Roberta Rampton

American pulse growers in the Pacific Northwest may soon be able to increase their production with help from two new winter lentil varieties. But the varieties are unlikely to help pulse farmers north of the United States border unless they can ensure a mild winter with lots of protective snow cover before fall planting. Fred […] Read more

It’s crystal clear that the duty charged on American corn sold in Western Canada will make it too expensive for hog producers to use in their rations. However, the duty’s effect on alternate ingredients such as feed wheat and barley is a little murkier. In theory, the duty should have a positive impact on feed […] Read more

In the days leading up to imposition of a Canadian duty on American corn, feed grain dealers and buyers held off on sales, anticipating the government would come out with some kind of duty on American corn imports. Now there is pent-up demand for feed in southern Manitoba, said Marcel Hacault, a hog producer from […] Read more

Grain farmers with bins full of feed peas may be hoping a duty on American corn imports is good news for them, but analysts say they shouldn’t expect significant new pricing opportunities because of the trade action. Pulse growers have been working for years to get more hog producers to use more peas. They are […] Read more

The Manitoba government has announced it will pick up 70 percent of the cost of testing water from private wells. The subsidy was announced after a committee looking at the safety of the province’s drinking water delivered its recommendations to government. Wayne Motheral, president of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities, said private well tests dried […] Read more

The sandy soil around Arden, Man., is known for the carpet of prairie crocuses that poke through the ground each April. There are so many of the tiny wildflowers here that community groups decided to build a three-metre high steel crocus as a millennial tribute. Now, people from the area are rallying around another local […] Read more

This time last year, the rumor mill was buzzing with news about a possible expansion of the Schneider Cor-10-P. hog processing plant in Winnipeg. And on Jan. 31, 2000, Schneider announced it would spend $125 million to get its plant to the same scale as rival Maple Leaf Foods in Brandon. The company said it […] Read more

Good times for hog processors are usually poor times to open a new hog processing plant. That’s why a prominent American agricultural economist thinks Schneider Cor-10-P. may delay expansion of it’s Winnipeg plant for some time. Ron Plain of the University of Missouri said North American hog processors have been squeezed lately by tight margins. […] Read more

Over the next four months, the Canadian government will conduct a detailed investigation into whether the United States is dumping and subsidizing corn, and whether its actions harm western Canadian corn producers. “It’ll heat up here now,” said Mike Coates, vice-president of the Manitoba Corn Growers Association. Last week, the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency […] Read more

A new duty on corn imports from the United States is being hailed as a coup by some Canadian farmers and a royal pain by others. On Nov. 7, the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency announced it would immediately start collecting $1.58 (US) on every bushel of American corn sold to provinces west of Ontario. […] Read more