Oilseed acres may be nearing their maximum in Manitoba and could decline over the next six years, according to projections from the provincial Agriculture Department. Total canola, flaxseed, sunflower and soybean acres will peak at 4.6 million acres in 2011 and fall slightly to 4.5 million acres by 2017, predicts Anastasia Kubinec, a Manitoba Agr
Canola Acres Could Decline In Manitoba
Manitoba Pork Council Undergoes Major Restructuring
Seismic changes reverberating through the Manitoba pork industry have forced the province’s hog producer membership association into its biggest corporate restructuring in years. The Manitoba Pork Council is cutting local districts, slashing the number of delegates and adopting a grassroots approach for electing them. A massive loss of hog farmers and a desire for more
Milk Board Ready To Help
The provincial milk board is poised to help dairy producers whose farms are threatened by rising spring flood waters. Dairy Farmers of Manitoba and the Emergency Measures Organization can help producers temporarily relocate their cows if their farms are at risk, says chairman David Wiens. But moving dairy cows is so stressful for the animals
Dairy Expansions Slow, Quota Shortage Feared
Aslowdown in the consolidation of dairy farms across Canada may create a shortage of quota for producers who want to expand, an industry official warns. The current rate of dairy farm consolidation is about half of what the rate was at the start of the decade. This will put pressure on producers’ ability to expand
Cattle Insurance In The Works
The Manitoba government has set aside $200,000 for a livestock insurance pilot program for the province’s cattle producers. The allocation is hidden in the 2011-12 provincial budget brought down April 12 by Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk. TheCo-operatorlearned about it during briefings by Treasury Board officials in a media lockup prior to Wowchuk’s budget speech in
Hatching Egg Producers Seek Improved Disease Compensation
Canada’s broiler hatching egg farmers are examining the possibility of an insurance program to protect them against uncompensated losses resulting from reportable diseases in their flocks. Canadian Hatching Egg Producers is investigating an insurance package that would cover lost product ion and income from flocks that have to be destroyed. So far, the invest igat
Municipalities Get One Per Cent Of PST In Provincial Budget
Manitoba’s municip alities have achieved their long-term goal of receiving a fixed share of the provincial sales tax for infrastructure projects – sort of. The provincial government is promising legislation requiring one point of the seven per cent tax be invested each year in municipal infrastructure and transit. The promise is in Finance Minister Rosann
KAP, WRAP And APAS Deliver Election Wish List
Bread-and-butter issues for Prairie farmers top provincial farm associations’ election priorities as the federal campaign nears the home stretch. Keystone Agricultural Producers, Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan and Wild Rose Agricultural Producers last week listed four main issues they want the newly elected government to focus on after the May 2 election. The priorities emerged
Organic Alliance Seeks Financial Relief For Small Growers
Aprovincial industry lobby group wants the Manitoba government to ease the financial burden which new regulations will place on small organic farmers. The Manitoba Organic Alliance is asking the province to rebate part of the money small producers will have to pay to comply with organic standards under the incoming regulations. Currently, growers can sell
Climate Change A Mixed Bag For Farming On The Prairies
In an 1860 report to the British government, Captain John Palliser recommended against settling the southern Canadian Prairies because he considered the area too arid and poorly suited for farming. Now, a century and a half later, his words may be prescient. The Palliser Triangle, a 200,000-square-km area named after the 19th century explorer and
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