The Canola Council of Canada wants you to take a shotgun to your field — at least when it comes to clubroot. [AUDIO: ‘Are we taking clubroot seriously enough?’ – Justine Cornelsen and Dan Orchard] Council agronomists are urging farmers to avoid building a clubroot plan around a single silver bullet. Instead, agronomists Justine Cornelsen
Canola council: Widen the scope on clubroot management
The Canola Council of Canada wants producers to layer their clubroot management strategies
Extended grazing to get wildlife loss coverage
Deer getting first bite at your swath grazing? Now there’s insurance for that
Cattle producers may not be able to keep wildlife off their grazing swaths, but at least now they can get paid for the loss. Bale grazing, swath grazing and grazing standing annual crops (including corn) will all be eligible for wildlife damage insurance this year, Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. (MASC) has said. The new program
Shining up for Ag Days
Faces of Ag: Foster Perkin is only 15, but the young entrepreneur is already taking his business sense to Ag Days with a pre-show equipment cleaning service
One of the mainstays of Ag Days is the rows and rows of gleaming tractors, combines and other equipment. To the show visitor they’re just part of the expected view. But getting them there in such pristine shape takes a lot of hard work. One of those hard workers is an entrepreneurial 15-year-old from Elgin.
Province brings in the experts on protein strategy
The province says the promised protein consortium has launched, and will give needed expert direction to Manitoba’s protein strategy
It’s been a year since the province announced its new focus on protein; now there will be more hands on the reins. The province has officially launched its protein consortium; a committee of producers, industry representatives and academics that it hopes will help inform Manitoba’s protein strategy going forward. Last January, then agriculture minister Ralph Eichler (now the
What’s new in crop insurance for 2020?
MASC offerings this year will include better price options for high-value crops and expanded programming for novel crops, organics, feed crops and strawberries
MASC has come out with its list of program changes for 2020, and some sectors may have reason to celebrate. The list of changes, presented at Ag Days by Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Blaine Pedersen, includes a higher price option for high-value crops, expanded portfolios for organic and novel crop insurance and more
Calls mount for grain drying exemption on carbon tax
Manitoba’s government and farm groups hope that Ottawa will be swayed by hard numbers on grain drying carbon tax cost
[UPDATED: Jan. 30, 2020] Maurice Melnyk of Penner Farm Services doesn’t need anyone to tell him that carbon tax hit farmers hard this fall — he’s seen enough grain drying bills. Dryers are Melnyk’s business, being the grain-handling sales specialist at the Blumenort farm dealer. The carbon tax has been a common complaint among his customers. “Because of
Regenerative ag finds a corporate champion
General Mills supports regenerative agriculture, but says it’s not about something to slap on its label
[UPDATED: Feb. 3, 2020] When the topic of who might drive a regenerative agriculture push comes up, one name keeps cropping up: General Mills. The Minnesota-based producer of packaged consumer goods first staked out its claim to this turf by promising in 2015 to source its top 10 ingredients sustainably by 2020. As it nears
Can regenerative agriculture products find a premium niche?
“We have a product that we should be able to demand a premium from. I just don’t know how to do it,” says Brooks White
Pipestone’s Brooks White needs no convincing about the biological value of regenerative agriculture. His fields of cover crops, annual stands grazed by bison, and adaptive pasture system speak for themselves of his commitment to this way of farming. And for that commitment he’s been rewarded — in the form of lower inputs, higher soil organic matter, more and better feed for his livestock and
Watch your dugout water quality
Two years of dry weather has the province urging producers to take a more critical look at their dugouts
If you’re fighting salinity in your soil, chances are you’ve got salinity in your water as well. That was one of the messages as Russell veterinarian Dr. Cathy Clemence addressed farmers in Binscarth Jan. 15. Water made its way onto the agenda during this year’s Manitoba Beef and Forage Week, a round of annual seminars
Maple Leaf reaches deal with plant workers
The pork industry is breathing a sigh of relief now that Maple Leaf Foods is back on an even keel with its workers
Production workers at Maple Leaf Foods in Brandon are celebrating after an eleventh-hour collective agreement with their employer passed muster. The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 832 branch has been in negotiations with the company since June. The previous contract, which covered 1,900 employees at the Brandon meat-processing plant, expired Dec. 31, 2019.