Roberta Rampton

WINNIPEG – Despite a late start and what could be a mad dash to the finish, western Canadian farmers should put the largest crop ever in the bin. The Canadian Wheat Board told the grain industry at a briefing last week the total production for the six major grains should be around 52.77 million tonnes. […] Read more

WINNIPEG – Cattle producers around a major lake system in Manitoba are asking the provincial government for help after losing an important source of feed. More than 200 cow/calf operations around lakes Manitoba, Winnipegosis, Dauphin, Waterhen and St. Martin have watched as rising waters have drowned native hay stands during the past four years. The […] Read more

MINNEDOSA, Man. – The townsfolk of Minnedosa are leaving the binoculars to the birders. They’ve been watching a much bigger species of fauna: A herd of 20 bison in a 35-acre compound just off the downtown drag. It’s the first time in 138 years that bison are swatting flies and stomping around in the brush […] Read more

WINNIPEG – Equine ranchers are hoping a new herd health review system will further quell public concern about the collection of pregnant mares’ urine. Starting this year, each PMU operation will be visited at the start, middle and end of the collection season by an independent veterinarian. The vet will complete a three-page form about: […] Read more

WINNIPEG – Farmers who default on cash advances this year will face higher penalties. Interest on cash advance defaults will rise to prime rate plus three percent. In previous years, it was prime plus 1.5 percent. The federal government is alarmed about the number of defaults on cash advances during the past few years, prompting […] Read more

ELGIN, Man. – Jim and Val Tufts will always remember getting power on their farm. It was 1973 and the 19 year olds had $2,500 in savings, a $13,000 loan from the bank and a quarter section of land. They aimed to build a house and start farming on a barren piece of land between […] Read more

WINNIPEG – Farmers who deliver grain to Manitoba Pool Elevators can breathe a sigh of relief. Grain Services Union members at the elevators have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement to take them through to 1998. The union and company have been negotiating since January 1995. Union spokesperson Garnet Lee said the company was “more […] Read more

WINNIPEG – The head of James Richardson and Sons Ltd. says its agricultural operations, including Pioneer Grain, will not be affected by last week’s sale of Richardson Greenshields of Canada Ltd. The securities company was sold to RBC Dominion Securities, a division of the Royal Bank, for $480 million. George Richardson said his company’s agricultural […] Read more

WINNIPEG – Parents, not children, showed up for the first day of school in Belmont, Man. last week. More than 100 people from the small town protested a cost-cutting measure that would see 13 of the school’s 49 students bused to nearby Glenboro. The dispute started last spring, when the Tiger Hills school division decided […] Read more

WINNIPEG – Farmers dream about the kind of bumper crop described in the latest report from Statistics Canada, which shows record yields for barley and canola. But analysts issued a wake-up call when the closely watched numbers were released on Monday. “We’re going to have to have a pretty fair chunk of co-operation from Mother […] Read more