News & Opinion & Farming Articles - Manitoba Co-operator

Railways exceeded their regulatory revenue cap moving record volumes

The Canadian Transportation Agency says the railways were allowed to earn $1.46 billion shipping grain in 2014-15, but exceeded their maximum revenue entitlement by $9 million or about 22 cents a tonne

By Allan Dawson January 8, 2016

The nation’s two main railways moved a record volume of western Canadian grain in the 2014-15 crop year but they collected more from grain shippers than regulations allow. Canadian National Railway Company (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway Company (CP) together shipped 41.3 million tonnes of western grain to export position and were supposed to do

Local news, Pulses

VIDEO: Cooking up good things with pulses

Canned chickpea water substitutes for egg whites in making macarons

By Shannon VanRaes January 8, 2016

While Canada grows copious amounts of pulses, most are exported. Chefs Geoffroy Dextraze and Chef Chris Kopp of Winnipeg’s Prairie Ink Restaurant and Bakery share their experiences developing new pulse recipes for the provincial launch of the International Year of Pulses. The event was put on by the Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers and attended by

Opinion

Doggerel 2016

By John Morriss January 7, 2016

The tree is took down, there’s no more left of the turkey It’s a new year in farming, and for many, the future’s quite murky But not for our readers, who know that from time immemorial That we clearly predict the future in the new year’s editorial But first we look back at the past

What was once called the Weed Fair and split between Winnipeg and Brandon has now become Canada’s largest indoor ag show in Brandon.

Crops, Local news

Ag Days kicks off the agricultural new year

Construction at the Keystone Centre is finally complete,  and new space has been added for Manitoba’s biggest ag show

By Duncan Morrison January 7, 2016

Kristen Phillips is straightforward when it comes to what attendees can expect at 2016 Manitoba Ag Days. “We are 100 per cent pure farm,” says Phillips, Manitoba Ag Days general manager. “We have a very diverse selection of exhibitors who know they have a targeted market of approximately 45,000 attendees that come through our doors

Crops, Livestock, News

Operation Ag Careers to launch in 2016

An on-line resource encourages Canadian Armed Forces retirees to eye a second career in agriculture

By Lorraine Stevenson January 7, 2016

A pilot project being launched early this year aims to put some muscle behind the notion of farming with ‘military precision.’ Operation Ag Careers is targeting the thousands of men and women retiring from the armed forces every year as potential recruits for the thousands of jobs available in agriculture. The joint project of the

Find out the type of Plant Breeders’ Rights a variety has and who has those rights at cdnseed.org/library/crop-kinds-database.

Crops, News

What you can do to comply with seed laws

The first step is buying certified seed, the second is documenting it

By Allan Dawson January 7, 2016

The simplest way for farmers to avoid breaching Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR) rules, including under the newly implemented UPOV ’91, is to buy certified seed, says Lorne Hadley, executive director of the Canadian Plant Technology Agency (CPTA). What constitutes a breach? It boils down to buying seed that doesn’t return a royalty to the variety’s

New Plant Breeders’ Rights rules under UPOV ’91 give seed companies the option of tracking down those who infringe on those rights through the entire grain system. Lorne Hadley, executive director of the Canadian Plant Technology Agency, says pedigreed seed growers need to help communicate the new regulations to their farmer-customers.

Crops, News

Tracking down illicit seed sellers

Private investigators are helping the seed trade  enforce plant breeders’ rights

By Allan Dawson January 7, 2016

Undercover private investigators are helping nab seed dealers suspected of contravening Canadian Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR) regulations, the executive director of the Canadian Plant Technology Agency (CPTA) says. Lorne Hadley told the Manitoba Seed Growers’ Association’s annual meeting in Winnipeg Dec. 10 his agency has co-ordinated 70 investigations resulting in “a number of cases going

Jean McManus of Winnipeg took up photography after retiring from her 30-year career as a Health Sciences Centre cardiac nurse. She is now on a photographic  quest to capture a photo of every grain elevator in Manitoba. To date she believes she has photographed every site still on a rail line.

Country Crossroads, Local news

Photographer documents Manitoba’s last wooden elevators before they’re gone

Winnipeg photographer Jean McManus’s photos will help Manitoba Historic Society to gather information and stories — with Co-operator readers to preserve the history of Manitoba’s once vast network of wooden grain elevators

By Lorraine Stevenson January 4, 2016

Jean McManus wanted just one great photo of a wooden grain elevator when she set out with her camera in June 2014. She didn’t know at the time that she would soon to be snapping pictures of every elevator in Manitoba. “I retired and picked up a camera,” says the former cardiac nurse from Winnipeg,

Local news, Oilseeds

Manitoba Canola Growers Association’s board election results

More than 8,000 ballots were mailed out and just over 1,000 valid ones were counted for a voter turnout of almost 14 per cent

By Allan Dawson December 31, 2015

Two new farmers and two incumbents have been elected to the Manitoba Canola Growers Board (MCGA) of directors. The newcomers are Ron Krahn of Rivers and Bill Nicholson of Shoal Lake; Jacob (Jack) Froese of Winkler and Clayton Harder of Narol (near Winnipeg) were re-elected. Hugh Drake of Elkhorn, who has served on the board

Evergreen School Division educators Penny Ross (l) and Cheryl Bailey recognize the importance of making a strong commitment to environmental education and outdoor learning.

Local news

Taking education outside

Conservation Champions: Educators in Evergreen School Division partner with Eastern Interlake Conservation District to develop outdoor classroom, wetland and other resources for raising student awareness about the natural world

By Lorraine Stevenson December 30, 2015

It was observing how disconnected from nature her students had become that prompted Gimli High School teacher Cheryl Bailey to take action a few years back. “I saw them spending so much time with video games,” says Bailey who teaches biology and environmental science in the Evergreen School Division. “When we talked about the environment

Daily Network News

Southern California honeybees show resistance to varroa mites

Pulse Weekly: SaskPulse optimistic despite input, crop price concerns

Canadian aquaculture should be classed as agriculture, industry groups say

News & Opinion