A total of 44 farms and other agricultural sites threw their doors open last Sunday to celebrate Open Farm Day, part of Farm and Food Awareness week, which runs until Sept. 25. Open Farm Day co-ordinator Wendy Bulloch said the farm hosts always go the extra mile to showcase the industry at the event, which
Open Farm Day showcases agriculture
Manitoba’s agriculture industry put its best foot forward
Editorial: Feeding the fish
There’s a familiar trope of editorial cartoonists that features a chain of fish, small to large, with each larger incarnation set to consume the next smallest, until the tiny, blissfully unaware minnow at the very end of the food chain. It’s an image that’s been much on my mind lately as I’ve watched the latest
Editorial: Armchair economist
It’s been said that anyone who thinks about economic forecasts for more than about a half an hour a year is wasting their life. A professional economist told me that, and what she was getting at is the intractable nature of economics. Even the experts can’t agree on what’s happening, or has happened, never mind
Editorial: Quiet dedication
It was nearly 10 o’clock this past Tuesday evening, when my phone quietly buzzed, indicating an email had arrived. Despite what countless mental health experts have to say about not obsessively checking your work email during non-work hours, I couldn’t help but take a peek, as my curiosity got the better of me. What I
Editorial: Prairie solitudes
What is our country’s relationship with its indigenous citizens going to be in the coming years? This is an important question and probably more important to you than many. First Nations communities are predominantly rural and frequently are your neighbours. But as a good friend of mine pointed out a while back, while following the
Editorial: Safety first
A few years ago I had what I now ruefully refer to as a series of unfortunate events. It began innocently enough with a phone call one Saturday morning from a friend, wondering if I could help him move a couch. An hour or so later, on a frosty March morning, we were wrestling it
Editorial: Peace and prosperity
Maybe it’s time for agriculture to climb down from its wartime footing. For decades now it’s been a battle as farmers fight nature, red in tooth and claw, to prevent crop damages and loss. It’s hardly surprising when you consider the historical context out of which our modern Green Revolution agriculture sprang. It took off
Editorial: Consumer divorce
Talking to farmers these days about their relationship with consumers is like talking to a jilted lover. They can’t understand what’s just happened. In their minds, things were going so well. They’ve done what consumers asked, provided cheap and safe food, produced with the most modern technology. Everything was going along swimmingly, farmers thought. True,
Editorial: Long-term plans essential
The farms that are winners tomorrow will be run by farmers who are proactively understanding and defusing production problems today. There are a number of growing issues that could be a disaster tomorrow, but growers can prevent them if they’re committed to doing the right thing now. The best example, and the one that’s a
Editorial: Time for a time-out
What are your vacation plans this year? I ask because I suspect the answer for many of you will be that you don’t really have any plans, or more likely, you feel too busy to take a break. It’s understandable. After all, summer is the busiest season on any farm, and doubly so in this
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
