Although there are another two phases proposed for the St. Joseph project, Manitoba Hydro has not determined if it will happen, said a spokesperson for the Crown corporation.

The energy from Manitoba’s wind farms is supplementary to the electric power transmission network.

Currently 4.76 per cent, 238 megawatts, of Hydro’s total energy comes from wind sources.

Many of St. Joseph’s residents as well as Manitoba politicians came out to commemorate the wind farm’s opening.

Pattern, the California-based energy company responsible for the project, hosted the event at a packed St. Joseph Community Hall.

The post Manitoba’s Latest And Last Windfarm Unveiled appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Virtual trade shows allow companies in one country to introduce their products overseas, specifically in Asia, and deal directly to interested buyers. The two sides can discuss the product, see if there is genuine interest, and get a sense if the product has a chance in the target market.

“Virtual trade shows allow for a direct relationship to be established before deciding to travel over to the country,” said Ann Kavanagh an official with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada who works overseas and often sets up virtual trade shows for interested Canadian companies.

For the virtual trade show to be successful, much of the work needs to be done ahead of time, said Kavanagh.

“We make sure we match the companies really well first,” she said.

Along with a good match, getting the product to the potential buyer so they have a chance to actually see and taste or feel it while the trade show is going on is critical.

Even if you don’t get a sale, virtual trade shows can be useful for getting product feedback, says Kavanagh. A foreign perspective is important when a company decides to expand, especially when it is unable to visit the country.

Virtual trade shows have been around for only four years, but are expected to grow in popularity.

After renovations are complete at the Food Development Centre in Portage la Prairie there will be facilities where virtual trade shows can take place, said Robin McRae from FDC.

“We are adding a new boardroom with some more training space and will have video conferencing capacities so we will be able to host meetings internationally,” said McRae.

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“Virtualtradeshows allowforadirect relationshiptobe establishedbefore decidingtotravel overtothecountry.”

– ANN KAVANAGH

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While the rest of the world is struggling to spring back from a recession, India’s projected growth for 2011-12 is 8.75 per cent to 9.25 per cent compared to China’s seven per cent.

The country’s wealth is continuing to grow which is in part responsible for the explosion of retail and commercial food outlets, said Ann Kavanagh from Agri-Food Canada at the recent India Business Forum held at the legislature.

“India is a huge global economy. They are ranked 11th right now. They are the second-fastest-growing economy,” said Kavanagh.

A growing middle and upper income group along with an increase in education in healthy nutritional foods is fuelling people’s curiosity in foreign foods, she noted. The world’s second-most-populated country after China, the average age in India is only 29. “They have a huge consumption and market size for food. Thirtyone per cent of the average consumer’s wallet goes into paying for food.”

Despite this, growth in India is the least developed amongst the world’s major developing countries. Currently India lags 20 years behind ASEAN and 10 years behind China. Kavanagh said that the four main reasons for India’s current position on the economic scale are: lack of technology, infrastructure weaknesses, corruption costs and inefficiencies within government systems.

ARCHAIC TRADING SYSTEM

Government policy that protects the archaic trading system and the unique Indian culture are reasons why entering the market can be time and cost consuming. Western producers must be prepared to deal with tax and duty regulations and political instability.

It also has lower standards for health and safety practices. Importers of products must be aware of improper handling including damage, insects, humidity, heat and theft.

As well, India is behind many other countries when it comes to transportation and basic infrastructure. Refrigeration trucks as well as electric supply for cool or cold distribution and storage is limited.

For those who are looking to export to India, the best prospects for the next five years are edible oils (crude and refined), pulses, cocoa-based ingredients, fruit juices in bulk, fish and seafood, starches and rolled oats.

In India, agriculture production has suffered from a lack of investment, lack of incentives for growth, water scarcity and low yields. To meet demands India has to export agriculture products such as pulses and canola from Canada.

Canada is currently the top yellow pea supplier to India. Imports of Canadian pulses witnessed significant growth during the past five years, reaching a record $539 million in 2009.

India is the fourth-largest edible oil economy after the U.S., China and Brazil. India’s vegetable oil imports have doubled in the past five years (imports opened up in 1994). India imported a record 9.24 million tons of vegetable oil during 2009-10 oil year ended in October 2010.

KEY MARKET

While India has been pegged for the last couple of years as a key market for expanding exports, one must not overlook the country’s shortfalls, she warned. That is not to say that companies cannot successfully do business in India.

“Competition is already active in India. I have been there for eight years and they have already been bombarded. It is very, very aggressive. Other countries are much more aggressive than Canadians. We are much too passive and we are not getting out there enough. You’ll find your competition from other countries have been there before you,” said Bonnie de Moissac, of Manitoba Trade.

But she said Canada is a well-respected supplier. “This is a really good time to have a Canadian product or Canadian service. We are very well respected coming out of the recession.”

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TOP AGRI-FOOD EXPORTS FROM CANADA TO INDIA IN 2010

Pulses ($393 million) Oilseeds/seeds

($5.2 million) Food residues/fodder

($1.6 million) Fats and oils ($912K) Products of animal origin

($653K) Source: Agriculture and

Agri-Food Canada

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On March 29 at 11:30 p. m the Austin Fire Department was called by a neighbour who saw the smoke from one of the museum’s buildings.

The spokesman said that earlier in the day, museum staff were trying to defrost frozen electrical lines that travelled from the pioneer centre to the washroom building.

The fire started in the washroom and then spread to another building which houses tractors. Only one post in the tractor building was damaged from the fire. The washroom building where the fire started is completely destroyed.

There were no injuries reported, nor was an estimate of the damages provided.

During winter the museum is only partly opened, not all exhibits are available to the public.

The Manitoba Agricultural Museum has Canada’s largest collection of operating vintage farm machinery from 1900 and beyond. The collection includes over 500 implements as well as a pioneer village with over 20 buildings. It is located on a 50-acre site near Austin.

The post Fire Damages Manitoba Agricultural Museum appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The 15-day food tour put on by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank is focused on food justice issues.

Guatemala is among the 10 poorest countries in Latin America and it is estimated half of the population lives below the national poverty line.

Ellen Paully who works for CFGB and who will be leader on the tour spent two months in the country eight years ago studying food security issues. This time she is excited to experience the agriculture side of Guatemala.

“When I lived there I didn’t get to see the agriculture side of things,” said Paully. “The people are very welcoming and I look forward to going back.”

Becky Longhurst, a student from the Canadian Mennonite University is the only youth from Manitoba going on the tour.

During the tour the group will stop in Guatemala City, San Marcos, Totonicapan and Santiago Atitlan. Along with learning from local youth, the tour will visit various projects including community agriculture, ecotourism, a women’s co-op, and environmental conservation projects.

The last couple of days of the tour the participants will be staying with homestay families and get a chance to experience Guatemalan life with their host families. “This part of the tour is really exciting. Each family has something to do with agriculture, directly or indirectly so it’s a great chance for the participants to learn,” said Paully.

The post Youth Travel To Guatemala To Learn About Food Security appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

This is up from last year’s numbers, and CFGB is still looking for more acres and volunteers.

“We’ll be working on getting more acres right up to seeding time,” said Harold Penner regional co-ordinator for CFGB. Penner adds that there is no minimum size needed for a project. “It just depends on what a community or a farmer would like to do. The smallest we’ve had in Manitoba in recent years is 14 acres around two non-farmers’ acreages. A neighbouring farmer did the work.”

Last year the CFGB raised $10.5 million, including cash and grain, from Canadians with just over $2 million of that coming from Manitoba.

The post More CFGB Growing Projects Than Ever appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The Manitoba government created Agriculture Awareness Day in May 2004 as an opportunity to acknowledge producers for providing safe, plentiful and affordable food products and recognize their role as key drivers of the provincial economy.

This year was an opportunity to unveil the new food guide that shows the foods that Manitoba farmers and processors produce, and where they can be purchased. Copies of the new guide are available at a variety of locations including GO offices, libraries, chambers of commerce and tourism offices throughout the province

Agriculture Awareness Day recognizes the contribution that the agriculture industry makes to Manitoba. Agriculture contributes 62,000 jobs to Manitoba’s economy and directly employs approximately 30,000 workers. In 2010, agriculture contributed $4.2 billion or four per cent of the provincial gross domestic product.

The post Celebrating Agricultural Awareness appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Out of the five new products that were presented, which included a pumpkin yogurt, high-protein soy noodles, popcorn snack bars, and celiac-friendly granola snacks, the one that came out on top was Manitoba Mustard. A spicy, sweet twist on the traditional favourite, Manitoba Mustard is unique not only for its flavouring, but for the fact that four of the main ingredients are grown or produced in Manitoba: horseradish, blueberries, mustard seed and honey.

Though the judges were quite happy with the product, the team members were surprised by their win and will discuss as a group whether they see a future for their mustard on store shelves.

“We are quite surprised that we won today, but we are definitely going to talk and think about it. Now that we know it’s a great product and there is availability for it, the sky’s the limit. We will see where it goes,” said Kerri Muzyka, a nutritional science major. The team had only started developing the project in January.

Along with awarding the top prize, the three judges, Dave Shambrock executive director of Manitoba Food Processors Association, Judy Wilson from the Asper School of Business and Doug Speirs a humour columnist with theWinnipeg Free Press,gave helpful advice to each group during their individual presentations.

Comments on production, taste and marketing were all discussed and provided helpful information to not only the contest participants, but to the audience on what it takes to make a product taste good and be sellable.

Agriculture in the City officials say that this contest is an excellent opportunity for the students to learn about the food production industry and get a new product off the ground.

One of last year’s groups went on to place second at the annual American Association of Cereal Chemists International (AACCI) Product Development Competition held in Savannah, Georgia, with their product “The Beta Fruit Bar,” a bi-layered (apple and blueberry) gluten- free, naturally sweetened, oat glucan bar with dried fruits. The University of Manitoba students were the only Canadians as well as the undergraduate team at the international competition.

The Food Fight Competition is one of many events featured at Ag in the City this year. The three-day event which runs Friday to Sunday was started six years ago as an opportunity for city people to explore the vibrant and innovative world of agriculture and get a chance to discover how agriculture impacts our daily lives.

The post Ag In The City Showcases Budding Food Scientists appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“Certainly there are trends indicating improvement is occurring,” said Glen Blahey, agricultural safety and health specialist for the Canadian Agriculture Safety Association (CASA).

“More significantly is, in the last 10 years, there has been a noticeable shift in the number of children injured.”

Although the year-to-year numbers vary, over the 15-year surveillance period, 1990-2004, Canadian Agriculture Injury Reporting found the average annual number of child fatalities per year was13.9.

The average number of fatalities annually for the first seven years of the surveillance period was 16.4, whereas the average over the last seven years was 10.4. The overall trend showed a reduction in the number of agricultural fatalities in children from 1990 to 2004.

“Unfortunately, the number of injuries and fatalities in older farmers has gone up,” said Blahey. Over the 15 years, the average number of older adult fatalities was 40.

Although no one can put a price tag on health and life, there are estimates of the costs borne by farms.

An injury resulting in a brief time away from work typically costs an operation $700 in lost productivity, according to a study by the Canadian Agriculture Injury Surveillance Program (now CAIR) conducted a couple of years ago. An injury or illness resulting in hospitalization comes with a $10,000 price tag. A permanent injury or disability results in a $143,000 loss and a death results in a $275,000 loss to the farm.

“To make back what is lost in a hospitalization that farm operation would have to make an extra $100,000 that year, assuming that the farm could make a 10 per cent profit,” said Blahey.

“It just won’t happen. The cost is very significant.”

Canadian Agricultural Farm Safety Week, which runs from March 13-19, is a perfect time to start implementing health and safety standards on the farm. In 2010, CASA unveiled a three-year campaign called Plan Farm Safety. The program focuses on safety by putting an emphasis on managing business risk.

CASA wants people to “Make a commitment to safety,” said Blahey.

The website, http://www.casa-acsa.ca/, CASA provides resources to teach kids to be safe on farms as well as links to many Canadian websites that provide in-depth information to keeping farms a safe place to work and live.

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“Unfortunately,thenumberofinjuriesand fatalitiesinolderfarmershasgoneup.”

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The young breeder who was forced to destroy all of his turkeys and shut down production is now back in business. “The breeder has received a clean bill of health by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The barns were cleaned and disinfected. He already has got new turkeys for next year,” said Bill Uruski chair of the Turkey Producers of Manitoba.

Uruski summarized the avian ordeal to members attending the annual meeting.

“Our year ended with a blast; not the kind of blast you would attribute with having a good time. One of our breeder farms contracted avian influenza during the last week in November. The visible impact was a sudden drop in egg production but no deaths to the birds. The farm was quarantined by CFIA prior to the diagnosis being determined.”

Traceback from the infected farm led to the quarantine of a hatchery, as well as two other breeder farms and one commercial turkey farm. Depopulation occurred on the infected farm, as well as the hatchery. Over 600,000 eggs in incubators, as well as poults that would have been destined for U.S. farms had to be destroyed.

Since the breeder had to destroy all his birds and he was only 10 per cent through production Uruski estimates that he lost at least a year’s income.

It is still unknown how this strain of avian flu infected the barn.

With files from Ron Friesen

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“Ouryearendedwith ablast;notthekind ofblastyouwould attributetohaving agoodtime.”

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