Any changes to the rules governing the operation, permitting or construction of hog barns in Manitoba are always going to be controversial. This is a well-worn debate with both sides set to battle over perceived risks to the environment or the industry, depending on the advocate’s point of view. What is a little surprising is
Editorial: Pigs and protests
Editorial: Trump-eting doom
Last week Donald Trump, while playing his most important reality television role to date, came within hours of signing an executive order to cancel the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). A report from the Canadian Press that detailed the contents of a leaked version of the order said the move would have given Canada
Editorial: Every day is Earth Day
This past Saturday was Earth Day, a worldwide celebration of environmental protection, observed since 1970. Across the world people gathered for events, though a cursory scan of the activities through news reports suggests that most were in very urban locations such as Toronto and Vancouver. This is the great irony of the modern environmental movement.
Editorial: Hope springs eternal
What would possess someone of the pioneer era to try to farm here? This thought was much on my mind the past Easter weekend as I drove to the family farm in Saskatchewan for a holiday gathering. In mid-April, when the winter wheat is already well on its way in Kansas and Nebraska, here the
You may be ready for seeding, but is your land?
That early start to seeding is desirable, but not without some risks to manage
There’s little doubt that in recent years Manitoba farmers have been getting the crop in earlier and earlier. More tracked tractors, different seeder designs, management changes such as getting more work done in the fall and the ability to place more fertilizer at seeding time, has all added up, says Rejean Picard, a farm production
Farmers adjust fertility plans after tough fall
There’s still plenty of opportunity to get nitrogen on if you missed the fall application window
While spring banding of fertilizer has become more popular recently, there’s still plenty of growers putting it down in the fall. That is, unless they run into a season like last year. Many farmers throughout Manitoba struggled to just get the crop off, never mind getting their fall work done. Now they’re left with the
Editorial: Too small to bother?
There’s been lots of talk in the news lately about financially troubled corporations and how their plights are handled by governments. For example, the Quebec-based aerospace and mass-transit company Bombardier has been the subject of controversy after it proceeded to give 50 per cent pay increases to senior executives shortly after receiving yet another taxpayer-funded
Editorial: By the numbers
Statistics Canada says there were just over 13.3 million households in Canada at the time of the 2011 census, a number that has surely grown since then. The numbers crunchers at the agency rather dryly define the term as “… a person or group of persons who occupy the same dwelling and do not have
Editorial: Market realities
Over the years people have done some pretty goofy things to make money. Probably the best example is Gary Dahl, the inventor of the hare-brained scheme that was the pet rock. The story goes he was sitting in a bar in Los Angeles with friends in the early 1970s, listening to them complain about their
Editorial: Family feud
Everyone has that cousin, uncle or sibling. You love them, they’re family after all, but sometimes you just don’t like them much. Maybe it’s their insistence on talking about their controversial politics over Christmas dinner. Perhaps it’s the way they can’t just talk about how much they like their new tractor without running down yours.
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
