Managing the transition to group sow housing

There is now a growing acceptance in the Canadian pork industry that producers must eventually move away from sow stalls and towards group housing. When the new welfare codes of practice are released this summer, they will likely require that no new stall housing is built after 2014 and that existing facilities are converted to

Ukraine winter wheat in good condition

Reuters / No more than 400,000 hectares of winter grain crops, or up to five per cent of the sown area, are likely to be reseeded this spring against 1.5 million hectares in 2012, a senior Agriculture Ministry official said Feb. 19. “We expect the reseeding of three to five per cent (of winter grain



U.S. subsidy cap debate pits big versus small farmers

Reuters / U.S. farmers would be limited to $125,000 a year in crop subsidies in a significant tightening of farm support rules proposed by four senators from farm and ranch states. There is no effective limit on payments now. Large operators collect the lion’s share of subsidies because they are based on each bushel of


High costs expected to bite into U.S. farm profit

The seven-year-old U.S. agricultural boom, driven by record-high commodity prices and painfully tight supplies, is expected to peak this year and then come to an abrupt end as high costs start to bite, the government projected Feb. 11. The U.S. Agriculture Department said farm income would soar to a record $127.6 billion this year, up



Lower prices may mean fewer Manitoba corn acres

Farmers in Manitoba may plant fewer acres of corn this spring than anticipated a few weeks ago due to weaker prices. Eldon Dueck, a grain merchant with Linear Grain at Carman, Man., said Manitoba farmers were receiving about $6.70 per bushel for their corn as of Tuesday. “The market has really dropped,” he said. “We

Sequence and intervals

Ask a room full of agronomists what’s significant about the year 1993 and the word “fusarium” ripples through the crowd. It was a memorable year. Much of the wheat in Manitoba, particularly in the Red River Valley, was contaminated with fusarium head blight disease, which affects yields but also creates toxins that can affect human



Canola award of excellence

Staff / The Manitoba Canola Growers Association has awarded honoured Dugald farmer Ken Edie the 2013 Manitoba Canola Growers Award of Excellence. Edie was the first president of the association back in 1970, when the association went by the Manitoba Rapeseed Growers Association. During his farming career, he served the Manitoba canola and agriculture industry