Roberta Rampton

Hog producers must hit the brakes on expansion or they will face a pile-up of losses and bankruptcies caused by a supply glut. A prominent American economist warns prices may drop below $30 (U.S.) per live hundredweight by the end of the year. There could be too many hogs and not enough space to slaughter […] Read more

Canadian hog farmers should plan for the worst, but keep recent predictions about free falling North American hog prices in perspective, according to a market analyst. “Nobody knows the U.S. pork industry like Glenn Grimes,” said Kevin Grier, who writes the Canadian Pork Market Review from the George Morris Centre in Guelph, Ont. “But take […] Read more

BRANDON, Man. – Manitoba’s farm lobby group wants conservation districts to take the lead in managing drainage and water use in the province. Les Felsch, with Keystone Agricultural Producers, said the group believes there should be “a co-operative approach” to the often thorny issue of drainage. The districts should be re-named as watershed management districts […] Read more

Canada’s variety registration system has been getting heat from both sides. Some groups believe the regulations that enable new varieties of crops are too restrictive, said Grant Watson, registrar of the system for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. “There’s other groups telling us they’re not strict enough,” he said. And there have been more and […] Read more

Agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief was in Manitoba last week to announce funding for several research and adaptation projects. Along with provincial agriculture minister Harry Enns, Vanclief announced grants of $4 million from the jointly sponsored Agri-Food Research and Development Initiative. Much of the money will be matched by industry. It will go to 68 projects, […] Read more

Hog farmers who sell their pigs through Manitoba Pork have inked a supply arrangement with J.M. Schneider Inc. Other than to say the arrangement is flexible, details on the quantity of hogs the agency will sell the processor were not released for competitive reasons. But both parties stressed their strategic alliance has more to do […] Read more

Farmers planted more canola and special crops than they anticipated earlier this year after strong prices in April and May drew acres away from barley, oats and flax. In a survey released last week, farmers told Statistics Canada they planted 13.3 million acres of canola, up from the 12.8 million acres they were thinking about […] Read more

Farmers just south of the border took one look at wheat prices and, like their neighbors north of the line, planted canola. United States farmers, primarily in North Dakota, planted 35 percent more acres to canola this year, seeding a record 1.133 million acres. Mark Ash, an agricultural economist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s […] Read more

Canada won’t get everything it wants in negotiations for an international set of rules for imports and exports of products developed through biotechnology. But as long as the biosafety protocol is negotiated in good faith, Canada is probably going to have to sign the international agreement, says Stephen Yarrow. “We’re going to have to give […] Read more

BRANDON, Man. – Dennis Persoage has had some harrowing trips in his farm machinery. He farms near Teulon, in Manitoba’s Interlake region. City dwellers and tourists flock to cottages and beaches there all summer. It often seems as though drivers don’t realize he’s driving a slow-moving vehicle, said Persoage. “Some of these guys, I just […] Read more