Roberta Rampton

BRUNKILD, Man. – Squeezed between higher costs and lower grain prices, some Manitoba farmers are fondly remembering yesterday’s safety nets and worrying about programs of the future. A group of about 25 farmers met here last week with crop insurance officials to talk about their concerns. Ian Forrester, a farmer from Emerson, Man. and member […] Read more

Farmers from the Red River Valley hope the provincial government extends seeding deadlines for crop insurance this year. Ian Forrester said if flood predictions come true and a large part of the Red River Valley is under water, it would be nice to have an extra week to get the crop in the ground. Forrester […] Read more

Manitoba’s farm lobby group is disappointed the senior governments are cleaning out the money left over from the Gross Revenue Insurance Program. Two weeks ago, the provincial government announced it will start paying out the surplus left in Manitoba’s GRIP program. Farmers who participated in the program will get $15.8 million, which will work out […] Read more

After hitting the highway to ask Manitobans how to spend $26 million, Liberal MPs in the province have decided they won’t be spending it on roads. Instead, federal western diversification minister Jon Gerrard announced money to help the province adjust to the loss of the Crow transportation subsidy will go to a variety of other […] Read more

The U.S. short-line company that plans to run the rail line to Churchill thinks it can conclude a deal with CN before the May 31 deadline. Stephen Gregory of OmniTrax told a recent Canada Grains Council meeting negotiations are going well. He said under the proposed arrangement, CN will build trains in Saskatchewan and turn […] Read more

Market analysts have come out with early estimates of what will grow in prairie fields this year. They predict farmers will veer away from cereals, turning to oilseeds and special crops for better returns. But price predictions across the board are not likely to melt the winter ice. One broker based in Sedley, Sask. says […] Read more

Acreage and price predictions at this time of year are a little more reliable than the groundhogs that forecast spring weather. But analysts warn they are early guesses, subject to much change. “I kind of look at those supply-demand tables as a living document,” said Mike Jubinville of Growers’ Marketing Services. Glenn Lennox said Agriculture […] Read more

Before Bernie Sambrook makes up his mind on what he puts in the ground this spring, he’s keeping one eye on grain marketing issues and the other on crop conditions south of the border. Sambrook crops 1,280 acres near Medora in southwestern Manitoba. He’s contracted 160 acres for Linola and another 160 acres for Excel […] Read more

BRANDON, Man. – High pork prices may make investing in hog barns look like a licence to print money. But speakers at a recent seminar warned would-be investors that the business is cyclical with a lot of risks. John Corbey, a farm management specialist with the provincial government, said demand, exchange rates and feed prices […] Read more

Farmers could take a lesson from Mohammed Ali; he who floated like a butterfly one moment and stung like a bee the next to keep his opponents off balance. Weeds, too, can be kept on the defensive by constantly rotating crops, seeding dates and herbicides. About 1,100 producers at the Saskatchewan Soil Conservation direct seeding […] Read more