Letters – for Aug. 26, 2010

What is it going to take before the deteriorating state of Highway 34 is addressed? Letters have been written and phone calls have been made by many asking that this stretch of pavement be repaired properly. As a farmer, and on behalf of all farmers who must travel this stretch, I am frustrated that our


Fair Food, Circus Fare – for Aug. 19, 2010

As the county and state fair season spreads across America, farmers, ranchers and producer groups from Maryland and Montana will cook rib-eyes, whip up omelettes, grill chicken, barbecue pork steaks, butter sweet corn and pour thick milkshakes for their non-farming customers from Baltimore to Billings and nearly everywhere in between. This fresh, wholesome goodness will

Doing The Right Thing – for Aug. 19, 2010

Governments, although they usually mean well, make mistakes. And when those errors are incorporated into policy, they can have lasting repercussions. Such was the case in the mid-1990s when the Manitoba government made the ill-fated decision to regulate manure applications to farmland on the basis of nitrogen content. The error was an honest one. The


Bipole III Absurdities – for Aug. 19, 2010

In response to Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk’s statement regarding cultivating beneath power lines in the July 22 issue of theManitoba Co-operator,I would invite the minister to explain how exactly you get a 45-foot cultivator under a tower that has a footprint of 23-feet to a side. A farmer with big implements will not be able

Letters – for Aug. 19, 2010

I happen to be one who believes climate change is not only real and affecting us now, but is caused by the way we live on this earth as humans. But don’t take my word for it. That is exactly what the world’s best scientific minds have been telling us for years. But nobody seems


Doha Talks At Dead End, Trade Expert Says – for Aug. 19, 2010

The Doha round of WTO negotiations are kept alive through pretence because no one wants to admit they’re as good as dead, says trade expert Peter Clark. A longtime Doha doubter, whose predictions have proved remarkably accurate, Clark has released a 49-page gloomy diagnosis about the state of the Doha round that was supposed to



An Appeal To The Prime Minister – for Aug. 12, 2010

Groups representing Prairie farmers have appealed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper to do something about excessive railway profits at the expense of farmers. This is the letter they sent June 29. We, the undersigned, call on the Government of Canada to immediately undertake a full costing review of the railway revenue cap on grain transportation.

What A System – for Aug. 12, 2010

It’s always fun watching the futures market when things are hot and the price is rising. Fun while it lasts, that is. That caution applies to the run-up in the wheat market for the last few weeks. These prices look wonderful, especially if you have wheat to sell. But as farmers well know, prices tend


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