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Protesters with activist group Toronto Chicken Save outside a poultry-processing facility in Ontario.
News

Anti-activism bill dead, their actions killed it, say animal rights advocates

Federal biosecurity Bill C-205 was amended to target anyone, not just trespassers, before parliament dissolved

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Animal rights advocates say a federal bill targeting activists is almost certainly dead, thanks in part, to their legal arguments and “turning” of MPs. Bill C-205, which proposed to increase penalties for trespassers on agricultural property in the name of biosecurity, died when parliament dissolved prior to the 2021 federal election. However, before this, it
A shortage of workers has existed for decades, and its trajectory is “alarming,” says the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.
News

National strategy in development to address ag labour crunch

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture says trajectory of ongoing worker shortage is ‘alarming’

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A group of ag and food organizations will band together to develop a national strategy addressing labour shortages in the farm and food sectors. “Labour challenges in agriculture have been ongoing for decades, and are one of the most prominent factors obstructing the remarkable growth potential that has been identified for Canadian agriculture and our agri-food industry as
Manitoba Canola Growers Association has pledged $500,000 to support construction of the Prairie Crops and Soils Research Facility at the U of M.
News

New U of M crop research centre past fundraising halfway point

The Manitoba Canola Growers is the latest producer group to pledge financial support

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Manitoba Canola Growers Association members are the latest producer group to put cash behind a proposed updated ag research centre at the University of Manitoba. “MCGA has long recognized UM as a key resource for quality education and agricultural research. As the birthplace of canola, it holds special significance to the canola industry,” said Delaney
What’s a farm wife? The women of agriculture consider what an old term means in modern day.
Farmit Manitoba

Resilience, resourcefulness, inequality: revisiting the ‘farm wife’

A fraught Twitter conversation raised deep questions of how women relate to agriculture, and how agriculture treats them

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Farm wife’ or ‘Farmer’s wife.’ Some women embrace these as near-heroic titles, while others feel they relegate them to supporting roles in their farm’s story.  Either way, it stirs up strong emotions, as Megz Reynolds recently experienced after she posted to Twitter questioning the term’s longevity in the agro-sphere.  “Why are so many in agriculture
SRRWD manager Jodi Goerzen (centre) explains a water retention project alongside landowner Wayne Chubaty (second from right).
News

Living Labs projects hold hope for hard data

AAFC and watershed districts are working to design practical projects alongside farmers

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Living Labs experiments in southeastern Manitoba will hopefully yield data to fine-tune water conservation projects and put evidence behind claims they work, says one watershed district manager. “One of the big questions for us is: We build these — are we building them right? And for what purpose?” said Jodi Goerzen manager of Seine Rat
Ken Forth, president of Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Services, said the federal government lacked planning by pulling funding to quarantine workers before the end of the growing season.
News

Effect on Manitoba farms uncertain after feds stop funding TFW quarantine costs

Organizations frustrated with apparently arbitrary cut-off, government going back on its word

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Some are frustrated after feds cut funding to help farmers pay for temporary foreign workers (TFWs) to quarantine after arriving in Canada, though Manitoba employers may not know how this affects them until next season. “People found it frustrating because when they initially did this and started the quarantine, their initial statement was that they would support us
Ukko Robotics founders Daniel Badiou and Katrina Jean-Laflamme.
Faces of ag, Farmit Manitoba

Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes couple puts mechanical mettle to regenerative livestock farming

Faces of Ag: Ukko Robotics’ Rova Barn is blazing a trail towards automated pastured poultry and pigs

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One could say the origin story of the robotic Rova Barn begins with a young kid on a dairy farm who wanted to go to the beach, or on a family road trip, or just to Grandma’s for Sunday dinner. But milking needs trumped adventure. “We didn’t go on holidays when I was a kid,”
‘Veggie Van’ brings fresh food where needed most
Farmit Manitoba, News

‘Veggie Van’ brings fresh food where needed most

Mobile market brings local veggies to Winnipeg’s food ‘deserts’

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A mobile market of fresh local produce is bringing the farm fresh to families and seniors in Winnipeg inner-city neighbourhoods. “Everybody wants what’s good for the people that they love. Everybody wants to be able to give fresh, healthy food to their kids,” said Stephanie Fulford, garden and food skills programmer at NorWest Co-op Community
News

Hay West’s complex legacy of solidarity and economics

The program lauded by politicians and media drew the skepticism of others

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It’s difficult for critics to pan the generosity and sheer altruistic will of people like Willard and Wyatt McWilliams, the father-son farmer duo who started the iconic 2002 Hay West campaign. Likewise, too, the kindness of people like Vancouver Island farmer Bryce Rashleigh, who is selling his hay for rock-bottom prices and pulling together donations
Hay West (and East) ride again
News

Hay West (and East) ride again

A triad of programs are continuing a longtime legacy of farmers aiding farmers

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When the pandemic shut down Victoria’s tourist industry, B.C. farmer Bryce Rashleigh lost the bulk of his hay customers: carriage horses that carted tourists around the coastal city. This summer, as Prairie cattle producers languished in drought, Rashleigh — who farms in Saanichton on Vancouver Island — was near broke and “swimming in round bales.”

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