This week on 'Between The Rows'

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CWB says controversial ad met its objective

The chief strategy officer for CWB says the agency stands by its controversial ad depicting a cowgirl stuck on a fence, saying most people like it. "We've got more feedback than I ever expected," said Dayna Spiring about the ad that has been running in farm newspapers in recent weeks. Spiring acknowledged there have been[...]


New alliance to focus wheat research in Saskatoon

The federal government has joined with the Saskatchewan government and University of Saskatchewan to form a new Canadian Wheat Alliance, dedicated to improving yields and profitability of wheat. "The Canadian Wheat Alliance will improve the quality of Canadian wheat, and enhance Canada's competitive position in the growing world market," said federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz[...]

Clubroot found in Manitoba soils

Testing has confirmed levels of clubroot capable of producing disease in two soil samples collected from Manitoba canola fields last year, provincial officials say. "It is significant in that we can no longer consider ourselves free of clubroot in Manitoba," said Holly Derksen, a plant pathologist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives' soils and[...]


Man. beef processor moves on federal upgrade

If Calvin Vaags has his way, Manitoba will have a federally inspected ruminant slaughter plant capable of handling 1,000 head per week up and running within a year. After three years of preparation, work has started on a $13 million expansion at Plains Processors, a small processing plant with a capacity of 80 head per[...]

In Ethiopia: Agricultural growth a multifaceted challenge

With nearly 50 per cent of Ethiopia's GDP rooted in agriculture, it goes without saying that growing the industry is its best short-term hope of boosting the economy. After all, between 80 and 90 per cent of Ethiopians farm for a living. It has the highest per capita density of cattle in Africa and is[...]


In Ethiopia: Conservation gospel falls on fertile soil

A row of derelict tractors on an abandoned state farm is a fitting reminder that industrialized agriculture has a checkered future in this populous East African country. With their faded red paint, gutted engines and rotting tires gradually being swallowed by the prickly underbrush, these 1970s-vintage symbols of progressive agriculture represent a technology that has[...]

From Ethiopia: Aid agencies focus on helping others to help themselves

It was a gift with strings attached, but that was just fine with Bekelech Basa. The single mother of six children from this small community about five hours southwest of Addis Ababa was given a goat on the condition that she give up its first-born kid. It's just one example of how aid is changing.[...]


In Ethiopia: Too many people, too little land and a changing climate

The highway southwest of Addis Ababa to Wolayto-Soddo is wide and smooth, but there is no such thing in Ethiopia as setting the cruise control and just cruising, as one would expect to do on the wide open Canadian Prairies. With nearly 80 million people, Ethiopia is densely populated and most of its people live[...]

In Ethiopia: First impressions of a far-off land

The sun was just peeking above the horizon as the Boeing 777 banked south just over Cairo, Egypt and headed for Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital that serves as the hub for all of Africa. We'd been travelling ahead in time, losing a night as we left Washington, D.C. at around 11 a.m. on Saturday,[...]