An Elie-area farm family didn’t know exactly what they were in for when they signed up for a short course on ‘nutrition farming’ a couple of years back. But the Boerschs, who farm a 5,000-acre commercial grain farm here, figured there had to be something to it. Alex Boersch, who’d left his grain trading career
Local farmer takes a ‘dietary requirements’ approach to soil health
Researchers working to produce winter wheat with ‘CWRS-like’ qualities
The project is all about improving returns to the producer by reducing the price difference between the two types of wheat, say research scientists
A wheat research program could combine the superior end-use qualities of hard red spring wheat with the higher yield and environmental benefits of winter wheat within the decade. Robert Graf, a research scientist responsible for the winter wheat-breeding program at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, says he and his team are
Predators taxing livestock ranchers
A working group is eyeing a pilot project to seek solution
Predation losses are mounting, and producer frustration is growing. The issue of livestock kills is once again high on the agenda of beef producers as they gather at district meetings this fall. Wolves and other predators repeatedly take out animals, and aggravation is mounting that solutions to a problem as pressing as this gain so
New tales told in ‘More Abandoned Manitoba’
Author Gordon Goldsborough is hitting the road with his newest release featuring 28 more fascinating stories about little-known places in rural Manitoba
Manitoba author Gordon Goldsborough is on the road again — this time to launch the sequel to his 2016 runaway bestseller Abandoned Manitoba. More Abandoned Manitoba: Rivers, Rails and Ruins released in October contains photos and stories of more than two dozen sites he’s visited in the past two years. Wherever he goes, there’s always
Environmental farm planning workshop season now underway
Over 6,000 producers covering more than 9.3 million acres of land have participated in workshops and completed EFPs since 2004
Environmental farm planning season is now well underway again as field work wraps up and producers enrol in workshops. Taking a workshop and developing an Environmental Farm Plan (EFP), which is voluntary and confidential, both increases a producer’s environmental awareness of their farm, by identifying the farm’s assets and risks, and enables them to develop
Vet stresses need for veterinary-client-patient-relationship (VCPR) by Dec. 1
Producers must have a formalized working relationship with a veterinarian to continue to have access to antimicrobials
Any beef producer who doesn’t have a formalized working relationship with a veterinarian must have one by December 1, or risk finding out the hard way they can’t buy antibiotics they may need. After that date, you’ll need a vet’s prescription to buy virtually any antibiotic needed on the farm, as all over-the-counter purchases are
Souris River study team seeks public input
Water engineers need to hear adjacent landowners’ particulars on how the river’s flows affect them
A team of researchers is seeking input from landowners along the Souris River about the condition of the Souris River and how its flows are affecting them. The responses will help the International Souris River Study Board, which has posted an online questionnaire, as it reviews the operating rules and eventually makes recommendations that best
How are you?
Campaigns championing the mental health of farmers are making it a little easier to reply ‘not so good’
Farmer-to-farmer campaigns talk about it and it’s a topic around corporate board tables. It’s a dinner table discussion, too. It’s getting easier to talk about mental health in agriculture, say those providing the farm community with places to do so. For nearly 20 years the confidential farm and stress line — Manitoba Farm, Rural and
Western Manitoba conservation districts oppose merger
Province says TRWCD and IMCD must amalgamate, but can retain separate mandates
Municipal leaders opposed to merging two western-area conservation districts say the move won’t save a cent, and the new ‘super district’ to be created will cost more and not less to operate. Turtle River Watershed Conservation District (TRWCD) and Intermountain Conservation District (IMCD) met with provincial authorities last week to argue their case for not
Manitoba dairy producers reeling from USMCA trade deal
Trade deals are starting to add up when it comes to the impact on dairy farms
Manitoba dairy farmers attending annual meetings this month are trying to understand the coming changes as a result of the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). There are some serious questions being asked about what the new deal means for the family farm and their future, said David Wiens, a Manitoba dairy farmer and vice-president of
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