AgriInvest Now Requires Producer Accounts – for Jul. 29, 2010

It’s back to the future for AgriInvest, the descendant of the former NISA program. Farmers must now open accounts at their local financial institutions to make their AgriInvest deposits for 2009. The federal government has held producers’ accounts for two years but now it’s time for them to open their own. That’s the way it



MAFRI On Alert For Giant Hogweed – for Jul. 29, 2010

An invasive toxic weed which recently made headlines in Ontario has not shown up in Manitoba – at least, not yet. An informal Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives survey has found no sign of giant hogweed, a plant which can damage human skin. But MAFRI will continue to keep a watchful eye out for

Heritage wheat more rust resistant than modern ones

Walk with Gary Martens down a row of test plots the length of a football field and you’re walking backwards in time through the history of wheat in Western Canada. Start with the latest varieties: Carberry (introduced in 2009) and Waskada (2007). A little farther down you meet Glenlea (1972) and Manitou (1965). Still farther


Major Revision Possible For AgriStability

Canada’s key agricultural safety net program may undergo a redesign to make it more acceptable to a majority of producers who say it isn’t working for them. Agriculture ministers could consider turning AgriStability into something resembling an income insurance program without the highly unpopular financial margins underpinning it. The idea is only one of many

Morris Stampede Opens After Calgary Controversy

“You can have a catastrophe happen to any horse at any time.” – DR. KEN JOHNSON The Manitoba Stampede and Exhibition, which celebrates its 47th anniversary in Morris this week, expects to avoid the controversy which annually dogs its larger counterpart in Calgary. Unlike the Calgary Stampede, which regularly experiences dead and injured animals during


New Development Program For Young Cattle Producers

Anew mentorship program launched July 13 will give Canada’s young beef cattle producers a chance to develop both business abilities and leadership qualities. The Cattlemen’s Young Leaders (CYL) Development Program will pair producers aged 18 to 35 with established professionals to hone specific skills and also become ambassadors for their industry. CYL will start as

Provincial Abattoirs May Get Freer Trade

“(The intent is) an outcome-based process where the standard is set by the quality of product.” – ALLAN PRESTON, MAFRI Along-standing promise to loosen up interprovincial trade may finally come true for provincially licensed livestock slaughter plants. Canada’s agriculture ministers have approved pilot projects to see how provincial plants can sell meat to other provinces


Manitoba Goes It Alone On Alternative Hen Housing

“We would have liked to have more consultation.” – LAURENT SOULIGNY, EFC Egg Farmers of Canada will let Manitoba go its own way on requiring larger cages for layer hens while still working toward a national policy on alternative housing. EFC appears resigned to Manitoba’s recent policy requiring new layer operations to use alternative housing

Flood Aid On The Way For Wet, Weary Farmer

Curtis McRae had completely finished seeding by mid-May, two weeks ahead of normal. Then the rain came. When it finally stopped, nearly two-thirds of McRae’s 4,000 acres lay under water. McRae, who farms near Clandeboye, estimates 60 per cent of his canola crop is gone. So is 20 per cent of his wheat. He expects