During the spring melt in Western Canada , there are usually one or two areas in fields that take longer to dry than the rest of the land. In years like 2010, those low-lying areas may stay wet all summer. While most farmers think of these depressions as a nuisance, Angela Bedard-Haughn, assistant professor in […] Read more
Robert Arnason
Stories by Robert Arnason
Livestock producers get help for feed
WINNIPEG – It was a long wait but the federal and Manitoba governments will provide $18 million to assist livestock producers facing feed shortages in the province. Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz announced the funding in Winnipeg Dec. 17, explaining the program would help producers buy feed, transport feed or transport livestock to feed. The […] Read more
Proposed plant to focus on kosher beef
There are no guarantees of success in business, but an agri-food consultant believes the managers of a beef processing plant in Winnipeg are making all the right moves. Jerry Bouma of Toma and Bouma Management Consultants in Edmonton said the leaders of the Keystone Processors beef plant are avoiding mistakes that killed many startup beef […] Read more
Middle East offers great opportunity for forage exporters
WINNIPEG – Canadian exporters have a tremendous opportunity to sell alfalfa and other forage products into the Middle East, said a Didsbury, Alta., forage producer. Ed Shaw, who has been selling forage to customers in Abu Dhabi for 11 years, said the emirate will import 2.5 million tonnes of forage by 2025. “This next year, […] Read more
Man. revamps power line project compensation
Manitoba Hydro, which plans to build a high voltage transmission line across farmland in the province, has sweetened its compensation offer to rural landowners. The latest compensation proposal for the Bipole III right of way is a much better deal for farmers, said Doug Chorney, Keystone Agricultural Producers vice-president, who met with representatives of the […] Read more
Feed costs main factor affecting profitability
What exactly is the job description for a cow? For Jim Gerrish, a grazing consultant from Idaho, the answer is obvious. A cow is supposed to do several things, including find its own food, deliver a calf, provide for that calf and stay healthy. Assuming those duties are the cow’s responsibility, Gerrish wonders why farmers […] Read more
Man. livestock producers facing feed shortages to get aid
The federal and Manitoba governments will provide $18 million to assist livestock producers facing feed shortages in the province. Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz announced the funding in Winnipeg Friday, explaining the program will help producers buy feed, transport feed or transport livestock to feed. The program will support producers in two ways: Feed assistance […] Read more
The sulphur solution?
Researchers often advise producers to apply sulfur annually because the nutrient’s availability to canola is difficult to understand and varies from year to year. However, that hasn’t stopped Manitoba growers from experimenting with variable rates of sulfur. Arthur Bell of Boissevain, Man., is one of them. For the last several years, he has applied different […] Read more
Sulfur on the side safe for seed?
It’s a common question canola producers put to John Heard: is it possible to place sulfur with phosphorus next to canola seed without damaging it? Heard, a Manitoba Agriculture soil fertility expert, doesn’t have a definitive answer, which is why he’s participating in an Agriculture Canada project looking into it. . “Growers want to supply […] Read more
Lentils touted as athletic booster
For most high-level athletes, lentils would be a better choice than pasta for a pre-game meal. In a paper published in theInternational Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolismthis fall, Phil Chilibeck, associate professor in kinesiology at the University of Saskatchewan, found that lentils gave soccer players more energy and more stamina than pasta and […] Read more
