Wet Pastures, Bugs Slow Livestock Gains

– Todd Wallace “Instead of being out there grazing and breeding, they are standing around in a little circle trying to fight the bugs.” Cattle producers in Manitoba can expect to buy feed come fall because cur rent pas ture conditions are limiting the weight gains, according to industry officials. During the week ended July

A Herd Of Cows Is A Group Of Individuals

Animals are individuals. A group of animals is a commingled set of individuals. At no time do the individual animals actually become a component of a group. That is a fundamental principle that those who engage in animal husbandry come to understand. This point is very important. While care may be applied to the group


Even Silage Operators Struggle With Wet Fields, Rain

“There’s never been this much water laying around. We’re hoping it will quit raining and dry up here shortly.” – DANA JOHNS As the wettest spring in living memory sloshes its way into summer, a drive through the countryside shows that there’s very little work being done. South of Virden off Hwy. #83, some sprayer

Crop Report – for Jul. 8, 2010

SOUTHWEST REGION Large storms on the weekend resulted in yard damage in some areas. There were reports of high winds with hail in areas including Hartney, south of Souris, and through to Nesbitt. Field conditions started to dry up with the warmer temperatures. Cereal crops showed the greatest improvement; several producers started applying fungicides. Canola


Flooding Puts Hay Crop At Risk

It’s mid-June and cattle should be grazing contentedly on Stuart Melnychuk’s lush green pasture. But there’s not a cow in sight. The reason becomes obvious when Melnychuk swings open the gate and walks into the grass. Very soon he’s a foot deep in water. Heavy rains have flooded hayfields on the farm Melnychuk operates with

“Non-Crop” Post-Emergent Weed Killer Launched

ClearView, a selective control for annual and perennial broadleaf weeds, invasive plants and shrubs, has been cleared for use in Canada – but not in field crops. Dow AgroSciences Canada has announced registration for the new post-emergent product’s use to control weeds and shrubs on rights-of-way, industrial land, rangeland, permanent pasture and other “non-crop areas.”


Crop Report – for Jul. 1, 2010

SOUTHWEST REGION High rainfall amounts were reported throughout the region in the past week, with the Minnedosa area one of the hardest hit. Early seeded crops appear to be tolerating the moisture better than late seeded crops. Approximately 15-30 per cent of crop acres will not get seeded due to excessive moisture, although greenfeed may

Crop Report – for Jun. 24, 2010

SOUTHWEST High rainfall amounts were reported throughout the region in the past week. Early-seeded crops appear to be tolerating the moisture better than late-seeded crops. Approximately 15-30 per cent of crop acres will not get seeded due to excessive moisture, although greenfeed may still be planted. Early seeded cereal crops are in the tillering stage;


RREA RELEASE

The Red River Exhibition Association (RREA) announc ed June 7 that the multi-generational Chapman clan from Virden has been chosen as its 2010 Farm Family of the Year. “The Chapman family exemplifi es the qualities recognized by this annual award, established in 1966 to profile the diversity of primary agriculture in Manitoba as well as

Manitoba Alfalfa Growers Appear Before Ag Committee

“We need this committee to understand that growing alfalfa is fundamentally different from growing annual crops.” – JIM LINTOTT Manitoba forage growers support an NDP bill to require new genetically engineered crops to undergo a marketing assessment, putting them at odds with canola and other crop producers who are opposed to it. Kelvin Einarson, a