Roberta Rampton

Milk producers held on for a wild ride during the last dairy year as world prices plummeted from some of the highest levels seen in years to more normal lows. Their monthly returns reflected the vagaries of the world market, said Neil Van Ryssel, chair of the Manitoba Milk Producers. Last year, producers could no […] Read more

Maple Leaf Foods is giving Schneider Corp. shareholders more time to consider Maple Leaf’s bid to take over the hog processing company. The company announced Dec. 5 it would move the deadline for its hostile takeover bid to Dec. 16 from Dec. 6. The move is a response to comments from Schneider officials that the […] Read more

Many farmers who have watched canola futures prices climb in the fall have been scratching their heads over somewhat sluggish cash prices. As futures prices for November and January contracts rose from levels around $360 per tonne in August to recent levels around $400 per tonne, cash prices failed to rise to the same degree. […] Read more

Professional speculators are stirring up agricultural markets like never before as they look for risky but potentially rewarding moves in futures trading pits. These days, farmers can’t help but run into the term “fund activity” in markets reports. Commodity funds are pools of money run by a manager attempting to get returns for investors. It’s […] Read more

Manitoba farmers who find themselves stretching to get their crop in the ground by crop insurance deadlines will have a little more room to move this year. The Manitoba Crop Insurance Corporation has announced it will have more flexible deadlines starting this spring after reviewing the difficult time some farmers had last year, including those […] Read more

Manitoba’s deputy premier has taken a birds’-eye view of farming changes on the Prairies and decided his province is flying faster toward diversification than others. Jim Downey, minister of industry, trade and tourism, told farmers at Manitoba Pool Elevators’ annual meeting they are “way out in front” of Saskatchewan farmers. He saw the rate of […] Read more

HEADINGLEY, Man. – Feedlot managers need to make sure their cattle develop good eating habits. When given the choice, cattle will stuff themselves, said Robbi Pritchard, a ruminant nutritionist at South Dakota State University. But in feedlot diets high in grain and low in roughage, overeating causes indigestion, which is followed by a day or […] Read more

Schneider Corporation has opened its doors and books to potential buyers after shooting down a hostile takeover bid from Maple Leaf Foods. Schneider’s board announced Dec. 3 it had adopted a temporary shareholder rights plan – a so-called “poison pill.” The plan would see new shares issued to shareholders if Maple Leaf or another bidder […] Read more

MIAMI, Man. – Thirty-one years ago, bison were considered wild animals, of interest mainly to historians. But Bill Lenton got to talking to an old Montana rodeo rider at a horse show and ended up taking home a bison bull calf for about $250. “When we brought them to the border, they didn’t really know […] Read more

Canada’s largest oat miller hopes to increase revenue by almost 50 percent by 2000 with help from a new plant it is building north of Saskatoon. Can-Oat Milling has been running at full capacity at its Portage la Prairie, Man. plant for three years, officials told the annual meeting of Manitoba Pool Elevators last week […] Read more