The number of Manitoba farms that direct-market products grew by 12 per cent between 2016 and 2020, a new report indicates. The report, released this summer, used sources including the 2021 federal census of agriculture. It shows that in 2020, just over 1,000 farms were directly selling food to customers, up from 900 in 2016.
Direct farm marketing makes gains in Manitoba
The pandemic shifted farmer and consumer habits, but may make data less representative of the norm, says Direct Farm Manitoba
Farmers and industry say government’s emissions plans at odds with export goals
Groups ask for goals to be based on emissions per bushel but this may not reduce emissions long-term
The federal government’s goal to reduce emissions from nitrogen fertilizer is at odds with plans to increase agricultural exports by 55 per cent, say agriculture and fertilizer groups. “This 55 [per cent] increase is attainable; however, it is unlikely to be achieved by the shackling of grain, pulse and oilseed farmers through the reduced use
VIDEO: Traditional and alternative proteins peacefully coexist in ‘Stepplerville’
Prairie Cricket Farms began in a tent in a basement. Now, it’s making its way into grocery stores across the province
Inside the barn, it’s always a hot summer night. It’s 34 C, and a million crickets sing a soft but steady chorus. Outside the barn, it’s a textbook, idyllic early-harvest day on a Manitoba farm. A handful of cattle chew their cuds in a nearby pasture. The wheat across the drive is in the late
Examining the burning nitrogen questions
If you’re confused about nitrogen emissions, you’re not alone. How can the non-scientists among us cut through the noise?
After weeks of fury over federal nitrogen emission targets, the waters are muddy at best. Everyone has their own take and, as I’ve learned in my short reporting career, everyone has data to back up their view, no matter how obscure. I can’t be the only one neck deep in position papers, scientific studies and
Emissions goal realistic — even conservative — with enough funding, experts say
Quibbling about farmers' fertilizer efficiency clouds the real issue, a Manitoba researcher says
Claims that Canadian farmers can’t meet the government’s emissions reduction goals without wholesale cuts to fertilizer are utterly false, says a Manitoba researcher. “It’s pretty easy for us to meet the target,” said Mario Tenuta, senior industrial research chair in 4R nutrient management. Tenuta is based at the University of Manitoba. “Thirty per cent is
Province’s dairy farmers needed second price hike, DFM says
Lack of transparency in price-setting makes Canadian dairy an easy target for critics
High feed costs, after-effects from last year’s drought and other rising costs made double dairy price hikes necessary for Manitoba farmers, Dairy Farmers of Manitoba says. “Farmers were telling us – you know, I could feel it too – that, you know ‘I’ve already used up all my cash reserves’, and costs were rising quickly,
Farmers say no one wants to work. Experts say that’s not the case
Producers are struggling to find workers -- and so is everyone else
Aerial field sprayers are the fighter pilots of industry, swooping low and fast while dropping chemical armaments over fields. They’re used to avoiding obstacles including power lines, trees, buildings and vehicles. But some are facing a new challenge — getting chemical delivered to the aircraft. Calvin Murray, founder of Early Bird Air near Strathmore, Alta.,
Pigs among the poplars: a peek inside a unique Danish hog farm
With saturated markets at home, most of this Danish hog farm’s organic pork fills American appetites
A sow lounges on her side in a dusty hollow she’s dug for herself. A few piglets nestle up to her belly for a quick snack while the rest of her litter capers around her. She and her neighbour sows are too big to escape their electric-fenced pastures, but the piglets are not. Gangs of
Medical meltdown: Know the nearest available ER, doctors urge rural residents
While rural health care challenges grew in the pandemic, municipal leaders have been calling for change for years
A group of Manitoba doctors has set up a resource to tell rural residents where they can find emergency medical care. “Please plan ahead,” said Dr. David Cram in a news release from Doctors Manitoba issued at the start of the summer. Cram works in Souris. “In all my years practicing medicine in rural Manitoba,
Barley yellow dwarf virus confirmed
Despite the name, the pathogen can infect any small-grain cereal crop
An aphid carrying the barley yellow dwarf virus has been making itself known in Manitoba this year. The bird cherry-oat aphid is the main suspect when it comes to spreading the insect-carried disease, which does not spread through dirt or seed. Why it matters: While barley yellow dwarf virus, or “red leaf” when it’s found
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
