Roberta Rampton

Manitoba agricultural entrepreneurs who need money to build or expand could look to several provincial government programs for help. Or, they could look to the man who once controlled the coffers for the Tory government. Clayton Manness, Manitoba’s finance minister from 1988 to 1993, recently announced Man Agra Capital Inc., a company that finds investors […] Read more

WINNIPEG – Manitoba’s rural councillors got a busy signal from the premier when they asked for a referendum on the sale of the province’s phone system. At their annual meeting last week, delegates to the Union of Manitoba Municipalities narrowly passed a resolution calling for the government to hold a referendum before it privatizes Manitoba […] Read more

Andy McMechan would never have been jailed if he had received proper legal advice, according to the lawyer who is now representing him. But Leonard Tailleur, from the high profile Winnipeg firm of Walsh Micay, said he hopes to get the Lyleton, Man. farmer out on bail this week. McMechan has been in jail since […] Read more

WINNIPEG – The Canadian economy will be the big loser if there aren’t 13 to 16 million acres of yellow blooms in prairie fields by 2000. The president of the Canadian Oilseed Processors Association says there’s strong demand for canola, but the industry needs to improve yields and solve agronomic problems so farmers will grow […] Read more

Heartland Livestock Services plans to expand, buying facilities to handle 100,000 head of cattle per year, according to the company’s general manager. “The most likely area for our expansion will be the province of Alberta,” said John LaClare, speaking at the recent annual meeting of Manitoba Pool Elevators in Winnipeg. Manitoba Pool owns 10.2 percent […] Read more

Kelly Taylor and his three sons have their 2.5 metre-high, woven-wire fences up in anticipation of a provincial government bill expected to become law this week. The farmers from Oak Lake, Man., have been waiting for a decade to raise elk for their antlers and meat. And Taylor said they’re happy it’s finally about to […] Read more

WINNIPEG – The export marketing arm for the three prairie pools has been experimenting with sales of grain from other countries. And the head of Xcan Grain Pool Ltd. says the sales, known as other-origin trade, will pay off for western Canadian farmers. Kenneth Matchett told Manitoba Pool Elevators delegates recently that Xcan expanded its […] Read more

For the past 20 years, Louis Wolkowski has worked to get more traffic through Canada’s only inland port. The grain farmer from Canora, Sask. spent last Friday talking to other fervent Churchill port supporters about CN Rail’s sale of the rail line leading to the port to a U.S. short-line company. “I know there’s some […] Read more

WINNIPEG – Good earnings on almost all grains and declining ocean freight rates helped the export marketing arm of the three prairie pools make record earnings in 1995-96. “We just had a lot of things go right for us,” said Kenneth Matchett, chief executive officer of Xcan Grain Pool Ltd. “It’s unusual to have so […] Read more

WINNIPEG – In five years, Heartland Livestock Services plans to produce a million hogs a year in large-scale integrated barns across the Prairies. Heartland general manager John LaClare told the annual meeting of Manitoba Pool Elevators here last week the company wants to help build several $11.8 million hog operations. Heartland Livestock plans to use […] Read more