Roberta Rampton

WINNIPEG – Farmers who multiply certified seed and sell it to others may soon be hearing from The Bureau. Not the Federal Bureau of Investigations, but the Plant Breeders’ Rights Bureau, a new division of an international plant breeding company called Svalof Weibull. This bureau will likely be a lot friendlier than the FBI. “Our […] Read more

BRANDON, Man. – When Gerry Friesen built his hog barn in 1983, making money was his main concern, not managing manure. He raises 3,500 hogs and 30,000 turkeys on 70 acres near Wawanesa, in southwestern Manitoba. He asked willing neighbors to rubber stamp a form saying they’d let him spread manure on their land, to […] Read more

BRANDON, Man. – Want a marketing marriage made in heaven? Get down on bended knee and ask customers what they want. Mike Leslie has plenty of advice for the unwed in Canadian agri-business. He runs a company called Nakodo Consulting, which means marriage broker in Japanese. For the past three years, he’s racked up half […] Read more

BRANDON, Man. (Staff) – Eight Japanese words helped Mike Leslie get to Japan. The Calgary-based consultant who finds Asian buyers for North American agricultural products said two phrases, a little bit of luck and an open mind changed his life. Leslie grew up on farms in Douglas and Holland, Man., and was an “aggie” at […] Read more

SASKATOON (Staff) – The Winnipeg Commodity Exchange starts trading futures contracts for western barley and flaxseed on March 7. The price reference point for barley remains Lethbridge, Alta. However, alternate delivery will be based on regional price discounts throughout the barley-growing regions of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The new contract will be based on delivery […] Read more

CARMAN, Man. – When Brad Tronrud looks at the price of beef at the meat counter, and compares it to what he gets for his cattle, he shakes his head. “There’s such a large margin there that I can’t see why we can’t get a little piece of it, anyway,” the Inwood, Man., producer said. […] Read more

BRANDON, Man. – Cattle, hogs or emu? Special crops or more hay? Trucking or processing? Keystone Agricultural Producers believes Manitoba farmers have to adapt and diversify with the changing times. But the group also thinks farmers need more than a hammer to hang out a new shingle. That’s why KAP is passing farmers a planner […] Read more

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. – A new crop insurance program has hit the bull’s-eye for Dwight Braun, a farmer from Plumas, Man. Braun is the type of farmer targeted by a national review of crop insurance. It’s looking at why more farmers aren’t buying insurance, and how to improve programs to get them back. Braun […] Read more

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. (Staff) – Manitoba farmers will likely get around $155 per tonne for red spring wheat this year. But they shouldn’t expect to get that much back from crop insurance if they lose their wheat to Mother Nature. It will insure wheat for only $132 per tonne. Manitoba Crop Insurance Corporation announced […] Read more

SELKIRK, Man. – Hog farmers don’t give a pig’s ear for the way the Manitoba government decided to change their marketing system. About 300 people crowded into a hall here about 30 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg last week to give Harry Enns an earful of criticism, jeers and sharply pointed questions about his actions as […] Read more