Columns & Farming Articles - Manitoba Co-operator

What you see will change depending on how you look at things.

Taking a new view of grain markets

Don’t get caught looking at any issue from just one perspective

By David Derwin September 28, 2020

Every now and then you come across a story or analogy that really makes you think. Even if you know an area or subject matter well, you can still learn more about it when you look at it from different angles. This is especially true in the markets where the landscape is constantly changing because

Columns, Livestock

Herbicides and horses

Horse Health: A ubiquitous herbicide is beginning to come under increased scrutiny by scientists

By Carol Shwetz September 23, 2020

The implications for the widespread use of glyphosate-based herbicides in our environment has been increasingly mired in controversy despite regulatory assurances of safety. After close to three decades of use there is a growing body of scientific evidence emerging which presents unintended biological consequences of this chemical and its formulation. Research is postulating adverse mechanisms

Laminitis has been found to be closely related to cresty necks in horses, and can even be predicted by the condition of the neck fat.

Columns, Livestock

The ‘cresty’-necked horse

Horse Health: Neck fat is a valuable barometer of horse health

By Carol Shwetz September 2, 2020

The observance of a cresty neck in a horse indicates some level of metabolic sickness and reflects more than just a fat horse. Although the fat or obese horse is burdened with a form of metabolic illness, the appearance of a cresty neck signals further metabolic complications along the continuum of diseases associated with obesity.

Columns, Editorial, Op/Ed

Reporter’s Take: Farmer-owned AAFC?

By Allan Dawson September 2, 2020

In 2019 Canadian farmers grossed almost $37 billion from crop sales. Each started with a seed. That’s why getting farmers to pay more for plant breeding — often referred to as “value creation” — is important. It’s also contentious. Nobody wants to pay more and a lot of farmers worry royalties will enrich seed companies

Columns, Weather, Weather Vane

Forecast: Lots of uncertainty in the skies

Forecast issued Aug. 21, 2020, covering the period from Aug. 26 to Sept. 2, 2020

By Daniel Bezte August 28, 2020

Last issue’s forecast didn’t pan out exactly as the weather models figured. As with previous forecasts, the general pattern was fairly accurate, but the timing ended up being off by several days. As we continue into the transition period between summer and fall, we will likely see more difficulties with the weather models trying to

Columns, Editorial

Editor’s Take: The last mile

By Gord Gilmour July 3, 2020

Every year around the world, billions of dollars, euros, yen and yuan are spent on agriculture research. In Canada alone, public funding of “research in support of agriculture,” to quote the federal government, topped $557 million in the 2016-17 fiscal year. That figure may wax and wane with the budgetary vagaries of government, but it’s

Columns, Editorial

The Year in Doggerel: 20-20 Foresight

By John Morriss January 3, 2020

As you may know, in each year’s first edition We follow a time-honoured farm writer’s tradition Of reviewing the past year in doggerel (that’s badly rhymed text) And giving you fearless predictions on what to expect for the next Since she’s in charge, I hesitate to criticize Mother Nature’s decisions But I wish she could

Columns, Other, Weather, Weather Vane

Year in review: How did 2019’s weather measure up?

The short answer is that the year just past was cooler and drier than average

By Daniel Bezte December 31, 2019

As we pass the end of another calendar year, it is time to take a look back at the past year’s weather to see how everything added up. Before I zoom into Manitoba, let’s take a quick look at the global picture. November’s global temperature numbers have just been released and three of the five

Columns, Other, Weather

Bezte: Cool summer, cool fall?

By Daniel Bezte September 7, 2019

Another month has come and gone and in the weather world, summer is slowly coming to an end. That means it’s time to take a look back at the weather over the past month and to summarize what the three key summer months brought us, weather-wise, across the Prairies. Then, as usual, we’ll take our

Columns, Editorial, Farmit Manitoba, Op/Ed, Other

Editor’s Take: Productivity potential

By Gord Gilmour September 6, 2019

A recent agriculture report from the Royal Bank of Canada paints a picture of a sector with big opportunities and big challenges. Farmer 4.0: How the coming skills revolution can transform agriculture is all-in on the concept of farms thriving in the digital age. It paints a picture of autonomous equipment, sensor-driven agronomy and other

Daily Network News

U.S. to support soybean farmers amid China lag, expect news Tuesday, Bessent says

Media reports suggest U.S. dairy access to Canada a topic of conversation in Ottawa

U.S. livestock: Cattle choppy amid weak cash market, tight supply

Columns