No Canadian certification for grain dryers

Both Manitoba and Saskatchewan face the same manufacturing challenges, according to Lorne Neault, an energy management consultant with EMW Industrial Ltd., based in the Interlake. The Saskatchewan company he works for sets up grain dryers throughout Western Canada, including Manitoba. “Typically most of the dryer manufacturers are U.S., they sell dryers to whoever requests them,[...]

Alum a useful tool to combat toxic algae

It’s no magic bullet, but aluminum sulphate can significantly reduce toxic algal blooms in lakes, American scientist John Holz told conservationists at a Winnipeg conference on December 3. “It is a common tool,” said Holz, whose company HAB Aquatic Solutions, has done 104 applications of the product, also called ‘alum,’ in the U.S. Holz spoke[...]


KAP resolution says keep glyphosate-tolerant wheat out

Monsanto shelved Roundup Ready wheat in 2004 but its spectre still haunts some Manitoba farmers. Delegates attending the Keystone Agriculture Producers’ (KAP) advisory council meeting here Nov. 12 passed a resolution for KAP to lobby the federal government to “disallow the testing, funding, importation and introduction of glyphosate-tolerant wheat in Canada.” The Canadian Food Inspection[...]

Manitoba farmers challenged by 2019 crop

Too dry, too wet and then it snowed. Lots. That sums up Manitoba’s 2019 growing season, culminating with the “harvest from hell,” which for some farmers won’t end until spring. “I have often said it’s not a good sign when you’re harvesting and they’re playing Christmas carols on the radio,” Minto farmer and Keystone Agricultural[...]


Province firm on Crown land changes

The province is not backing down on Crown land regulation changes, despite continued pressure from northern ranchers. Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Blaine Pedersen maintained that ranchers would get right of renewal for existing forage and grazing leases, but stayed firm on the province’s removal of unit transfers. “We’ve said that we’re going to[...]

MASC harvest production reports deadline Dec. 2

The deadline for Manitoba farmers to submit crop insurance Harvest Production Reports to the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC) is Dec. 2, whether the farmer completed harvest or not. Both the paper and online report forms should be easier for farmers to fill out because less information is now required, David Van Deynze, MASC’s vice-president[...]



Artisanal cheese makers cheesed off

A Manitoba couple says red tape has killed 100 years of cheese history and put them near bankruptcy. Husband and wife team Dustin Peltier and Rachel Isaak, along with Peltier's parents Gary and Silver Peltier, say the province has blocked them at every turn as they've attempted to bring their traditional, Trappist-style cheese to market[...]


Province backs down on legacy Crown land lease renewals

Ranchers with existing Crown land leases will have a first right of refusal, the province says. The news comes after new Agricultural Crown Land regulations sparked outrage among ranchers. Ranchers argued that the regulations, which dropped term lengths from 50 years to 15 years and cemented allocation by open auction, threatened the future of their[...]

Farmers divided on wheat-grading changes at KAP

If falling number and DON (deoxynivalenol) are added as wheat-grading factors will it help or hurt wheat producers? That sums up the discussion after Doug Chorney, assistant chief commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC), spoke at the Keystone Agricultural Producers’ (KAP) advisory council on April 2. KAP didn’t take a position, but its Grain[...]