tuberculosis tests on their cattle herds. The disease was discovered four weeks ago in a Manitoba herd of commercial cattle. It is the only incident this year. The owner of the infected cattle could not be reached. Routine autopsies at a United States slaughter plant discovered […] Read more

Italian hog farmer Georges Campana made the trip from one culture to another and halfway around the world to learn about the farming practices of his Canadian neighbors. “There are no small hog farms in our country any more. Now only barns that contain 10,000 or 20,000 animals. They are born and raised to slaughter […] Read more

LLOYDMINSTER, Sask. – In Lloydminster, Alta., where a trailer load of elk found on the wrong side of town could normally land a producer in hot water with the authorities, elk breeders met for the largest sale in Canada. On the Saskatchewan side. Due to a tiny worm that can be resident in snails, the […] Read more