A newly released report paints a bleak picture of rural Canada — a rundown place that is neglected by governments and running out of people, despite its vital role and partnership with urban Canada. The State of Rural Canada 2015, details the multiple and serious challenges facing rural regions including depopulation, aging infrastructure, lack of
Rural Canada is in a state of neglect, report says
Federal policy vacuum resulting in erosion of rural communities in Canada
Pumpkin growers ready to vie for 2015 heavyweight title
Self-professed pumpkin-growing addicts will converge on Roland Oct. 3 to find out who will be this year’s heavyweight champion
Milan Lukes has crawled inside the pumpkins he grows. He fits in the cavity because he’s only 13 years old. He dug into them last year and in 2013 to collect seed. “There’s room for people my size in them, which is cool,” says the teen from St. Norbert who is growing pumpkins again this
Heartland Rodeo Association ‘blue rodeo’ remembers founder
HRA themed its 20th year of finals in honour of friend and founder Terry Marshall who died suddenly last year
He’d be very proud and very honoured. That’s how Strathclair cowgirl Lacey Marshall says her late father, Terry Marshall, would feel to see the events unfolding at Heartland Rodeo Association 20th annual finals here last weekend. “This rodeo meant so much to him. And it’s amazing to think of all the lives he’s touched.” HRA
New drainage regulations in Saskatchewan ‘good first step’
Saskatchewan’s Water Security Agency’s phased-in approach over 10 years will lead to more carefully planned drainage and reduced downstream impacts
A new approach to drainage regulation rolled out this month by Saskatchewan’s Water Security Agency is being called a good first step, but rural leaders say they’re anxious to hear more details. Herb Cox, provincial official responsible for the WSA said September 1 new regulations are the first phase of an agricultural water management strategy
Ag societies take the lead on Open Farm Day
The Manitoba Association of Agricultural Societies can help widen scope of farms involved
Open Farm Day Sept. 20 marks the last time Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development will be directly involved co-ordinating the event. The association representing this province’s 59 agricultural societies will take the helm for future events, and will look after finding host farm families, co-ordinating and promoting what has become a popular one-day trip
Remembering the ol’ swimming hole in Carman
The local municipal heritage group in Carman has installed a commemorative sign where now only stairs and partial walkways remain of the former Boyne River Swimming Pool
The local pool will soon close as the end of summer nears and swimmers hang up their beach towels to return to school. There was a time when “the pool” never closed. It was the river. Rural Manitobans of a certain vintage will remember diving into their favourite swimming holes off riverbanks, but their children
Perennial grain crops are one step closer
The goal is to find ways to grow food that will reduce the need for fertilizers, herbicides, and annual seed purchase
Seed it once, then sell everything except the combine and just keep harvesting year after year. It might not work out quite that way, but a perennial grain crop that can withstand cold Prairie winters is a little closer to reality for Canadian farmers. University of Manitoba perennial crop breeder Doug Cattani has been at
Dugald housing co-op a model for meeting rural seniors’ housing needs
With their Oakbank-area acreage becoming too much to maintain, Bev and Adam Zarazun plan to sell and move to a home that takes less to maintain. In the past, that would have meant leaving their neighbours and friends too but the Zarazuns are thankful they have a new option closer by. They’ll be living just
Ninth annual Great Manitoba Food Fight seeks competitors
This year’s annual Great Manitoba Food Fight will be held October 14 at the cooking studio of DeLuca’s Specialty Foods Store in Winnipeg. Last year the venue for the food entrepreneur competition was moved from Brandon to Winnipeg. This is the first year the competition has been held in autumn instead of early spring. “We
Farmer’s oat crop donated to support ag training in Zambia
Art Enns wants more people to hear about the work being done by the Manyinga Project to give young Zambians a good education while also training them to farm and garden
When Art Enns looks back on his own life in farming, he knows how valuable it was to learn skills he needed working alongside his father. Now he’s doing what he can to help children in a far-off land who don’t have parents to teach them. Losing parents early in life in a country likeCyber-Savvy Farmer
