A year has passed since last fall’s economic turmoil, but British farmers still feel the pinch, says a Brandon real estate agent. Jack Nesbit, who works with Century 21, said that’s why fewer British farmers are considering buying land on the Prairies. “Things have slowed down a little in this last 18 months since the […] Read more
Robert Arnason
Stories by Robert Arnason
A global search for new farmers
Saskatchewan immigration minister Rob Norris doesn’t want to call it a crisis, but his ministry is worried about the next generation of farmers and is taking action to find them. Part of that action is an initiative within the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program called the Young Farmer stream. Launched in October, the new stream will […] Read more
Prairie settlers: new migrations
It’s hard to say whether coincidences have meaning, but given the case of Bryan and Reta Kirk, it’s difficult to be skeptical about the power of serendipity. Back in the early 2000s, the Kirks decided it was time to sell their farm near Neudorf, Sask. They had spent several decades growing crops and operating a […] Read more
Critics want Manitoba gov’t to explain loss
Ralph Eichler, agriculture critic for Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative party, wants to know how the provincial government wasted $4.5 million dollars on Rancher’s Choice Beef Co-operative, a proposed cattle slaughter plant in Dauphin. And if the NDP government isn’t willing to provide answers, Eichler thinks there should be a provincial inquiry. “Somebody dropped the ball big […] Read more
Starting a new life on prairie soil
A wave of European immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries settled prairie farmland. Today, a second, albeit smaller, wave of Europeans are setting up farms here. In a Western Producer special report, Brandon bureau reporter Robert Arnason looks into why these people come, what they expect from farm life in Canada and […] Read more
Manitoba takes financial hit on Rancher’s Choice
The five-year saga of Rancher’s Choice Beef Co-operative, a proposed cattle slaughter plant in Dauphin, Man., has come to an unhappy ending for Manitoba taxpayers. The Manitoba government invested $4.5 million in the plant, but this fall, it auctioned off the slaughterhouse’s remaining asset, its equipment and machinery, for the price of a used half-ton […] Read more
Cattle pick what they eat based on need
Fred Provenza, a professor from Utah State University’s wild land resources department, likes to tell the story about a colleague who met an old, crusty rancher at a seminar in Montana. The conversation between the academic and the rancher hit a roadblock so Provenza’s colleague, out of desperation, asked the rancher what the average weather […] Read more
Mighty mini trucks easy on wallet
It would never tow a cattle trailer through the Roger’s Pass, but a Japanese mini-truck is more powerful than one might imagine. “I’ve loaded that truck with well over 2,000 pounds … which is more than the weight of the vehicle and have had absolutely no problems driving around with it,” said Dwayne Webb, who […] Read more
Mould plagues Manitoba corn; some harmful to livestock
The damp, cool weather in October may have delayed harvest across most of the Prairies, but it devastated the corn crop in Manitoba. More than 520 producers have filed claims with the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. for mould damage in their corn, said MASC claims services manager David van Deynes. The corporation provides insurance for […] Read more
Free-range bison form dynamic herd groups
Although bison are a herd animal, the groups they form are different than elephant herds and wolf packs, said Daniel Fortin, associate professor in the department of biology at Laval University in Quebec. Elephants and wolves form static family groups with the same members for many years, while bison groups are more dynamic, Fortin explained. […] Read more
