Roberta Rampton

There is about a month to go before Willard Estey delivers his report to the Canadian government on how it should change the grain transportation system. But that didn’t stop speakers at Fields on Wheels, a recent grain transportation conference, from putting forth their own solutions. Most speakers advocated a deregulated, commercial system using contracts […] Read more

Local governments in Manitoba are now part of one big happy family. Just ask Ron Stanger, a town councillor from Carman, and his first cousin Harold Brown, a councillor for the rural municipality of Portage la Prairie. Last week, their municipal associations – one urban, one rural – agreed to merge into the Association of […] Read more

Manitoba farmers now have a say in which roads the provincial government fixes first. The Union of Manitoba Municipalities and Keystone Agricultural Producers are organizing regional transportation committees that will start public meetings next year. With new demands on roads from heavier trucks and closing rail lines, the committees will try to ensure the most […] Read more

Canola prices have held their ground, thanks to bustling export sales and a rapid crushing pace here at home. Exports this year are up more than 80 percent from last year, and crushers have put more than one million tonnes of seed through their plants so far. “Canola is just fairly valued right here: It’s […] Read more

The pleas of a Manitoba farm group for higher initial payments for hard red spring wheat may not compute. Keystone Agricultural Producers wants the Canadian Wheat Board to narrow the $38 to $58 per tonne spread between the initial prices and the October pool return outlook. “It’s the farmers’ own money, it’s increased cash flow,” […] Read more

Manitoba egg farmers are taking the lead in producing eggs for processing. But a new study points out they may be at a disadvantage to their western neighbors when it comes to costs of production. The $30,000 study was done by the George Morris Centre, an agricultural research and policy group based in Guelph, Ont. […] Read more

A Saskatoon accounting service plans to take the Net Income Stabilization Account administration to court over its audit and its plan to claw back almost $4 million from prairie farmers this year. Barry Jolly believes farmers should be able to include freight and elevation expenses in the net sales figure used to determine how much […] Read more

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. – At 7 p.m. on the evening of Manitoba municipal elections, some voters were rushing to cast their ballots before polls closed. But another group of people were lining up outside a church auditorium to do a civic duty of a different kind. Charlie Clifford, principal of Fort la Reine high […] Read more

Maps on the wall pinpointed diseased farms and a flow chart tracked the spread of an outbreak. More than 20 veterinarians and scientists rushed around a control centre in a tightly secured federal lab, making decisions on how to contain the disease and eradicate infected animals. One hour into a day spent with his father […] Read more

There was a time when hemp fabric meant coarse weaves, dull colors and baggy cuts. But the textile has transformed itself, with help from some creative North American designers, into styles that can be worn by hippie or hipster, at work or at play. The haute couture of hemp was hot at a recent trade […] Read more