Manitobans helping North Korean farmers

Manitobans with expertise in zero till and soil health are helping farmers increase productivity in the isolated nation

When it comes to North Korea, agriculture may not be the first thing that pops into people’s minds. But for the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) it’s been front and centre for the last five years. The Winnipeg-based organization has been providing farmers in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with assistance with soil conservation and


Rethinking the possibilities of trees

Rethinking the possibilities of trees

The view from Northern Blossom Farms

In this third letter from Northern Blossom Farms, Gary Martens 
discusses ways to keep trees on the landscape.

In my first letter I advocated integrating livestock and crops for the synergistic benefits of both components to the farming system. In the next letter, I discussed my crop rotation which includes perennials but is still based mainly on annual crops. In this letter, I want to propose the integration of trees as a beneficial



It’s important to pen gilts separately in ESF systems to reduce competition from bigger sows

Electronic sow feeding first choice for productivity

When considering group sow-housing systems, electronic sow feeding (ESF) is likely the best choice for pig producers with high productivity expectations, according to Thomas Parsons at the University of Pennsylvania. “We now have farms pushing above 30 pigs weaned per sow per year and thus the technology itself, if properly managed, is not a barrier

Leaving round bales outside in rows side by side or “mushroom style” results in spoilage losses of six to 10 per cent, a 1988 study by the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute found. photo:©thinkstock

Run the numbers before deciding on how to store hay

Run the numbers before deciding on how to store hay Covering good hay can pay, study shows There are many alternatives for protecting a hay harvest, from full-on storage sheds with walls and doors to tarps and dangling weights. Leaving round bales outside in rows side by side or “mushroom style” results in spoilage losses


Enhancing farm enterprise

The following is an excerpt from Seeds of Success: Enhancing Canada’s Farming Enterprises, a new Conference Board of Canada report by Erin Butler and James Stuckey. The report included a set of recommendations about how to improve farming business in Canada to achieve greater business success. The full report can be found at: http://www.conferenceboard.ca/e-library/abstract.aspx?did=5529  Maximize

A report worth reading

We’ve been somewhat skeptical of some of the recent efforts by the Conference Board of Canada to wade into the food and farm policy realm, but we were pleasantly surprised by the newly released report Seeds of Success: Enhancing Canada’s Farming Enterprises. From our perspective, authors James Stuckey and Erin Butler, do a stellar job