Aggressive marketing appears to have kept independent hog producers from backing up despite COVID-19 cases piling up at Maple Leaf Foods in Brandon. Contingency measures have come with a cost, however, and those costs have hog sector leaders eyeing potential AgriRecovery funds. Why it matters: Pork tanked earlier this year due to a glut of
Backlog prevention costs pork producers
H@ms Marketing and the Manitoba Pork Council say they’re floating the idea of AgriRecovery, but don’t give much hope that government will pay out
Miniature Herefords capture hearts (and stomachs) in the Interlake
Faces of Ag: McFinn Acres is home to a menagerie of farm animals, but miniature cattle are front and centre
From the moment you drive onto Jim and Vernette McIntosh’s yard, you’ll know one thing: They love animals. Ten dogs, ranging in size from a Great Pyrenees to a little, grey terrier, bound over for a friendly greeting. An elderly goat named Goober shuffles over to make your acquaintance while a tom turkey struts across
Group calls for climate-resilient ag in COVID-19 recovery
Farmers faced a ‘double whammy’ of extreme weather and the pandemic this year, according to the group Farmers for Climate Solutions
Farmers for Climate Solutions is calling for the federal government to back financial incentives for climate-friendly farming practices as part of its COVID-19 response. “We think that new investments through this economic recovery plan must also prioritize climate resilience so it’s lasting,” said the coalition’s director, Karen Ross. This year, she added, farmers have faced
Workers say Maple Leaf, province overlooking safety hazards
Workers tell the Co-operator of crowded bathrooms, locker rooms, stairways, cafeterias without handwashing facilities, forced overtime
Workers at Brandon’s Maple Leaf Foods plant say the company isn’t doing enough to keep them safe, and that they’re scared to come to work. “We workers are crying for help,” they wrote in an open letter circulated by Migrante Manitoba, an advocacy organization for migrant workers in late August. “It’s clear to us that
Late-season flea beetles no cause for alarm
They may be more evident this year as a dry August forces them higher into the canopy
insects Flea beetles may be more evident this yearas a dry August forces them higher into the canopy
Some Manitoba farmers have been spraying for flea beetles a little later than they’re used to, but experts say this year’s jump in late-summer flea beetle sightings shouldn’t automatically sound the alarm. “Canola can handle a fair amount of flea beetles late in the season,” according to an Aug. 19 crop pest report from the
Rural COVID-19 on rise as harvest heats up
Harvest underway in the west, albeit with a few more steps due to COVID-19 restrictions
Manitoba’s resurgent cases have taken a turn for the rural, just in time for harvest
It’s not hard to socially distance when you’re alone in a combine. Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Bill Campbell said he’d been “voluntarily self-isolating” on his farm near Minto — and by that, he meant he’s been stuck inside a swather, combine or tractor. As harvest has kicked into high gear across the province, the
Province resumes quarry rehab program
Program put on hold in 2018 after financial, management irregularities discovered
RURAL DEVELOPMENT The program was put on hold in 2018 after financial and management irregularities were discovered
The province announced it will resume providing funds to rehabilitate spent quarries into usable land after a two-year pause while the program was investigated. Under the Quarry Rehabilitation on Private Land Program, $6.7 million will be available this year for landowners looking to restore quarry sites, Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Blaine Pedersen said in a news release Aug. 13. The province is once
Fairs seek federal support after COVID-19 cancellations
Both Ag Ex and Ag Days have announced they're cancelling
EVENTS This month, Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba’s Ag Ex and Manitoba Ag Days announced their upcoming shows were cancelled
An organization representing fairs, exhibitions and ag societies is asking the Canadian government for $74 million to keep 743 shows afloat after many, including Brandon’s Ag Ex, cancelled over COVID-19 concerns. “The bulk of us have one shot to generate the majority of our revenue every year for the next 365 days and we’ve lost
Municipal Board considering benchmark ruling
Lawyers weigh in on precedent to be set in quarry appeal
The lawyers on either side of the contentious Lilyfield quarry case don’t agree on much, but they agree on one thing: the Municipal Board should be judging for itself whether the quarry in the RM of Rosser should go ahead. During an appeal hearing Aug. 18, lawyers for both the municipality and the landowner suggested
BRMs slow, complicated, kind of pointless, Manitoba farmers say
PROGRAM | Manitoba farmers weigh in on issues with AgriStability
The way some Manitoba farmers see it, they’d be better off if AgriStability didn’t exist. “AgriStability has never been there for cattle producers or grain producers, and definitely not there for the mixed producers,” said Mitch Janssens, who farms near Boissevain. Earlier this month, Ag Minister Blaine Pedersen said the program, long under fire fromCyber-Savvy Farmer
