Lesley Kelly can tell you all about how mental health affects the farm. She can tell you about watching the self-destructive spiral as anxiety and negative thoughts build on to each other. She has intimate knowledge on the weight of life crashing down around harvest. She knows how it feels to suddenly burst into tears.
Bringing farm mental health issues out into the open, one tweet at a time
Mental health and agriculture has exploded in the last year, and a lineup of this year’s Ag Days speakers have been leading the charge
MASC comes under fire at organic insurance update
Producers call organic insurance ‘a joke’ while MASC says it’s already a money-loser
Organic producers are not happy with their crop insurance. Maurice Gaultier, Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC) insurance sales and service manager for the southern region, faced pointed questions Jan. 18 during his organic insurance update at Ag Days. MASC and the Manitoba Organic Alliance have been looking for a middle road on insurance for months.
Management practices go head to head in Soybean Challenge
The AAFC station in Portage la Prairie was home to a little friendly competition between soybean management systems last year
It was the battle of the beans in Portage la Prairie last year, in the hope of shedding some light on best practices for soybeans. Results from the 2017 Ultimate Soybean Challenge were presented at this year’s Ag Days in Brandon. Three teams, with three very different management strategies, looked to outshine their competition at
Beef and forage highlights to hit Manitoba communities
Producers have a one-stop shop for beef commodity group and forage news as Beef Days starts its week-long tour
Ag Days is over, but Manitoba’s Beef Producers has its own round in the spotlight starting today. This year’s Beef and Forage Days will cover five stops from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2. The tour starts in the Interlake with Eriksdale before moving to Ste. Rose and Minitonas in the following days. Holland will host
Making silage cost palatable for producers
Silage becomes more palatable for producers if you look beyond simple cost per acre, Manitoba Agriculture’s Ray Bittner told the Ag Days audience Jan. 17
It’s time to add a little fermentation to your feed plan. That’s the message Manitoba Agriculture’s Ray Bittner had for his Ag Days audience. The livestock specialist centred his talk around maximized silage value. Silage is old hat for producers in the Interlake, but its expense, and the fact that it often requires a custom
Ag Days holds the course on exhibitor numbers
This year’s Ag Days lines up with previous years in terms of size
It wasn’t a milestone anniversary year for Manitoba Ag Days, but the 2018 show matched numbers from last year’s 40th anniversary expansion. Last year, the show added both footage and exhibitor slots after opening up the over-19,000-square-foot Brandon Curling Club for booths. This year, the show once again topped 540,000 square feet and over 800
Be on the watch for insect-issue bleed over
Manitoba Agriculture’s 2017 insect summary may give producers an idea of what to scout for, as well as any rotation changes to avoid pest woes next season
Last year’s pest problems may give an idea of what to be on watch for next season. The insect summary for 2017 is in, and Manitoba Agriculture entomologist John Gavloski says the report may give producers valuable insight when planning scouting and, in some cases, rotations. Aphids unknown Not all insects carry over in the
Manitoba Beef Producers on the hunt for production specialist
MBP’s project co-ordinator job will soon make way for a production specialist, something general manager Brian Lemon says will help the group respond to issues and develop policy
Manitoba Beef Producers is getting a bit closer to the ground with an upcoming hire. It’s on the hunt for a production specialist that will join the organization’s roster in the coming weeks. It’s a move the group says will give them better insight into on-the-ground issues when it comes to developing policy objectives. MBP
Making the most of corn grazing during a cold Manitoba winter
A late-December cold snap didn’t seem to set back corn-grazed cattle much
Manitobans may feel like they’ve been living in a deep freeze, but some of the province’s cattle have weathered the cold among the cornstalks. That’s no small feat, as the last days of 2017 dropped to -35 C with wind chills approaching -50 C. Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives (MBFI) near Brookdale winters its animals
Poll lines up Manitobans with AMM on cannabis
How much should municipalities get when it comes time to divvy out tax revenue on pot? A recent poll from the AMM suggests at least half
The Association of Manitoba Municipalities says a new poll shows Manitobans support local governments getting their piece of the cannabis tax pie. The Probe Research poll, done on behalf of the AMM, reported that about 33 per cent of 1,000 replies thought municipalities should get half the tax revenue, while 59 per cent indicated local