The Red Barn (pictured here in 1981) at the Brandon Research Station is slated for demolition.

The last days of Brandon’s Red Barn?

AAFC’s plan to tear down an over-century-old barn at the Brandon Research Station is generating push-back

As long as most can remember the Brandon Research Centre has featured the iconic ‘Red Barn 13’ as one of the central structures on its campus. Built in 1917, the barn was a replacement for a similar structure lost to fire several years earlier. At 112 feet long and 50 feet wide, it held the

Jeff and Sheila Elder with their red, “Eaton’s barn,” which stands just north of Wawanesa, Manitoba.

Preserving vanishing Prairie barns a difficult row to hoe

One Wawanesa-area family has already sunk thousands of dollars into saving their heritage barns but fear the structures will succumb to the elements

A barn sits in a barley field, gambrel roofed, stained with red iron oxide. It could be one of dozens scattered over the more than two-hour drive from Winnipeg to Wawanesa, but to Sheila and Jeff Elder, this one is special. On the peak facing the road, it says “Maplegrove Farm 1913” in big white


In Your Co-operator this Week: June 6

In Your Co-operator this Week: June 6

Allan Dawson drills down into the numbers on falling farm income and deciphers what it actually means for Manitoba farmers. Among other things he found some cause for hope, including the fact farmers are entering this downturn from a strong position and that some commodities still saw rising cash receipts. Alexis Stockford looks at what’s

Proposed changes would give municipalities more say over development decisions.

Province proposes changes to approval process for livestock operations

Bill 19 is ‘a balanced approach’ that will reduce red tape for municipalities, 
says Municipal Relations Minister Jeff Wharton

A bill introduced in the Manitoba legislature March 19 will make it easier for livestock producers to rebuild or renovate existing barns. Bill 19, The Planning Amendment Act (Improving Efficiency in Planning) proposes changes to how livestock operations are approved by municipalities, and other matters related to zoning bylaws and appeals. Under the bill, owners

Door opens to hog expansion

Door opens to hog expansion

Anaerobic digesters out, new barns in

New hog barns will be built Manitoba. After an all-night session at the Manitoba Legislature, Bill 24 has passed its final reading and received royal assent. Better known as the Red Tape Reduction and Government Efficiency Act, Bill 24 covers legislation ranging from consumer protection and labour relations, to residential tenancies and transportation of dangerous


Infrared inspections look to curb barn fires

Farmers now have access to infrared inspections through the Manitoba Farm Safety Program

The barn fire that killed over 3,500 pigs near New Bothwell in June has led to a new program to prevent similar blazes. The Manitoba Farm Safety Program introduced infrared barn inspections Sept. 12. Inspectors use infrared cameras to map temperature and tag hot spots that might ignite, such as faulty wiring inside walls. Electrical

Cameron Dodds stands outside his 100-year-old barn south of Kenton, Man.

Dodds family marks centennial of unique barn, history of farm

It’s been 100 years since Arthur Drummond built a banked barn on his yard site northwest of Brandon. Now, the latest generation of the family, Cameron and Bea Dodds, are marking its centennial

History is far from buried on the Dodds farm near Kenton, Man. In fact, it’s a point of pride for current owners, Cameron and Bea Dodds. Their 117-year-old brick farmhouse sits nestled in between old-growth trees and long-established gardens, providing a backdrop for the memorial cairn beside the lane, added to commemorate the farm’s over-135-year

The Klippenstein house barn, brought here in 1876, is owned by the Neubergthal Heritage Foundation. NHF board members Shaun Friesen (l-r), Ray Hamm, Norma Giesbrecht and Karen Martens are excited about the potential to raise cash for its restoration through a national crowd sourcing platform.

Barn (fund) raising in the digital age

This Place Matters is an online crowdfunding initiative of the National Trust of Canada helping spread the word so all Canadians can help save places that matter to them

Neubergthal has always known this place matters, and now it’s telling all of Canada why, in a competition of the same name. The place is the Klippenstein house barn, one of two of the original buildings of this southern Manitoba village, and hauled here, timber by timber by Mennonite settlers in 1876 after being dismantled


Manitoba’s pork producers say building code changes recognize what barns are, rather than treating them as factories occupied by humans.

Barn building code changes under fire after blaze

Hog Watch Manitoba is concerned that proposed building code changes will decrease fire safety; 
the province and pork industry don’t agree

Manitoba Pork is standing by the province’s proposed building code changes, even as advocacy group Hog Watch Manitoba argues they might increase the risk of hog barn fires. In January 2017, Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler announced plans to repeal the Farm Building Code and instead roll farm structures into the provincial building code. The changes

HogWatch calls for safer barns

A watchdog group says a recent barn fire illustrates the need for safer barns. Approximately 3,500 hogs died June 8 when fire engulfed two barns last week near New Bothwell. Hespeler Hog Farms was also one of the operations affected by an outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) earlier this spring. HogWatch Manitoba says the