Beef producers around Riding Mountain National Park have their hopes riding on a good hunting season. Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) is waiting on the newest round of bovine tuberculosis tests, sampled from deer and elk harvested near the national park, in a bid to convince the U.S. Department of Agriculture that Manitoba is free of
Manitoba Beef Producers sets eyes on 2021 TB-free goal
Manitoba Beef Producers hopes to get the province back on the USDA’s tuberculosis-free list, saying negative tests from wildlife proves its point
Beef Producers sees carbon policy as a win, but still has some worries
Manitoba Beef Producers saw some of its priorities reflected in the province’s proposed carbon plan, but say input prices are still a concern
Manitoba Beef Producers has checked exemptions for on-farm emissions and farm fuel off its carbon policy wish list, but it’s not done yet. MBP general manager Brian Lemon says there’s still plenty of advocacy work to be done on the details on the plan. Read more: Manitoba carbon plan targets lower rates Read more: Mazier defends
Students see rodeo first hand
Ag Ex once again brought in the region’s Grades 6-8 students for a look behind the scenes at rodeo
If you asked Brandon’s middle schoolers how a bull rider grips his rope on Oct. 25, you would probably get silence. If you asked the same question a day later, they might be able to answer. Riding rough stock was one, but not the only, topic at the Keystone Centre’s main arena as the region’s
Bridging the gap between urban and beef farm
Elementary students from southwest Manitoba beat the Ag Ex crowds Oct. 24 with an agricultural education event around cattle
The day before Ag Ex is all about setup for most, but the festivities were already in full swing for 360 of the region’s Grade 3-5 students. Moo!Mania, the fair’s nod to public education and the cattle industry, returned in the lead-up to the fair. One of three major events organized by the Provincial Exhibition
Mixing and matching inputs and rotations
Brandon researchers spent 18 years combining three different input levels and crop rotations to study the impact on nutrients, soil quality, yield and implications for climate change
Farming for short-term yield will be different than long-term soil benefit. That’s not a new idea, but it has been driven home by 18 years of research spearheaded by researcher scientists Alan Moulin and Taras Lychuk of Brandon’s Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research station. From 1994-2003, the pair’s team cross-compared organic, reduced- input no till,
Organic Alliance says crop insurance needs an update on organic production
Organic growers argue that insurance excludes critical production practices, but change may come with some real logistical problems, according to MASC
Organic farmers in Manitoba hope a new working group will help solve long-standing crop insurance issues. The body will have members from both the Manitoba Organic Alliance (MOA) and Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC). “There’s definite improvements that need to be made, so we want to know what the timeline on that is,” MOA president
Manitoba Organic Alliance names agronomist
Katherine Stanley will take on the term position over the next year
Manitoba’s organic farmers now have an agronomist to call their own — even if it’s only for a year. The farmer organization the Manitoba Organic Alliance has teamed up with the University of Manitoba and the provincial Agriculture Department to create a one-year term position for an organic agronomist and Katherine Stanley has been named
Little farm on the big database
Plenty of farmers would like to get their heads into the cloud. So what’s keeping them grounded?
When it comes to big data on the farm, the final destination is sunny, but the road ahead is full of bumps. That’s according to NDSU’s David Saxowsky, a professor of agriculture who’s written on the topic of data and its coming impact on agriculture. Saxowsky imagines a time when farmers are so well informed
Workshops pitch less stress for cattle and farmer
Talks and workshops cover the basics of low-stress cattle handling
It’s time to start thinking like cattle when it comes to moving animals. That’s the message Tom Noffsinger had for cattle producers during a string of low-stress cattle-handling workshops and talks near Brandon through the end of October. Three events were put on through Merck Animal Health, including a public talk Oct. 16 and field
Standing corn an option for extended beef grazing
An extended grazing season may be cheaper with standing corn, but there are a few dos and don’ts to keep in mind
If a cow is grazing, you don’t have to feed it. It’s a deceptively simple statement, and the basis for many cattle producers looking at extended grazing to cut costs. Farmers have looked at bale grazing, forage stockpiling and swath grazing, among others; but another grazing system has caught the interest of some beef producers,