News & Opinion & Farming Articles - Manitoba Co-operator

Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay speaks to reporters at the Maple Leaf plant in Winnipeg.

Swine trucks will continue to be washed in the U.S.

PEDv concerns continue as agriculture minister refuses to reinstate emergency truck-washing protocol

By Shannon VanRaes August 3, 2016

Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay says he will rely on the expertise of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency when it comes to truck-washing regulations. Speaking to reporters following a recent announcement in Winnipeg, the minister said he recognizes that pork producers and processors want to wash livestock trailers in Canada and not the United States,

Crop Report, Local news, Weather

Manitoba Crop Report and Crop Weather report: No. 14

Conditions as of August 2, 2016

By Manitoba Agriculture August 3, 2016

Winter wheat and fall rye harvest is underway in Manitoba. To date, preliminary reports indicate winter wheat yields range from 60 to 95 bu/acre, and fall rye yields range from 40 to 90 bu/acre. Weekend thunderstorms resulted in variable amounts of precipitation, hail activity and lodging of crops across some areas of Manitoba. The majority

Seed institute executive director Roy van Wyk says organic seed growers are among its new clients.

Crops, Local news

Soy boom boosts bulk pedigreed seed storage

Executive director of the Canadian Seed Institute reports on recent accreditation and training activity

By Jennifer Paige August 2, 2016

An increase in the number of bulk pedigreed seed storage facilities in Western Canada is keeping inspectors busy, says the executive director of the Canadian Seed Institute (CSI). “We are seeing an increase in bulk storage facilities right now. We believe this is largely due to the increase in the movement of soybeans in Western

Hogs, Local news

Winnipeg home to new ‘bacon centre of excellence’

More of the bacon people bring home will soon come from an expanded Maple Leaf plant in Winnipeg

By Shannon VanRaes August 2, 2016

A so-called “bacon centre of excellence” is coming to Winnipeg. Manitoba’s minister of agriculture used the phrase to describe a planned expansion of Maple Leaf Food’s bacon plant in Winnipeg during a Growing Forward 2 funding announcement last week. “This is one of my favourite products… and I know our customers to the south certainly

Selma Maendel, Portage la Prairie 1961 – 2014

Local news

Agricultural Hall of Fame: Selma Maendel

Four Manitobans were inducted into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Portage la Prairie July 14. Over the next few weeks, we’re featuring each one with their citations

By Manitoba Co-operator Staff August 2, 2016

Selma Maendel was the eighth daughter of Sarah (nee Wurtz) and Peter Maendel of Fairholme Hutterite Colony. Selma has been described as a staunchly proud member of the Hutterite community who exhibited all of the qualities often associated with this background — those being unique, distinctive, industrious, humble, caring, deeply religious and very private. Selma

Comment, News & Opinion

Developing a Canadian food advantage

Farmers and the industry need to actually demonstrate that their products are produced sustainably

By Ted Bilyea And David Mcinnes August 2, 2016

What would you guess is the single most important ingredient in modern food production? Good seeds? Rainfall? Fertilizer? The surprising answer is that around the world, the scarcest and most precious resource for producing food is trust. Luckily, Canada has natural advantages that could allow the people of the world to view us as their

The FAO’s principles of sustainability say yield should not be the only criterion for farming, and that current intensification is detrimental to crop and animal biodiversity.

Comment, News & Opinion

Defining just what ‘sustainable agriculture’ really means

By United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization August 2, 2016

The term ‘sustainable agriculture’ is used often, but what does it mean? The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently issued these five principles to define sustainable agriculture. 1. Improving efficiency in the use of resources is crucial to sustainable agriculture. Modifying current practices can do much to improve the productivity of many food

Ralph Eichler, Minister of Agriculture for Manitoba.

News

Trade key focus of agriculture policy framework

Manitoba’s agriculture policy priorities meld well with those of other provinces and the federal government

By Shannon VanRaes July 29, 2016

As federal-provincial-territorial meetings wrap up in Calgary, Manitoba’s agriculture minister says discussions touched on all areas of concern regarding the development of Canada’s next agricultural policy framework, which will launch in 2018. “We want public trust of course, research and development, we want to increase trade, we want to ensure that if we get this

The Rural Development Institute at Brandon University is conducting a survey on the challenges rural residents face in accessing business support services.

Local news

Rural Development Institute seeks input from businesses

Brandon University’s Rural Development Institute hopes to gather input from food processors in rural Manitoba to make more innovation possible

By Jennifer Paige July 29, 2016

As a rural-based business, what challenges do you face in accessing resources? That’s the question Brandon’s Rural Development Institute (RDI) is seeking an answer for. “We are essentially looking at the problems that companies in rural Manitoba see, the barriers that they have faced and suggestions in ways they can overcome those,” said Gillian Richards,

Crops, Local news

Lygus bugs reach economic thresholds in canola fields

Manitoba Insect & Disease summary for July 27

By Manitoba Agriculture July 28, 2016

Summary Insects: Lygus bugs around economic threshold levels have been noted in a few canola fields in eastern Manitoba. Banded sunflower moth adults have also been noted; late bud to early bloom stage is when sunflowers should be monitored for seed feeding insects like banded sunflower moth, Lygus bugs, and red sunflower seed weevils. Trace levels of soybean aphid have been found on soybeans near Fannystelle and Lac du Bonnet;

Daily Network News

Canadian aquaculture should be classed as agriculture, industry groups say

CBOT Weekly: April supply and demand report a ‘nothing burger’

Canada blocks meats, dairy from Greece over foot-and-mouth disease

News & Opinion