Manitoba Crop Report and Crop Weather report: No. 22

Conditions as of September 26, 2016

Producers in Manitoba continue to harvest spring cereals, canola, flax, edible beans and soybeans. The first acres of sunflowers and grain corn were also harvested. However, harvest progress was slowed over the weekend due to rainfall. Winter wheat and fall rye is emerging with excellent germination and stand establishment reported. Fall field work including post-harvest



GM’s 2016 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. (Chevrolet.ca)

Sources say GM to use Oshawa plant to expand pickup output

Toronto | Reuters — General Motors will use its Oshawa, Ont. assembly plant to expand production of pickup trucks for the North American market if a tentative agreement with Canadian auto workers is ratified, sources familiar with Canadian labour negotiations said Wednesday. Oshawa’s manufacturing plant, which employs some 2,500 workers, will install component parts and

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Major Alberta cattle feeder set to shut feedlots

Reuters — One of Canada’s biggest cattle feeding operations, Western Feedlots, said Wednesday it will close feeding operations after marketing the cattle it currently owns, due to poor market conditions. Closure of Western’s feeding operations, likely early in 2017 once its current cattle are sold, will make it more difficult for ranchers to find markets


Manitoba Crop Report and Crop Weather report: No. 21

Conditions as of September 19, 2016

Harvest 2016 continued across Manitoba, although wet weather, shorter days and heavy morning dews are impacting the number of acres harvested in any given day. Many crops are being harvested at tough or damp moisture levels, requiring aeration or artificial drying to achieve safe storage moisture levels. Some areas reported light frost events Thursday and

Southwestern Saskatchewan MP David Anderson (centre), shown here last year visiting Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s research facility at Swift Current, is the federal Tories’ new agriculture critic. (DavidAnderson.ca)

Anderson named federal Tories’ ag critic in shuffle

A vocal critic of the former Canadian Wheat Board single marketing desk for Prairie wheat and barley is now the lead agriculture critic in Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. David Anderson, the MP for the southwestern Saskatchewan riding of Cypress Hills-Grasslands since 2000, was named Thursday as the Conservatives’ critic for agriculture and agri-food by interim Tory


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Alberta to back new renewable energy capacity

Reuters — The Alberta government said Tuesday it will support the creation of 5,000 megawatts of additional renewable energy capacity by 2030 to help achieve goals laid out in its climate plan last year. Shannon Phillips, Minister of Environment and Parks, said Alberta now has a firm target of 30 per cent of electricity used

Bayer CEO Werner Baumann (l) and Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant on Wednesday announced plans for a friendly merger in which Bayer will buy all Monsanto stock for US$128 per share. (PRNewsFoto/Bayer)

Bayer clinches Monsanto with raised US$66 billion bid

New York/Frankfurt | Reuters — German drugs and crop chemicals company Bayer has won over U.S. seeds firm Monsanto with an improved takeover offer of US$66 billion including debt, ending months of wrangling after increasing its bid for a third time. The $128 a share deal announced on Wednesday, up from Bayer’s previous offer of


Manitoba Crop Report and Crop Weather report: No. 20

Conditions as of September 12, 2016

Wet weather over the past week slowed harvest progress in Manitoba. The recent weather is also impacting crop quality in spring wheat and barley. Some crops are being harvested at tough or damp moisture levels, requiring aeration or artificial drying to achieve safe storage moisture levels. Soybeans, grain corn and sunflowers are maturing quickly. Silage

(UCCS.ucdavis.edu)

California first state to promise overtime to farmworkers

Sacramento | Reuters — California will become the first U.S. state to require farmers to pay overtime to field workers and fruit pickers under a bill signed Monday by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown. The bill would phase in overtime pay for farmworkers from 2019 to 2022. In an industry where a workweek during the harvest