Many Manitoba farmers felt the pain of a hard season.

Manitoba farmers challenged by 2019 crop

The worst part was the ‘harvest from hell’, which for some still isn’t over

Too dry, too wet and then it snowed. Lots. That sums up Manitoba’s 2019 growing season, culminating with the “harvest from hell,” which for some farmers won’t end until spring. “I have often said it’s not a good sign when you’re harvesting and they’re playing Christmas carols on the radio,” Minto farmer and Keystone Agricultural

Theatre board chair Sharon Currie speaks to the roughly 40 people at the ribbon cutting on Dec. 20.

Pilot Mound celebrates opening of new community theatre

It's Lights! Camera! Action! as Tivoli Community Theatre pulls back the curtain

Roll film! Pilot Mound’s brand new Tivoli Theatre is open—after what can only be described as a fundraising marathon. “It’s just amazing. It is kind of a little surreal that it’s here now,” said Gisele Harding, a theatre board member. “Kids will have a place to come.” On Dec. 20, board members cut the ribbon

Alum a useful tool to combat toxic algae

Alum a useful tool to combat toxic algae

The chemical has been used in the U.S. to clear lakes of algal blooms but hasn’t seen widespread acceptance in Canada

It’s no magic bullet, but aluminum sulphate can significantly reduce toxic algal blooms in lakes, American scientist John Holz told conservationists at a Winnipeg conference on December 3. “It is a common tool,” said Holz, whose company HAB Aquatic Solutions, has done 104 applications of the product, also called ‘alum,’ in the U.S. Holz spoke

Dori Gingera-Beauchemin, deputy minister of agriculture and resource development, speaks at the 2019 MCDA conference in Winnipeg, December 4.

Watershed districts waiting on funds to bring in new municipalities

Expansion has been on hold while the program is modernized, the province says

At least five municipalities are waiting in the wings to join watershed districts, some for at least three years, but provincial funding is maxed out. Conservation district members pressed Deputy Ag Minister Dori Gingera-Beauchemin and her staff for answers during a Q-and-A session at the recent Manitoba Conservation Districts Association conference in Winnipeg. Half of

Maple Leaf workers still waiting on agreement as clock counts down

Maple Leaf workers still waiting on agreement as clock counts down

The collective agreement for workers at Maple Leaf Foods’ Brandon plant is set to expire Dec. 31

The clock is ticking for negotiators to come up with a new collective agreement for workers at Brandon’s Maple Leaf Foods plant. The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 832 has been in negotiations with the company since June. The collective agreement between Maple Leaf Foods and the 1,900 workers represented by the union is



A flooded field in the RM of St. Andrews, March 2017.

Province on track to proclaim watershed regulations

The province says it is on track to proclaim regulations that would transform conservation districts into watershed districts, but that didn’t stop district members from pressing for a promise. Dori Gingera-Beauchemin, deputy minister of agriculture and resource development, held a Q-and-A with Manitoba Conservation Districts Association members during their annual conference in Winnipeg on Dec.

Province introduces Crown land sales legislation

Province introduces Crown land sales legislation

Government says the goal is a streamlined and transparent system

The Manitoba government is introducing new legislation that would streamline and improve government oversight for Crown land sales. The announcement came in a Dec. 3 media release on behalf of Central Services Minister Reg Helwer. Helwer touted the Crown Land Dispositions Act as the path to a system that would be “… more efficient, effective


Students from Carman Collegiate present on how they taught elementary aged kids about watersheds and conservation at an MCDA conference in Winnipeg on Dec. 4.

Manitoba students turn conservation teachers

High school students developed lesson plans for elementary schoolchildren

Students from Pilot Mound, Swan Valley and Carman won recognition and cash for teaching kids about watershed conservation in the first Healthy Watersheds Student Project competition. “It’s a pleasure to watch these kids,” said Cliff Greenfield, manager of Pembina Valley Conservation District as he announced the first-place winners at a Manitoba Conservation Districts Association conference on Dec. 3. The assignment asked Grade 8 to

Recently introduced regulatory changes to Agricultural Crown Lands saw sweeping changes to how forage and grazing leases would be allocated and administered.

Province firm on Crown land changes

Ranchers still hoping for a return to unit transfers or an extended right of renewal for all leases may be disappointed

The province is not backing down on Crown land regulation changes, despite continued pressure from northern ranchers. Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Blaine Pedersen maintained that ranchers would get right of renewal for existing forage and grazing leases, but stayed firm on the province’s removal of unit transfers. “We’ve said that we’re going to