The face of Manitoba vegetables, Larry McIntosh, is retiring after 27 years with Peak of the Market. “There’s no question, I’m going to miss the people and the positive environment,” Larry McIntosh told the Co-operator. “I love coming to work every day. We have a lot of fun.” Under McIntosh’s direction as president and CEO,
Peak of the Market president to retire after 27 years
A Toronto kid with no ties to agriculture, Larry McIntosh learned to love Manitoba, then its vegetable farmers
Small processors say Food Development Centre cuts troubling
Access, cost may have already been an issue, say some sources
Mary MacLean can’t imagine starting Happy Dance Hummus without help from staff at the Food Development Centre. “Basically everything I didn’t know I would turn to them to find out,” MacLean told the Co-operator. When she began her business, about five years ago, she took her homemade hummus to FDC in Portage for analysis. When
Education tax cut increases fairness, say KAP, AMM
The rollback has led to criticisms that it’s a tax cut for wealthy landowners at the expense of education funding, which could hurt rural communities
The Pallister government’s promised education property tax cuts are a step in the direction of fairness, but won’t be a huge windfall — at least not this year, said KAP president Bill Campbell. “Education funding needs to be equitable and equal for citizens of Manitoba and not necessarily based on some people’s assets. Not everybody’s
Matheson to move on from Manitoba Pork
The Stonewall-area farmer brought ‘years of wisdom’ to the chairman role
Manitoba Pork chair George Matheson will retire from his role after leading the organization through challenges like PED, chronic low prices, and the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. “There’s never a shortage of challenges in the pig business in Manitoba, that’s for sure,” said Matheson. Matheson stepped into the role in 2015 after almost a
KAP welcomes education property tax rollback
Budget pledges a 25 per cent rebate cheque in 2021; existing farmland school tax rebate to be reduced
A promised start to the phasing out of the education property tax is “welcome news,” said KAP president Bill Campbell. “Farmers pay a disproportionate amount of education property taxes, and the disparity between what farmers are paying and what the average homeowner is paying remains an issue,” Campbell said in a statement April 9. “Until the tax is completely removed, farmers will continue to pay more
Collaborative marketing can make customers part of something bigger
Teaming up with other growers can widen a customer base, create more convenience, and give new farmers a leg up
Collaborating with other farmers to direct market food can show customers that they are part of a larger community, says one direct-market farmer. And, unlike organics or environment-friendly farming practices, community doesn’t scale up to Walmart size. “(The local food movement) succeeded in creating an awareness that food is a purchase that has a serious
Morris-based company debuts crop residue-fuelled grain dryers
Triple Green Products says its BioDryAir unit can hook up to most grain dryers and save farmers significant cash on fuel
A Morris-based company will soon debut a biomass-fuelled heat source for grain drying. “Drying grain has become one of the most energy-intensive operations on the farm. It’s a significant cost to farming operations and in many cases is subject to carbon tax,” said Cam Cornelsen, co-owner of Triple Green Products. Cornelsen spoke during Manitoba Sustainable Energy Association’s (ManSEA)
Manitoba a difficult place to sell solar power
Since the end of a Manitoba Hydro rebate program, interest in solar energy has dwindled despite ample opportunity for growth, says a Winnipeg contractor
Solar energy remains a largely untapped resource in southwestern Manitoba, and few incentives exist to boost public interest, says one contractor. Manitoba has become a “very difficult place to sell and install solar,” Daniel Lacovetsky said during Manitoba Sustainable Energy Association’s (ManSEA) virtual conference on March 23. Lacovetsky and business partner Jacob Kettner own Powertec
Rural childcare may need public management to succeed
P.E.I.’s childcare model might have worked in Manitoba – but it got scrapped
The Manitoba government has taken several runs at improving child care in the province, but fragmented and stymied approaches have thus far left many families in the lurch. If rural families feel particularly pinched, they’re probably right. University of Manitoba researcher Susan Prentice said in rural and northern Manitoba, there is one childcare spot for
Anti-protest bill threatens farmers’ rights to protest, says NFU
While some see Bill 57 as helping farmers, the long history of farmer protest suggests eventually it will affect them too
When considering the province’s ‘anti-protest’ protection of critical infrastructure bill, consider that farmers also have a long history of protest, the NFU says. “It’s going to affect the entire public,” said Anastasia Fyk, a board member with Manitoba’s branch of the National Farmers Union. Bill 57, the Protection of Critical Infrastructure Act, proposes to allow
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