Soybeans hot, flax is not for 2013

Expect to see a lot more soybeans and corn planted in Manitoba next spring and a lot less flax and barley, seed growers said during their annual “what’s hot, what’s not” session last month. Hard red spring and general purpose wheat are expected to be popular too, growers told the Manitoba Seed Grower Association’s annual

Letters — for 2012-11-01 00:00:00

Expense to farmers considered inconsequential Regarding the opinion piece by Ronald Doering in the Oct. 25 Manitoba Co-operator, the statement “Adventitious presence does not meet the definition of an (adulterating) ingredient (and therefore)… Health Canada… would not favour a “contains” or “may contain” (food label) statement,” this is a corporate-friendly, citizen-unfriendly, double-standard con job! Note


New flax growers website

The Manitoba Flax Growers Association has launched a new website to provide price and marketing information, industry news and research updates. The new web address is www.mfga.ca. “Our vision is a sustainable, vibrant industry with premium prices so Manitoba farmers choose to grow flax,” said association chair Eric Fridfinnson in a release. “Our new website

Yellow-flowered legume turning heads and attracting interest in Manitoba

Birdsfoot trefoil is a challenge to grow and harvest, but the perennial can prevent bloating in grazers

From a distance it might just seem like another field of yellow canola, but get up close and you will see something that looks quite different. Birdsfoot trefoil, although not widely grown for seed in Manitoba, is a yellow-flowered legume offering benefits to pasture-grazed animals. A new field of the picturesque seed crop was one


Can you weatherproof your farm?

Plants draw different amounts of moisture from different depths in the soil, 
and growers can make those differences work for them

Grain farmers are always hoping for a Goldilocks year — not too wet, not too dry, but just right. But since fairy tales rarely come true, researchers with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives are looking for alternative approaches. “It’s led us to wonder how we might weatherproof our crop rotations a bit,” oilseed specialist

Organic forage seed growers: Working with Mother Nature to keepbugs and weeds in hand

Growers manage fertility and soil health with less tractor hours by growing perennial forage seed crops

Growing organic forage seed takes a different mindset. Larry Pollock, who has been farming organically since the 1990s on 600 acres north of Brandon, was part of a panel of experienced growers offering insights at a recent workshop hosted by Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives. He sows 100 to 150 acres of alfalfa under


Flax plant’s future up in the air

The flames that consumed the Glanbia flax-processing plant south of Angusville were doused last week, but a smouldering sense of uncertainty lingers. The plant formerly owned by Glen and Linda Pizzey was the largest employer in the RM of Silver Creek, providing not only 58 good-paying, full-time jobs, but also a large chunk of the

CDC Triffid contamination on the decline

Officials from Canada’s flax industry are in Europe this week to brief government and industry officials on the progress Canada is making removing traces of CDC Triffid, a genetically modified (GM) flax, from Canadian flax. “It’s getting less and less frequent and less and less intense,” Flax Council of Canada president Will Hill said in



Western Canadian flaxseed prices edge higher

Western Canadian flaxseed cash bids have advanced in the past month, with fresh export demand along with tight supply concerns contributing to the firmness, said an industry participant. “The Chinese market has really helped out western Canadian flax prices this year,” said Chuck Penner, an analyst with Left Field Commodity Research in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The