Hand and harvester

Editorial: A whole-farm approach

If you think the future of government support for agriculture lies in doing more of the same but only better, you’ll get little comfort from Manitoba’s Agriculture Risk Management Review Task Force report released last week. The 25 recommendations and the supporting appendix report should also make you a little uncomfortable if you think the

It's time for the province to commission an independent review of Manitoba's vegetable marketing board.

Editorial: Time for a review of Peak

Peak of the Market is back in the news, not that it’s ever very far from it. For example, week in, week out, every issue of the Winnipeg Free Press has a large advertisement with a daily recipe from Peak, each prominently featuring a photo of CEO Larry McIntosh. However, those ads often feature vegetables


A view of the 100-year-old Morden Research Station from its southern plots. Although the station is renowned for its horticultural research, it has developed many flax, sunflower, corn, buckwheat and pulse crop cultivars. Last year its mandate expanded to include cereal research after the closing of the Cereal Research Centre in Winnipeg.

Editorial: Beauty and the farm

The shifting sands in agricultural research were apparent last week as the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Morden Research Centre celebrated 100 years of innovation. Anyone who has visited the picture-perfect grounds on the east side of town is familiar with its reputation as one of the most beautiful in AAFC’s network. Not only has it

cwb sign outside building

Editorial: The farmers’ (equity) trust in the CWB

The sale of the CWB to Global Grain Group leaves many new questions for Prairie farmers

The farmers’ equity component is perhaps the most puzzling aspect of last week’s announcement that CWB has been sold. We can see the advantages to the Harper government of getting the company off its books. Moving the western Canadian grain-marketing system to an open market was an election promise that came with baggage; the administration