But can it feed the world? The question routinely arises when the conversation turns to organic agriculture. Conventional wisdom says organic agriculture is a nice niche for those who can afford to pay the higher premiums as compensation for the farmers’ lower yields. But the production system can’t possibly achieve the productivity that will be
Our “Response Ability”
Rising Waters Too Expensive To Fight
Flooded ranchers and landowners around the three Shoal Lakes in the Interlake were told last week it is cheaper for governments to buy them out than come to their rescue with drainage. Area residents who packed into the community hall here had their worst fears confirmed as they learned the conclusions of a study commissioned
The Future Is Now
Tempers flared and fingers pointed as 350 residents from communities surrounding the three Shoal Lakes in the Interlake gathered in Woodlands last week. They were there to hear the long-awaited results of a study into possible solutions for an unfolding natural disaster – the seemingly unstoppable rise in lake levels that is submerging land that
Cattle Country Faces Watery Grave
Patrick Gross has watched from his living room window as rising West Shoal Lake waters crept closer in recent years, consuming the hay and pastures that have supported his family’s cattle ranch for four decades. Over the past three years, his usable acreage of owned and Crown lease land on the west side of the
Conspiracies And Cattle
It’s hard not to conclude from the continued dilly-dallying over support for Manitoba’s cattle sector that this is part of a back-door attempt to downsize the country’s cattle herd. First we had the Manitoba government saying helping producers feed their cattle is problematic because it might offend our export competitors. You can bet American policy-makers
A Good Idea – for Sep. 23, 2010
Kudos to the Manitoba Government and the farm families who opened their gates to visitors as part of the province’s first Open Farm Day last Sunday. By most accounts, the initiative was well-received by the non-farming public because it was, quite simply, an opportunity to “touch the farm” in a way displays and exhibits at
Friends And Enemies – for Sep. 2, 2010
Mentioning R-CALF to a Canadian cattle producer has about the same effect as pulling your fingernails across a chalkboard. The Ranchers and Cattlemen Action Legal Fund was formed in 1998 to fight for the livelihoods of small U. S. ranchers. It first set its sights on rising Canadian cattle imports, which it blamed for lower
Mixed Signals – for Aug. 26, 2010
There is good news and bad news in the recent data released from the Beef Information Centre’s research into consumer preferences for beef. The good news is, the vast majority of consumers like to eat beef. Ninety-six per cent of Canadian households and 93 per cent of individuals consume beef, which places its popularity close
Doing The Right Thing – for Aug. 19, 2010
Governments, although they usually mean well, make mistakes. And when those errors are incorporated into policy, they can have lasting repercussions. Such was the case in the mid-1990s when the Manitoba government made the ill-fated decision to regulate manure applications to farmland on the basis of nitrogen content. The error was an honest one. The
Flax-Testing Protocols Tightened – for Aug. 19, 2010
Flax delivered into the commercial grain-handling system this fall will face more rigorous and costly testing procedures to ensure it is CDC Triffid free than were in place last year, the Flax Council of Canada says. As of Sept. 1, commercial deliveries will undergo the same degree of testing for the genetically modified flax variety