The poetic epic of Manitoba farming 2025

As readers might know, it’s a Co-operator tradition

To review last year poetically in the new one’s first edition.

And after divining through innards of the Christmas turkey,

We predict the farm future so it isn’t so murky.

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Last summer some farmers were a little bit vexed

Over variations in prospects from one field to the next.

But while the Interlake especially was a little bit droughty,

Come harvest, most had no need to be pouty.

Because farmers must have done everything proper,

The crop turned out to be record whopper.

And maybe the record could have been even more broke,

Had the sun not been obscured by forest fire smoke.

Which makes me wonder why there’s been a proclivity

Of agri-food think tanks to criticize farm productivity.

According to what I read in their occasional epistles,

Farmers aren’t using enough digital bells and whistles.

But what I don’t see is an exact testament

Of how buying them will yield a return on investment.

I think some non-farmer experts need to understand clearly

The difference between farming practice and theory.

While variable rate etc. is certainly good economics,

I also hear more talk of big-picture agronomics.

While there seems to be question of how exact it is,

There’s sure a lot of interest in regenerative practices.

But from what I read of them for this part of the nation,

It’s hard to make them work without forage in rotation.

That makes me wonder if we’re going to be having

Enough cattle to eat it and enough farmers for calving.

With no kids to take over, the decision many are facing:

‘Ship ‘em to town, or keep at home for replacing?”

And while the price of beef is now record high,

It hasn’t stopped consumers from continuing to buy.

Despite demand for more protein, they apparently feel

That for chicken and beef they want the real deal.

A few years back there was a flurry of stories

About raising fake meat in test tubes and laboratories.

In 2021 each Beyond Meat share cost you 175 dollars.

Now they’re a buck-ten, which is quite a bit smaller.

Any review of the past year would rare if

It failed to mention the “T” word — “T” as in tariff.

That president who’s always seeking more flattery

Didn’t realize it might backfire and spark tit-for-tattery.

It didn’t occur that tariffying China would mean

They’d retaliate by refusing to buy U.S. soybeans.

Most farmers voted for Trump, apparently

But many now think that they did so errantly.

Cattle producers didn’t seem to take it with humour,

When Trump asked them to drop their price to consumers.

Meanwhile, consumers may not think it’s so funny

To give soybean farmers $12 billion in taxpayer money.

Canadian canola was also tariff-impacted,

But the bears in the market may have overreacted;

A Chinese announcement of purchases diminished

Came after all of their buying was finished.

Once, if asked “What does Bayer make?” most would say

“Aspirin,” the trade name for acetylsalicylic acid (ASA).

I bet they’ve taken plenty for headaches after they got wound up

In that deal with Monsanto to buy up its Roundup.

With so many lawsuits, it seems there’s a suggestion

That its future Roundup production may now be in question.

And critics of glyphosate use have been given more traction

By news that a former safety study is now in retraction.

Manitoba moisture ended the season either optimal or wet,

So enough for spring seeding is a pretty good bet.

And after that you probably want to know what I sees,

The future shown by the innards and the moss on the trees.

Warm, gentle spring winds will start on March 15 precisely.

By the middle of April they’ll have dried the soil nicely.

Then no rain till farmers have done all they need to be doin’

After that an inch or two weekly (at night) starting in June.

Around mid-August I predict the rain gods will remember

To hold off for a few weeks till the end of September.

How accurate am I when I predict such good weather?

As accurate as anyone else, and it sounds a lot better.

So on that I’ll sign off with best wishes from all here

For good crops and good prices, and a Happy New Year!