Country Crossroads & Farming Articles

New research may eventually see plants created that can shake off insect damage on their own.

Some plants rise to challenge of cutting

Research findings could increase productivity and lower pesticide use eventually

By Manitoba Co-operator Staff October 23, 2017

How would you like a canola plant that just got tougher as flea beetles tried to eat it? Eventually that may become reality if new research from the University of Illinois pans out over time. Researchers there have been studying a group of plants known as “overcompensators,” which react to being clipped by increasing their

Squash comes in all sizes, shapes and colours and they all taste great.

Recipe Swap

Squash are nutrition all-stars

Prairie Fare: They’re decorative, but they’re also delicious and healthy

By Julie Garden-Robinson October 20, 2017

We live an exciting life,” my husband commented as he flipped a butternut squash on its side. We were at a grocery store on a Saturday evening. An attractive display of colourful squash and pumpkins caught my eye, and I pulled my phone out of my purse to take a photo. I stepped back to

JK Ranching team (l to r) Jeremy Pilkey, Carla Marsh, Roger Dunham, and Kevin Taylor.

Country Crossroads

Saving cowboy heritage

Teams compete for champion status

By Darrell Nesbitt October 19, 2017

A traditional grassroots version of rodeo developed over the years from competitions held between ranch hands during large working ranch gatherings kicked up a lot of dust in Hamiota last month. The Manitoba Ranch Rodeo Association (MRRA) and its members from across Manitoba and Saskatchewan uplifted the spirits of the history of the sport. Although

A new program led by the Manitoba Beef Producers aims to help protect some of the last remaining habitat for grassland birds in this province.

Country Crossroads, Other

New online bird atlas posts first results

Eighty species accounts now published on the website of the Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Manitoba and more to come. Creating the atlas was one of the largest citizen science initiatives ever undertaken in the province

By Lorraine Stevenson October 18, 2017

Manitoba birders have a new online tool that just may best their binoculars when it comes to spotting their elusive objectives. The online Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Manitoba has just got a new and highly anticipated data release that includes the first 80 species accounts, plus new content maps showing where these birds

Our History

“Terminator” technology terminated

Our History: October 7, 1999

By Manitoba Co-operator Staff October 18, 2017

In the 1990s, Delta and Pine Land, a company working with and later acquired by Monsanto, devised the ultimate protection for preventing farmers from replanting seed from protected varieties. It developed what became known as “Terminator” technology which would render the seed sterile after its first year. The technology was highly controversial, and we reported

Stephen and Vicki Yanyk are third-generation farmers.

Country Crossroads, Hogs

‘Farm fresh’ is Oakburn couple’s slogan

Steve’s Farm Fresh Pork offers a variety of products to area consumers

By Darrell Nesbitt October 17, 2017

Encouraging strong roots for a better food and agriculture system for all, a young Oakburn couple operating a third-generation family farm, has diversified their operation by offering 100 per cent fresh pork from the farm gate. Steve’s Farm Fresh Pork, owned and operated by Stephen and Vicki Yanyk, offers a variety of products to Oakburn-area

New research may be paving the way to more efficiently converting biomass like cornstalks into biofuels.

Did you know?, News

Cutting the cost of ethanol

Researchers devise a way to reduce the amount of enzymes needed to convert biomass into biofuels

By Manitoba Co-operator Staff October 16, 2017

Biofuels like ethanol could get cheaper if new research from Rutgers and Michigan State universities holds up. Scientists there have demonstrated how to design and genetically engineer enzyme surfaces so they bind less to cornstalks and other cellulosic biomass, reducing enzyme costs in biofuels production, according to a study published in the journal ACS Sustainable

A healthy breakfast can keep us energized for longer and keep hunger pangs at bay.

Recipe Swap

Does your stomach ever interrupt your work?

Prairie Fare: Eating breakfast has many benefits for people of all ages

By Julie Garden-Robinson October 13, 2017

Oh, no, I thought to myself. My stomach was going to growl loudly enough to interrupt a meeting. This is more than a little embarrassing, especially among casual acquaintances. I usually grab a small snack before I go to a 10 a.m. meeting, but I answered a phone call. I grabbed a water bottle and

Our History

Trudeau asks, “Why should I sell your wheat?”

Our History: October 2000

By Manitoba Co-operator Staff October 12, 2017

The editorial in our October 5, 2000 issue noted the passing of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, who had often been criticized for his quote from a 1968 meeting in Winnipeg when he said, “Why should I sell your wheat?” We carried the full text which followed that statement just after he was elected, which

A steam shovel loading fill onto Manitoba and North Western flatcars. Steam shovels were capable of swinging the boom from side to side but the boom was fixed in position and only the bucket or dipper and the “dipper stick” could be raised and lowered. However, the dipper stick can be moved in and out. One can make out the rack bolted to the bottom of the dipper stick over the shoulder of the man in the bowler hat and vest. The large gear on the side of the boom worked a pinion which ran the rack back and forth. A small steam engine mounted on the boom worked this gear. The movable dipper stick made the steam shovel more effective. Other steam engines on the shovel swung the boom from side to side as required and worked the winch which raised and lowered the dipper.

Country Crossroads, Local news, Other

The Manitoba and North Western Railway

The now-forgotten railway was one of the region’s ‘colonization railways’

By Alex Campbell October 11, 2017

In the photo collection of the Manitoba Agricultural Museum, there is photo of several railway flatcars marked Manitoba and North Western. These cars belonged to a railway operating in Manitoba between 1881 and 1900. The Government of Canada in the early 1880s embarked upon a policy of granting land subsidies to small railway companies in

Daily Network News

U.S. livestock: CME cattle futures rise on expectations of tight supplies

U.S. grains: Chicago soybeans fall, but achieve first annual gain in three years

ICE Canada Weekly: Canola unlikely to have a good start to 2026