GRAYSVILLE, Man. – It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that Fred Dunn knows every square inch of the Rural Municipality of Dufferin. As Dunn recently drove along a road about 15 kilometres northwest of Carman, Man., he provided a commentary on the history of the landscape. The cultivated field to the north once […] Read more
Robert Arnason
Stories by Robert Arnason
Politics may delay Viterra’s pasta plant purchase
Election year politics in North Dakota may impede Viterra’s attempt to buy a pasta maker in Carrington, N.D. Viterra announced an agreement in March to buy Dakota Growers Pasta Company for $240 million US, but the Democratic candidate for agriculture commissioner in North Dakota is asking that the sale be delayed. Merle Boucher, who couldn’t […] Read more
Producer guilty for refusing TB test
For more than a decade, Rodney Checkowski has believed that his cattle get sick after they are tested for tuberculosis. Despite that, a Manitoba judge ruled April 16 that Checkowski doesn’t have the right to refuse tuberculosis testing on his farm north of Rossburn. Judge John Combs found Checkowski guilty of refusing to present his […] Read more
Manitoba producers may get jump on seeding this year
CARBERRY, Man. – Trevor Dickson is eager to get on the land. In his farmyard east of Carberry, Man., the seeder is hooked up and ready to roll. “This is way earlier than last year,” he said, standing in the yard on a 20 C and windy spring day last week. The plan is to […] Read more
Trucker charged at border after dead horses found
A Manitoba truck driver may face jail time for transporting injured and dying horses from Minnesota to a slaughter plant in Alberta. Geoffrey Giesbrecht, who had already pleaded guilty to violating the Health of Animals Act following an incident at the border crossing near Emerson, Man., Nov. 7, 2007, appeared in court in Winnipeg April […] Read more
Man. cattle producer fined $3,000 for refusing TB testing
A part-time farmer near Clanwilliam, Man., was found guilty in a Brandon court April 16 and fined $3,000 for refusing tuberculosis testing on his herd of cattle. Judge John Combs ruled that Nick Synchyshyn, who farms 14 kilometres south of Riding Mountain National Park, failed to make his 50 cattle available for testing when employees […] Read more
CFIA investigates abuse in horse slaughter video
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed that an agency employee was detected in hidden camera videotape taken at a horse slaughter plant near Montreal. “I understand that there’s a CFIA inspector visible in part of the footage, allegedly shot at the Quebec plant,” said Martin Appelt, the CFIA’s manager of meat programs. In late […] Read more
KAP ponders GM bill
Paul Gregory, a forage seed dealer in Manitoba’s Interlake, isn’t sure why Keystone Agricultural Producers are opposed to Roundup Ready alfalfa but don’t support Bill C-474. The bill, introduced earlier this year by NDP MP Alex Atamanenko, would require an economic assessment of potential harm to export markets before new genetically modified varieties were approved. […] Read more
Man. hemp plant gets gov’t support
Manitoba’s hemp industry has grown another bud, thanks to $4.8 million in funding from the federal government. Plains Industrial Hemp Processing plans to build a hemp fibre processing plant in Gilbert Plains, Man. The facility, the first of its kind in Canada, will handle 18,000 tonnes of hemp annually. Funding comes from Western Economic Diversification […] Read more
New kid knows the ropes
She’s been jumping competitively for one year, but Isabelle Biron already has a reputation in the Manitoba horse community. “She has the older generation scared and on the run,” said Shelley Kuebler of Winnipeg, while standing in the equestrian barns at the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair in Brandon in March. Biron won first in two […] Read more
