When fires, cattle or herbicides jump fences, the property owner is usually “strictly liable” for whatever escapes his or her property
In the opinion of the courts, cattle belong on pasture, not on the road. So how does a rancher protect himself from legal liability issues when moving a herd from one part of his property to another via public roads? The key is having a program to minimize exposure to legal liability in case aPlan for the worst, hope for the best, advises ag lawyer
Rural Germany faces steep decline
As farms get larger and land more expensive, young people from small towns are packing up and moving to the big cities in search of career opportunities. With a shrinking tax base, funding for the provision of services dries up, schools are shuttered, shops close, and doctors flee for greener pastures. Sound familiar? It should.
Robins eager to embark on Nuffield-funded world tour
With a $15,000 Nuffield scholarship in hand, Clayton Robins is getting ready to pack his bags for a trip of a lifetime. The fourth-generation rancher from Rivers and former Agriculture Canada research technician will take a temporary hiatus from his current job as executive director of 4-H Manitoba this summer to learn more about how
Nutraceutical firm seeks borage growers
Borage has been prized for its curative powers since ancient times. In Roman times, the naturalist Pliny regarded it as an antidepressant, and a famous herbalist from the 16th century wrote that a syrup made from borage “comforteth the heart, purgeth melancholy, and quieteth the phrenticke or lunaticke person.” For Prairie farmers who may fit
Truckers slam USDA for border meat inspection “chaos”
The perils of cross-border trade were front and centre for truckers and meat shippers a few weeks ago, when an inspection snafu on the American side forced hundreds of trucks on lengthy detours. On Oct. 19, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) temporarily suspended meat inspections at border entry points opposite Manitoba and Saskatchewan after
Province admits to flooding from Shellmouth operations
The Manitoba government now admits there was some “artificial flooding” downstream from the Shellmouth Dam this summer and has promised compensation. But the chair of the Assiniboine Valley Producers Association is wary and fears farmers won’t be fully compensated because of the narrow definition of artificial flooding in the Shellmouth Dam Act. “They say if
Organic farmers ponder the future of food
They weren’t shying away from the big issues at the recent Organic Connections conference here: one renowned sustainable farming expert declared the days of "cheap" energy to be coming to an end. "It’s not a question of exactly when we run out of oil, natural gas, or coal — it’s when it’s no longer going
Soil expert urges farmers to look to nature for clues to better farming
Think you’ve got pest problems? In Malawi, termites living in the soil cause headaches for corn farmers because they “fell” the crop at the base of the stalk. “It’s like having beavers in there,” Jill Clapperton said in a presentation on the benefits of cover crops and living mulches at the recent Organic Connection conference.
Think-tank report boosts farmers’ green credentials
KAP president says this year’s combination of flooding and water scarcity shows it’s time for “a rethink”
Manitoba farm groups are lauding a report from a leading think-tank that backs the idea of rewarding farmers for their role in protecting the environment. The report from the non-partisan Macdonald-Laurier Institute is further evidence “that incentive programs like ecological goods and services are going to be much more effective at meeting society’s objectives thanPopular herbicide may be linked to increased pathogen virulence, says Huber
Emeritus professor from Purdue University and former U.S. army bioweapons expert points to growing evidence of potential harm from genetic engineering and herbicide “abuse”
Don Huber may not be a big fan of organic agriculture, but he’s become a hero among organic farmers with his contention that glyphosate is less benign than its promoters crack it up to be. Huber an emeritus professor of Plant Pathology from Purdue University, isn’t backing down, even though some dismiss him as aCyber-Savvy Farmer
