News & Opinion & Farming Articles - Manitoba Co-operator

Seeding underway in many parts of Manitoba

Manitoba Crop Report and Crop Weather report for May 1, 2017

By Manitoba Agriculture May 2, 2017

Manitoba Agriculture – Favourable weather and field conditions have allowed seeding operations to get underway in many areas of Manitoba. Provincially, it is estimated that less than five per cent of the 2017 crop has been seeded. No meaningful precipitation received during the past week and soil surface conditions are drying nicely across the province.

Local news, Machinery

Be safe and be ready to share the road with farm traffic

By Province of Manitoba May 1, 2017

Province of Manitoba – Farmers are gearing up for another growing season and that means agricultural equipment will soon be moving along roadways to fields and sharing the roads and highways in rural areas, Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler said today. “When our producers are moving equipment down the road, they tend to move slower than

Crops, Local news

Spring seeding — one of Manitoba’s biggest mega-projects — about to begin

Progress will be delayed in parts of sodden western Manitoba, say KAP delegates

By Allan Dawson May 1, 2017

A$2.6-billion mega-project will soon start in Manitoba — but it won’t likely make many headlines. It’s called spring seeding and it’s an annual event in Manitoba. “The more than $2.6 billion we (farmers) invest in fertilizer, fuel and seed dwarfs any other private sector investment in the province,” Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Dan Mazier

Cereals, Local news, Oilseeds

Support grows to keep deferred cash purchase tickets

KAP and the Western Grain Elevator Association say a proposal to end the option is bad for the grain sector

By Allan Dawson May 1, 2017

Support to retain deferred cash purchase tickets for western grain farmers is building. Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) passed a resolution to that end at its advisory council meeting here April 20 to keep the option. The Western Grain Elevators Association (WGEA), which represents Canada’s six major grain elevator companies, also wants to keep deferred cash

Livestock, Opinion

Studying the benefits of grass-fed livestock

By Laura Rance-Unger May 1, 2017

It’s unlikely that University of Toronto researcher Richard Bazinet will include on his resumé the fact that he had a whole room of farmers holding their noses. But it was actually an effective demonstration of good taste, not smell. Bazinet passed around jelly beans and asked people to plug their noses as they placed one

Local news, Pulses

MPSG calls for member feedback on future

A new membership dynamic may mean shifting focus and priorities  for Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers as it  reaches out for membership opinion

By Alexis Stockford May 1, 2017

Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers (MPSG) is measuring its own vital signs with what will be the second membership survey conducted by the group in the last five years. Francois Labelle, Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers executive director, says 2013 results will serve as a baseline for the new survey, which covers crops planted, land

Soldier fly larvae like these can convert waste food into high-protein feed.

Did you know?, News

Insect entrees

Insects are going to play a more important role in the human food chain, but that might not mean direct consumption

By Manitoba Co-operator Staff May 1, 2017

A professor emeritus at the University of Guelph says insects might be a more sustainable source of nutrition, but just how they’ll be used is up in the air. David Waltner-Toews, an epidemiologist who taught in the U of G’s Ontario Veterinary College, studied the topic for his new book, Eat the Beetles! which will

Manitoba dairy farmers gather for a district meeting in Headingley on April 11, 2017.

Dairy cattle, Local news

Milk production being ramped up

New dairy-processing plants will allow Manitoba milk producers to have quota fully issued

By Shannon VanRaes April 28, 2017

Manitoba’s dairy farmers are preparing for what may be the largest increase of processing capacity ever seen as a result of one project. “I don’t know if there has ever been a situation elsewhere in Canada where there has been a 40 per cent increase in processing capacity in a province from just one project,

Local news

KAP has a plan to tackle skyrocketing farmland taxes

But it’s going to require farmers lobby their municipal councils  and then for farmers and municipalities to pressure  the Manitoba government to act

By Allan Dawson April 28, 2017

Last fall many Manitoba farmers were shocked by double-digit increases in municipal tax bills on farmland because of its higher assessed value, but Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) has a plan for relief. KAP, which has been studying the issue since last August, says on average the assessed value of Manitoba farmland in 2016 jumped 45

Crops, News

Feds fund potato push

The investment is aimed at increasing Canada’s potato exports

By Manitoba Co-operator Staff April 28, 2017

The federal government is putting up $274,000 in Growing Forward 2 funding to expand markets for Canadian potatoes. The announcement came last month when member of Parliament Dan Vandal spoke to the 95th annual general meeting of the Canadian Horticulture Council in Winnipeg. This project, funded under the AgriMarketing Program, provides the Canadian Horticultural Council

Daily Network News

Moroccan fertilizer maker OCP expects output to drop 30 per cent in Q2, sources say

Feed Grain Weekly: Demand rises despite war uncertainty

How farmers can manage stress, anxiety during spring seeding

News & Opinion