News & Opinion & Farming Articles - Manitoba Co-operator

GMO labelling may not discourage consumers: Vermont study

Study finds labelling actually increased  support in some demographic groups

By University Of Vermont August 12, 2015

A new study reveals that GMO labelling would not act as warning labels and scare consumers away from buying products with GMO ingredients. The five-year study of Vermont residents focuses on the relationship between two primary questions: whether Vermonters are opposed to GMOs in commercially available food products; and if respondents thought products containing GMOs

Crops, Local news, Weather

Manitoba Crop Report and Crop Weather report: Issue 15

Conditions as of August 10, 2015

By Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Development August 12, 2015

The 2015 harvest was slowed by the continuing wet conditions in Manitoba. However, some harvest operations did occur where field and weather conditions allowed. Winter wheat yields are ranging from 55 to 90 bushels per acre, with good quality. Swathing or preharvest management of the earliest-seeded spring cereal and canola crops continues. The return to

Crops, News

Promoting conservation agriculture in Africa

Canadian Foodgrains Bank will receive federal funds to scale  up smallholder adoption  

By Manitoba Co-operator Staff August 11, 2015

Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) has received $14 million from the federal government to scale up conservation agriculture programs in three African countries. The funding provided on a three-to-one matching basis, will enable the organization to assist 50,000 farmers in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania, up from 5,000 farmers it is currently assisting, it says in a

A group of Filipinos who arrived to work at the Springhill Farms hog-processing plant in Neepawa last January. Immigrants now make up almost a quarter of Neepawa’s population.

Local news

Prairie towns lack settlement services for immigrants

Rural Development Institute study surveyed 29 towns across Prairies and B.C.

By Lorraine Stevenson August 11, 2015

Rural towns exist because of immigration, but they aren’t easy places for immigrants to move into nowadays. Lack of employment or foreign credentials going unrecognized are only part of the problem, according to a new report released by the Brandon-based Rural Development Institute. Newcomers go wherever language training, affordable housing, child care, public transportation, and

Dairy cattle, Opinion

Opinion: Dairy farmers get (undeserved) bad rap during TPP negotiations

By John Morriss August 10, 2015

The proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement involves 12 countries representing about 40 per cent of the world’s economy, but some of Canada’s national media coverage would have had you believe that there is only one issue holding it up — access to Canada’s dairy market. The Globe and Mail was the worst offender —

Oilseeds, Opinion

Editorial: We might need 100-bushel canola

By John Morriss August 10, 2015

The Canola 100 Agri-Prize for the first to achieve 100-bushel canola makes for an interesting challenge. Despite a favourable lingering PR image as the “Cinderella crop,” a look at the numbers suggests canola is showing signs of middle age. A few patches in a good growing year might even approach 80 to 90 bushels now,

Jeffery Kostuik, diversification specialist with Parkland Crop Diversification Foundation, shed some light on industrial hemp production at the Westman Agriculture Diversification Organization field day in Melita on July 22.

Crops, Local news

Potential growers get a look at the ins and outs of growing hemp

The PCDF has been testing 10 varieties and four sites in Manitoba and two in Saskatchewan

By Jennifer Paige August 7, 2015

A rapidly growing market and attractive payoffs have some producers considering diversifying into industrial hemp production. “Right now hemp is trading at about 85 to 95 cents per pound. Last year, I think the provincial average on yield was around 1,100 to 1,200 pounds. It makes it to be a fairly attractive crop to grow

Crops, Local news

Fusarium levels low, soybean aphid numbers increasing

Manitoba crop insect and disease update for August 4, 2015

By Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Development August 5, 2015

Plant Pathogens: Levels of fusarium head blight are being reported as low in many areas. Increased levels of mycosphaerella are being reported in later seeded field peas in the southwest as a result of the cooler and wetter conditions. Some soybean fields are showing increasing damage due to excess moisture and subsequent root rots. Weather conditions have been conducive for

The area is being destroyed by too much water.

Country Crossroads, Local news

Whitewater Lake region under threat

Excess water covering dikes and boardwalks and burying farmland and roads

By Donna Gamache August 5, 2015

On a recent visit to Whitewater Lake in southwestern Manitoba, my husband and I were dismayed to see first hand the impact that excess water is having on the area. Years ago we made our first trip there and enjoyed walking on the long dikes and boardwalks, surrounded by a variety of water birds and

Crops, Local news, Weather

Manitoba Crop Report and Crop Weather report: Issue 14

Conditions as of August 4, 2015

By Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Development August 4, 2015

Winter wheat and fall rye harvest is underway in Manitoba. Preliminary reports indicate winter wheat yields range from 60 to 85 bu/acre, with low levels of fusarium damaged kernels in harvested samples. There are also a few fields of spring wheat, barley and field peas harvested last week. Swathing or preharvest applications in the earliest-seeded spring

Daily Network News

Trump mulls ending some trade ties with China, including in relation to cooking oil

Pulse Weekly: Yields coming into focus

U.S. livestock: Cattle at fresh highs, hogs weaken

News & Opinion