Eight newspapers in rural Manitoba have published their final issues. A number of factors, including social media and declining ad revenues, pushed the papers out of business. However, COVID-19 also played a role. “The pandemic really hit us hard. Newspapers are newspapers because of ads…. That’s what pays for the printing and all of that,” […] Read more
Farm Living
Loss of rural Man. newspapers called significant blow
Older people can control how they respond to ageism
Q: I used to think that because I had been with my company for so many years that the management would see the value of my experience and welcome the opportunity to keep me on staff. I was wrong. Given a little bit of a downturn in the economy and I suddenly have a letter […] Read more
Surprise performer brightened rural community for weeks
On a warm afternoon in May, a car bearing strange licence plates pulled up in front of our four-room school at recess time. Play was temporarily suspended as all eyes followed the tall portly driver striding across the school grounds. He approached the principal, who had been umping a rowdy game of scrub baseball. “I’m […] Read more
Cattle producers support food banks
Saskatchewan’s two main beef organizations are working together to fight hunger. The Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association began its Beef Drive for food banks in 2016, and this week the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association donated $10,000 to the cause. The project has seen nearly 30,000 pounds of beef, plus thousands of dollars, donated to Food Banks of […] Read more
Many power line, pole contacts reported in Sask.
SaskPower has already reported nearly 40 incidents this spring of farm equipment contacting power lines or poles. This week, about 9,300 customers were left without power in the Lanigan and Dafoe areas after an auger contacted a 72,000-volt distribution line. No one was hurt but a small grass fire started as a result. The corporation […] Read more
COVID over-pricing charges laid in Alberta
Hand sanitizer for $39 a bottle? 3M masks for $120? And $25 for Lysol spray? Those prices for items in demand during the pandemic are deemed exorbitant by the Alberta government, which has laid charges against a Calgary company that was asking those prices. The unnamed business was charged with ignoring an order to stop […] Read more
Mom was cornerstone of confidence
The author remembers the important role her mother played in her childhood growing up on a prairie farm in the 1940s
I was about four when I first took note of what my mother wore. She was going to a wedding and she wore a black skirt and a white blouse with a spray of hand-painted flowers on the left shoulder. When told I couldn’t go along, I had to keep back my tears of disappointment […] Read more
UN body calls pandemic a threat to global food supply
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said COVID-19 threatens global food security that must be alleviated by ensuring supply chains are not disrupted. Agriculture ministers from G20 countries held a joint meeting, where FAO director-general Qu Dongyu said preserving access to safe food and nutrition is an essential health response to the […] Read more
Cooking with rhubarb is more than just pies
Spring rhubarb brings to mind the flavour of a delicious rhubarb pie. In some places rhubarb is known as pieplant because of its frequent use in pies. But rhubarb can be used for so many more things from soups to jams to meat tenderizer or a pot cleaner. Rhubarb can add that tang to both […] Read more
Prairie farm proves viability of apple orchards
On the Farm: Petrofka Orchard features 1,500 mature apple trees on 45 acres overlooking North Saskatchewan River
If you’ve ever driven north of Saskatoon toward the rural community of Blaine Lake, Sask., then there’s a good chance you’ve driven past the small piece of paradise that Diana Fedosoff calls home. The Petrofka Orchard, located about 55 kilometres north of Saskatoon, consists of 46 acres of picturesque land overlooking the North Saskatchewan River. […] Read more
