DAUPHIN, Man. – Luciano Gonzalez likes to play tricks on livestock producers. “I’ll call a producer and I’ll say, why in the south part of your field (pasture) do you have very low production?” says the animal science professor from the University of Manitoba, even though he’s never been on the producer’s field. “And on […] Read more
Robert Arnason
Stories by Robert Arnason
Route chosen for controversial Man. power line
After several years of planning and public consultation, Manitoba Hydro has selected a route for Bipole III – a high voltage transmission line from northern Manitoba to Winnipeg.The crown utility announced July 29 that its preferred route will skirt the west side of Lake Winnipegosis and Lake Manitoba, before cutting across farmland between Portage la […] Read more
Man. producers request increase in flood payments
Keystone Agricultural Producers say the $50 per acre compensation payment for flooded or unseeded acres is insufficient. Delegates to the group passed a resolution last week in Brandon requesting the basic coverage for excess moisture increase to $70-90 per acre from $50. Since 2000, when the Excess Moisture Insurance was created, Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. […] Read more
Interlake farmers feel ignored after three seasons of water
Residents of Arborg, Man., are beginning to feel there’s one set of rules for them and another set of rules for the rest of Canada. Farmers in the region have suffered crop failures for three consecutive years because of excessive rainfall across a large swath of Manitoba’s northern Interlake. The economic impact on Arborg has […] Read more
Zero till association alters research focus
BROOKDALE, Man. – With the backdrop of a bright, yellow canola field and a blue sky, Lindsay Coulthard had a message for his listeners that the Manitoba Zero Tillage Research Association is much more than zero tillage. During the annual tour of its farm north of Brandon, Coulthard, farm manager, announced that the association is […] Read more
Does Jumpstart boost canola yields?
Prices for phosphorus-based fertilizer aren’t likely going to drop soon, considering the finite amount of phosphorus on the planet. That’s why the Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission wants to know if there’s a way for plants to use the phosphorus already in the soil, which would save growers the cost of applying monoammonium phosphate to canola. […] Read more
Jumpstart research outdated, says Novozymes
A Canadian research paper that concluded Jumpstart doesn’t boost yield or phosphorus uptake is based on outdated field research, says the senior research agronomist with Novozymes, the inoculant’s manufacturer. “Quite frankly, most of the trials in that paper are obsolete. It was simply exploratory work that was being done,” Gary Hnatowich said about the Western […] Read more
Phosphorus inoculant response questioned
Two research papers, one in Canada and the other at Kansas State University, have concluded Jumpstart does not increase yields or phosphorus uptake in wheat and corn. The Novozymes-manufactured inoculant uses a fungus called penicillium balaii. The company says on its website that Jumpstart makes the fixed mineral forms of phosphorus in the soil available […] Read more
Bank of Montreal allows flood victims to defer payments
Bank of Montreal’s agricultural clients will be able to defer payments on loans because of widespread flooding and crop damage in Western Canada this year. “This program will help alleviate the difficulties being faced by farmers in affected communities across Canada’s Prairies,” BMO vice-president Robert Hayes said in a statement.Producers directly affected by flooding and […] Read more
KAP protests deductable on flood assistance program
The Keystone Agricultural Producers think it’s ridiculous that Manitoba farmers will have to pay a five percent deductible before they receive a payment for flooded out acres. The Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation is charging a five percent deductible on the federal provincial AgriRecovery program for excess moisture and flooding, announced earlier this month. The deductible […] Read more
