News & Opinion & Farming Articles - Manitoba Co-operator

Brandon’s Maple Leaf plant is the site of Canada’s latest COVID outbreak in a packing facility.

COVID-19 strikes Brandon pork plant

Growing COVID-19 cases among Maple Leaf Foods staff last week raised the first serious concerns of a meat plant closure in Manitoba

By Alexis Stockford August 13, 2020

The union representing workers at Brandon’s Maple Leaf Foods plant says it’s seeing echoes of Alberta. Late last week, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 832 pushed Maple Leaf Foods to close the pork plant after eight workers tested positive for COVID-19. Why it matters: Until now, Manitoba’s meat processors have largely dodged the

News

‘Spread out? Where?’ Smithfield says not all plant workers can be socially distanced

By Tom Polansek August 12, 2020

Smithfield Foods, the world’s biggest pork processor, said workers cannot be socially distant in all areas of its plants, in response to U.S. senators who pressed meat packers on COVID-19 outbreaks in slaughterhouses. Meat packers are under mounting pressure to protect workers after more than 16,000 employees across 23 U.S. states were infected with COVID-19

An InVigor canola plot at Ag in Motion in 2019.

News, Oilseeds

InVigor canola genetics get an upgrade

BASF points to yield, pod-shatter resistance of canola hybrids

By Allan Dawson August 12, 2020

BASF promoted two of its new 300 Series InVigor canola hybrids — L340PC and L357P — during a July 22 webinar. “L340PC contains both first-generation clubroot resistance as well (as) BASF’s patented pod-shatter technology,” Wade Stocker, BASF’s manager of canola seeds and traits, told the webinar. “It’s a high-yielding hybrid that was 107.8 per cent

Crop Report, Crops, News

Winter cereal harvest continues, rain seen as benefit to remaining crops

Manitoba Crop Report and Crop Weather report for August 11

By Manitoba Agriculture August 11, 2020

Southwest Region An EF-2 tornado touched down near Scarth on August 7, destroying a farm property and causing loss of life. Wind speeds reached 190km/hr at the time of storm. Overall, the preceding week was windy and dry in the Southwest region, advancing crops in their growth stages quicker than normal. Scattered showers fell over

Hogs, News

Contingency plans tentatively in place for Brandon pork plant closure

No plans to close Maple Leaf Foods plant in Brandon despite COVID-19 cases, union calls to do so

By Geralyn Wichers August 11, 2020

“Every effort” will be made to find processing capacity for hogs if Brandon’s Maple Leaf Foods plant closes due to a cluster of COVID-19 cases there says Manitoba Pork. “I want to emphasize there is no plan being put in place to shut down the plant in Brandon,” Manitoba Pork general manager Andrew Dickson told

With livestock diseases like African swine fever sweeping the globe, Canada is planning an industry-government partnership.

Hogs, News

Groups call for international response to African swine fever

Joint initiative launched on ASF

By D.C. Fraser August 11, 2020

Two international organizations are calling for global action to stop the spread of African swine fever (ASF). In a joint news release, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) called on countries to join forces against the disease. The organizations warn ASF may cause

PhiBer Manufacturing’s Triple Cutter tool bar uses three highly customizable heads for a pass width up to 54 feet.

Equipment, News

PhiBer’s Triple Cutter scoops AIM award

At up to 54 feet per pass, PhiBer Manufacturing’s Triple Cutter tool bar promises far faster haying and far less fuel

By Alexis Stockford August 11, 2020

PhiBer Manufacturing out of Crystal City, Man., is no stranger to innovation; it is, in fact, one of the things it’s built its brand on. Now, the company says its latest dive into haying equipment promises to vastly improve the speed of haying, while saving up to three-quarters of the fuel a producer would normally

Livestock, News

Manitoba Pork Council seeking new general manager

Andrew Dickson will step down in six months from the job he’s held for the last 15 years

By Allan Dawson August 10, 2020

The Manitoba Pork Council is looking for a new general manager. Andrew Dickson, who has had the job since early 2005, is stepping down Jan. 31, 2021. “You get to a point where you’ve got to quit sometime, so 68 (years of age) is a decent time to quit,” Dickson said in an interview July

University of Manitoba researchers Mario Tenuta, Don Flaten and Xiaopeng Gao, along with provincial soil fertility specialist John Heard, were at the field tour site July 23 to answer questions.

News, Other

Self-guided 4R tour brings new research in era of COVID-19

Through video, University of Manitoba researchers presented new research on increasing nitrogen use efficiency in grain corn

By Geralyn Wichers August 10, 2020

Soil fertility specialists from the University of Manitoba brought the latest “4R” research to the public while keeping a healthy distance, thanks to an innovative self-guided field tour July 23-25 near Carman. “The beauty of a self-guided tour is that people can do it at their leisure,” soil ecology professor, Mario Tenuta told the Manitoba

News

BASF’s ‘novel’ wireworm seed treatment makes pitch to PMRA

Teraxxa could be available in Western Canada next year if approved by Canadian regulatory authorities

By Allan Dawson August 7, 2020

BASF hopes Teraxxa F4, its new cereal seed insecticide for wireworm control, will be available in Western Canada next year. Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is reviewing Teraxxa and must approve it before it can be used commercially in Canada. The seed treatment is now in the public consultation period after getting handed

Daily Network News

ICE weekly: War news driving canola markets

War is increasing food prices, insecurity say IMF, World Bank and UN food agency

B.C. agrochemical startup gets $1.2M in federal funding

News & Opinion