News & Farming Articles - Manitoba Co-operator

Workers sit on a bed next to ducks at a farm in Jiaxiang county, Shandong province, China.

China’s duck farmers cash in as ASF disease slashes pork output

Cost-conscious catering firms are switching to supply schools and factories

By Dominique Patton August 14, 2019

Reuters – On a 30-hectare (74-acre) plot of land in China’s Shandong province poultry hub, more than half a million white-feathered ducks are busy eating, chattering and laying eggs to produce cheap meat for thousands of factory canteens. With birds already packed into around 60 open-sided buildings, farm owner Shenghe Group is expanding further, aiming

With almost no carryout hay stocks in 2018, some producers will soon be under pressure to sell off their herds.

Local news

Manitoba’s West Interlake hay situation dire

Interlake region described as "abnormally dry"

By Marlo Glass August 14, 2019

MarketsFarm – The Rural Municipality of West Interlake has called on provincial and federal governments for assistance as the region faces critically low rain levels and crop yields. Current hay yields in the region are about 50 per cent of average. Typically, an average hay crop produces about one bale of hay per acre. Alternative

From top left to right: Ralph Eichler, Minister of Agriculture (photo courtesy of the PC Party of Manitoba), Dougald Lamont, leader of the Manitoba Liberal party and MLA for St. Boniface, Winnipeg (photo courtesy of the Manitoba Liberal Party), Wab Kinew, leader of the New Democratic Party and leader of the official opposition (photo courtesy of the Manitoba NDP), and Kate Storey, agricultural critic for the Green Party of Manitoba. She lives on a mixed farm near Grandview, Manitoba (photo courtesy of the Green Party of Manitoba).

Local news, Other

Provincial parties talk vision for agriculture ahead of election

Ahead of releasing official agricultural platforms, the parties talk trade, rural health care, African swine fever, and climate change

By Geralyn Wichers August 13, 2019

With campaign season officially in full swing for the provincial election, the Manitoba Co-operator caught up with the parties to talk agriculture. The parties we spoke to all polled regularly above five per cent for the past year. All parties had plenty to say about their vision for agriculture in Manitoba, bridging the rural/urban divide,

Vermeer’s ZR5 self-propelled baler demonstration was a major draw during a hay and silage day at Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives north of Brandon earlier this year.

Equipment, Local news

Is this baler yet another step toward driverless machinery?

Vermeer promises its new self-propelled unit will make baling as easy as driving down the highway

By Alexis Stockford August 13, 2019

Autonomous farming has taken a step from the grain crop to the hayfield. Vermeer’s ZR5 self-propelled baler has made waves in the U.S. and now in Canada after the machine made its Canadian debut in Manitoba earlier this summer. It was a major draw at equipment demos in both Glenboro and the Manitoba Beef and

“You really don’t do anything on this machine but steer it.”– Corey Dalman, Vermeer.

Equipment, Local news

Boots on the ground with Vermeer’s ZR5 baler

Digging into the finer details on the ZR5’s promises and capabilities

By Alexis Stockford August 13, 2019

Vermeer expects its modular design to be a selling point for the ZR5, both for ease of service and safety. The baling chamber is hydraulically connected to the power unit similar to a front-end loader. When disconnected, a switch in the cab lifts the baler from the power unit, allowing the farmer to drive away.

Shoal Lake Grade 12 student Austin Tataryn received his laptop from Richardson Pioneer representative Rick Kienas at a June 12 presentation at Shoal Lake School.

Country Crossroads, Local news, Other

Gently used laptops find a new home

Former Richardson employee works with the company to donate surplus machines to high school graduates

By Brenda Hunter August 13, 2019

Thirty high school students from Shoal Lake and Strathclair each recently received a refurbished laptop thanks to a joint initiative by Shoal Lake School alumna Jennifer Stefansson and Richardson International Limited. The new program is for high school graduates who have contributed to their community but do not have a laptop and intend to pursue

According to a recent study, the biggest and most successful farmers benefitted the most from President Trump's support package to help counter the financial pain felt by the U.S./China trade war.

News, Other

Most of Trump’s U.S. farm aid goes to wealthiest farmers

The top one per cent of aid recipients received an average of more than $180,000

By Humeyra Pamuk August 13, 2019

Reuters – More than half of the Trump administration’s $8.4 billion in trade aid payments to U.S. farmers through April was received by the top 10 per cent of recipients, the country’s biggest and most successful farmers, a study by an advocacy group shows. Highlighting an uneven distribution of the bailout, which was designed to

Dry pasture conditions and rising feed prices could see higher cattle volumes at auction this fall.

Livestock Markets, Local news, Markets

Dry conditions may drive cattle to market this fall

Fed cattle, bulls also expected to head to market sooner

By Marlo Glass August 12, 2019

MarketsFarm – Dry pasture conditions in Manitoba mean cattle markets may make for a busier fall than normal. “The yearling run is right around the corner,” remarked Robin Hill of Heartland Livestock Auction Ltd. in Virden. Dry pasture conditions and rising feed prices are expected to speed up cattle volumes to auction in the fall,

Andreas Zinn interacts with a customer at the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market.

Farmit Manitoba, Livestock, Local news

Free-range farmer benefits from raising animals the old-fashioned way

‘Mother Nature never had a confinement operation,’ Andreas Zinn says

By Geralyn Wichers August 12, 2019

Andreas Zinn says he was born to raise animals. If the autobiography he wrote at age six is an indication, that’s true. It documents his plans for the future: get up early, raise crops, raise chickens and pigs. It was a solid prediction. At age 13, Andreas got his first goat as a birthday present.

People climb a dike formed by wind soil erosion during a field tour at the Global Forum on Soil Stewardship.

Farmit Manitoba, Local news

Soil degradation a costly global issue

About a third of the world’s soil is degraded, which has economic and food security implications

By Geralyn Wichers August 12, 2019

When Prairie-dwellers think of soil erosion, they may think of iconic photos from the Dirty ’30s: towering clouds of black soil blowing across desolate land, teacups turned upside down against drifting grit. But as Francis Zvomuya told the classroom of farmers and agronomists at the Global Forum on Soil Stewardship, soil degradation is far from

Daily Network News

B.C. ostriches culled, CFIA confirms

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hogs end week on high note

U.S. grains: Soybeans bounce as Chinese demand assessed, wheat drops

News