Manitoba Co-operator

Ron Friesen

Co-operator Staff

Stories by Ron Friesen

Crops under electronic observation: The latest sensors and platforms have made digital agriculture easier than ever.
Farmit Manitoba, News

Farmers watch crops develop in real time

Digital agriculture developing enhanced tools for farm decision-making

By
Digital agriculture. Precision agriculture. Smart agriculture. E-agriculture. These buzzwords currently circulating in the industry point to a new development in farming: using digital technology to collect, store and analyze data from producers’ fields in order to improve production on their farms. The process isn’t entirely new. For some time, farmers have been using hardware and software systems
Many farmers already use digital tools on their tractors and other equipment to generate field work data.
News

Agricultural digitization and environmental practices go together

By
Besides helping farmers save money on inputs, digital technology could pay dividends if and when governments start reimbursing producers for environmentally friendly farm management practices. So says Kris Kinnaird, product market manager for Farmers Edge, a Winnipeg-based agricultural technology company which markets a digital platform called FarmCommand. This product, and others like it, could enable
A resolution passed at a recent KAP meeting called on the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation to exclude a farmer’s Individual Productivity Index calculations from standing crops cut for feed, instead of being combined.
News

Drought triggers calls for crop insurance adjustments

MASC urged to waive IPI calculations

By
As a severe summer drought tightens its grip on Manitoba, farmers are seeking adjustments to crop insurance coverage to help them salvage what they can from drought-ravaged crops. A resolution passed at a recent Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) meeting called on the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC) to exclude a farmer’s Individual Productivity Index (IPI)
The Keep It Clean campaign uses a ‘traffic’ system to quantify trade risk from crop protection products.
Crops, News

Keep It Clean enters its fifth year

Industry program helps avoid residue problems on exported crops

By
Canadian farmers are being encouraged to use an industry alert program to keep unacceptable pesticide residues on crops from spiralling into potential trade problems. The voluntary program called Keep It Clean informs producers about which products to use on cereal, oilseed and pulse crops and which ones to avoid so as not to exceed maximum
Blocked tissues that transport water cause the telltale wilting and death of Potato Early Dying disease.
Crops, News

Potato Early Dying a silent yield killer

Industry network seeks to reduce impact of the disease

By
A national initiative to reduce the severity of a silent enemy in Canadian potato fields is claiming some early success halfway through its four-year program. The Canadian Potato Early Dying Network (CanPEDNet) is starting to learn more about verticillium wilt and how to deal with this major yield-limiting pathogen in commercial potato cropping systems, said
Potato scab is unsightly, consumers don’t want it and it results in more food waste.
News

Unsightly tubers hard to sell

Researchers close in on scab-resistant potatoes

By
A research project by Agriculture and Agri-Food scientists hopes to develop genetic resistance to a chronic disease in Canada’s potato crops. The project by AAFC researchers in Prince Edward Island aims at identifying precise genes responsible for resistance to common scab disease in some potato varieties so breeders can use them in developing new resistant
“You have to be resilient to be a potato grower.” – Dan Sawatzky, KPPA.
Crops, News

Manitoba potato growers look for brighter 2021

Industry coming off three straight challenging years

By
Beleaguered Manitoba potato growers are hoping for a normal crop this year after three consecutive years of adverse weather, unharvested acres, lower-than-expected yields and now the COVID-19 pandemic. Guarded optimism would be the best way to describe growers’ mood as they prepare for the 2021 crop amid weather and market conditions largely beyond their control.
MCA is hoping a whole-farm research approach will yield 
better results for farmers.
Crops, News

MCA calls for Whole Farm Research Program submissions

Letters of intent will allow group to select projects to begin next spring

By
The Manitoba Crop Alliance has launched a major research initiative by calling for project proposals under its newly formed Whole Farm Research Program. MCA is requesting letters of intent for wide-ranging cross-commodity research projects. The deadline for applications is April 15. MCA already funds separate research projects for all of its five agricultural commodities: wheat, barley, corn, flax
Year-round grazing requires year-round planning and management.
Beef cattle, Livestock

Winter grazing not just about winter

Regenerative grazing key to year-round pasture management

By
Whenever Steve Kenyon gives a presentation on year-round grazing systems, producers immediately think only of winter grazing. Bale grazing, swath grazing, crop residue grazing — Kenyon knows that producers who graze their cattle over winter love to talk about these things. But he cautions that, despite their importance, these methods are only a small part
Manitoba producers may be a bit leery of soybeans after three straight dry years,
 but over time the crop will do well.
Crops, Oilseeds

Don’t let dry weather scare you off soybeans

Growers told the long-term outlook for the crop is still positive

By
Three straight dry summers shouldn’t dissuade Manitoba producers from growing soybeans, despite a sharp drop in acreage during that time, an industry official says. The long-term outlook for soybeans in Manitoba is still positive, even though the province’s seeded acreage in 2020 was less than half the peak reached three years ago, said Bryce Rampton,

AgCanadaTV

AGCanadaTV: In case you missed it; your national ag news recap for Aug. 22, 2025

AgCanadaTV: Your Agriculture News Recap for August 22 2025 #icymi
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