It’s about more than providing livestock with nutritious feed and forage. Properly maintained grasslands can also contribute to society’s understanding of the work farmers do, as well as play a valuable role in conservation efforts, says Wanda McFayden, executive director of the Manitoba Forage & Grassland Association. The organization changed its name last summer to
What’s hiding in the tall grass? Could be conservation benefits
Properly maintained grasslands can promote conservation as well as a greater public understanding of how farmers interact with the land
Straw to be turned into power
After years of development, a St. Adolphe company is planning to use its biomass burners to help power small communities
Spinning it into gold may be out of the question, but one Manitoba company is hoping to turn straw and other agricultural waste products into electricity. The St. Adolphe-based Triple Green Energy — formerly known as Biomass Best — is preparing to test a new system that it hopes will generate 70 kilowatts of power,
Coal ban goes into effect, sort of
Those hoping to burn the coal they got in their stockings this Christmas are out of luck, at least in Manitoba. But while the province’s ban on burning coal and petroleum coke for heat officially came into effect on Jan. 1, a grace period of three years means that in practice, many will continue to
Blaze razes barn near Steinbach
Five thousand hens are dead and a barn is rubble following a fire at Kokomo Farms, just east of Steinbach. “It is a disappointment. I had a good flock, they were laying good, so this is really a shocker,” said owner Manuel Giesbrecht. “It’s sad, but we will try to recover.” Giesbrecht learned of the
Opportunities and challenges follow demographic changes
Immigration is feeding the Canadian population, but agribusiness needs to figure out what is feeding immigrants
The face of Canada is changing — or more correctly, the faces of Canada are changing. “Canada is rapidly moving from being a white country to becoming a brown country,” Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Global Public Affairs, told attendees at the recent GrowCanada conference in Calgary. And that’s something that should get those in
Manitoba still lacking regulation when it comes to antibiotic use
Their misuse has the power to render the most powerful tools in modern medicine impotent, yet in Manitoba there is more regulation around the sale of pesticides than antimicrobials used in livestock production. Mounting evidence points to an increase in antimicrobial-resistant diseases worldwide, and a research paper published recently in The Lancet calls for greater
Major corporations want freedom and cash
If companies don’t regulate themselves and stay ahead of the curb, government will step up and do it for them: Buckner
A sustainable future doesn’t need government intervention, it needs a free market and self-regulated industry, the head of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation told the recent GrowCanada conference. “Give me an open market, free of retaliatory trade restrictions and a predictable regulatory environment to advance technologies, and I’ll find a way to be profitable and
Grunthal auction hopes to help wrangle hunger
Dozens braved frigid deep freeze to help fight hunger during Manitoba’s first charity cattle auction
Grunthal It’s not every day that a busy cattle auction takes a moment to pause and consider the effects of hunger in far-flung places like Syria, but that’s exactly what happened at the Grunthal Auction Mart earlier this month. The Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) held its first-ever fundraising cattle auction in the province, with all
Neonicotinoids unfairly targeted
One U.K.-based researcher believes the real culprit behind colony collapse is inexperience, poor weather, mites and disease — not neonicotinoids
A Syngenta bee researcher told the recent GrowCanada conference neonicotinoids are being unfairly blamed for declining bee populations. “The risk to bee populations from neonicotinoids as they are currently used and used according to the label, is low,” Helen Thompson, a Syngenta bee researcher, told attendees. The U.K.-based scientist said studies used in the European
How sweet it is: Honey Co-op turns 75
From processing honey in a Victorian warehouse in downtown Winnipeg, to marketing worldwide, Manitoba’s honey co-operative has grown into an international business
It may have been 75 years ago, but Edwin Hofer still remembers the excitement of delivering honey to the then newly formed honey co-operative at its imposing Bannatyne Avenue processing facility. “I would go into the old plant with my dad on Bannatyne… we took the honey in pails at that time, there was noCyber-Savvy Farmer
