Marie-Claude Bibeau, federal agriculture minister, attended CropConnect 2020 last week in Winnipeg.

Bibeau announces funding, but offers little on standing issues

The federal agriculture minister spoke briefly last week in Winnipeg

The federal agriculture minister told CropConnect attendees about two new programs last week, but had little new to say on long-standing producer concerns. Marie-Claude Bibeau was at the annual event to meet with Manitoba farmers and while there announced a total of $1.2 million in funding for the grain industry. Most of the money is

People shop for politics-themed shirts and other items at the store Raygun on the day of the Iowa Caucus in Des Moines, Iowa, Feb. 3, 2020.

Iowa’s anger over ethanol gives Democrats opening

Farmers were strong Trump supporters but now they say they’re being ignored

Reuters – In a speech last month to farmers in Texas, President Donald Trump won applause as he talked up recent U.S. trade agreements. When he tried to boast of his administration’s ethanol policy, however, he was met with silence. Iowa swung sharply to Trump’s Republicans in the 2016 presidential election, but Democrats hope anger


Producers need to pay close attention to four essentials: understanding their situation, understanding their finances, knowing their cost of production and how their commodity is priced.

Risky business? For farmers it’s just another day at the office

Peril can come in all forms, from the predictable to ‘black swan’ events

Farmers, by the nature of their business, must embrace risk. But at the same time, they need to manage it. That was a central theme at the 2020 Keystone Agricultural Producers AGM during a recent Tuesday morning panel discussion on risk management, featuring two farm management experts. Eric Olson, a farm management consultant with MNP’s

Ray Archuleta (left) with his volunteers, (left to right): Mike Bennet, Tyson Dueck, Codie Dueck and Markus Dueck.

Spreading the word

Pioneers of regenerative agriculture speak in Rosa

In late January, U.S. conservation ag guru Ray Archuleta asked for four volunteers to come to the front of the room and help him with an experiment. Called the ‘slake test’ it was designed to demonstrate soil stability to the 100 attendees at a soil health workshop at the Shevchenko Ukrainian Centre in Rosa. Archuleta,


Potato growers struggled with waterlogged fields this fall. Now those problems are coming home to roost.

Another winter of headaches for potato growers

Unharvested acres were already more than double last year’s historically hard harvest, now some of that crop is rotting in the pile

Manitoba potato growers are facing the inevitable result of a second extremely challenging digging season — elevated losses in storage. Wet weather in September and early October kept producers out of the fields, while a three-day snowstorm over the Thanksgiving weekend dropped upwards of 75 centimetres of snow in areas of south-central Manitoba, followed by

New opportunities not enough for pulse exports

New opportunities not enough for pulse exports

While it works to diversify, Canada shouldn’t neglect its old standbys, says one expert

Canada must address barriers to major export markets while finding new opportunities for its pulse crops, one expert told producers at a Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers meeting on Jan. 29. “We’re still in a transition phase before a full realization of these new opportunities for pulses,” said Mac Ross, director of market access and trade policy with


Flooding picture still weather dependent

Flooding picture still weather dependent

What happens between now and spring here, and in the U.S. and Saskatchewan, will be the determining factors

The province continues to keep a watchful eye on spring flood conditions, but says the true picture won’t be clear until winter is over. The comments came from Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler February 4, in a release announcing a new Basin Conditions Report that provided an updated snapshot of river levels and soil moisture conditions. “The report will present Red River and Assiniboine River Basin conditions

Bill Campbell was acclaimed to another term at the helm of KAP at the organization’s recent annual general meeting.

Campbell sees challenges ahead for Manitoba farmers

KAP’s president says safety nets, carbon tax and Crown lands among big issues on the radar


Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president, Bill Campbell, kicked off the 2020 annual general meeting last week by acknowledging the disastrous weather challenges, and calling governments to action. “We began in the spring with dry conditions and feed shortages,” Campbell said. “We ended the year with excess moisture and crops still out in the field.” That’s just how weather goes, but


Drainage ditches were near capacity this fall after a rain- and snow-filled season.

Make spring nutrient plans now, say U of M soil scientists

The very wet fall last year has set the stage for a very challenging spring season

A series of looming challenges makes planning now for spring nutrient applications crucial, two Manitoba soil scientists say. A wet fall and stretched-out harvest kept many producers from applying nitrogen fertilizer. While spring nitrogen application is not unheard of, it will then have to compete with many other tasks, said University of Manitoba soil science

2019 was a crop year full of surprises

2019 was a crop year full of surprises

It was a challenging year, but the data shows there were still some surprising good yields

There were lots of surprises during the 2019 growing season, including just how well many Manitoba crops yielded, on average, despite challenges from April to November. The good, bad and ugly are captured in Yield Manitoba 2020, out this week with the Manitoba Co-operator. Of the 13 insured Manitoba crops under the microscope for the


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