Three hot, dry summers in a row have favoured increased grasshopper populations. photo: JOHN GAVLOSKI

The other meaning of BMPs: Better Managing Precipitation

SOIL HEALTH Soil practices for carbon sequestration can do double duty to help with water woes

One by one, they used different words to tell the same tale. The worry was evident across the board. “Dry … starting to get really worried,” said one Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association board member about their family dairy farm north of Minnedosa. “Grasshoppers already … full of them … clouds of them as you

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Saskatchewan ranchers backed for runoff control

Funding on offer for earth-moving work

Cow-calf producers in Saskatchewan may be able to get cost-shared funds from the federal/provincial Farm Stewardship Program to build ponds, ditches, dikes or berms to collect or manage runoff. The province and federal government on Tuesday announced such work now qualifies as a beneficial management practice (BMP) covered under the program. Eligible beef cow-calf producers


The Keystone Agriculture Producers held its general council meeting on July 8 in Brandon.

Condition of rural roads a major concern at KAP meeting

KAP members say rural road conditions are unacceptable and look to lobby for improvements

Keystone Agriculture Producers debated who should take the title of Manitoba’s worst road as producers gathered here for a general council meeting July 8 and compared notes on the province’s crumbling rural roadways. Improving rural infrastructure was clearly a top priority to the province’s producers following a discussion over resolutions at the KAP general council

(Dave Bedard photo)

Sask. environmental farm planning options sweetened

A list of beneficial management practices (BMPs) for which Saskatchewan farmers and ranchers can get funding through the federal/provincial Farm Stewardship Program has been expanded. The provincial and federal governments on Wednesday announced five new BMPs and “enhancements” to seven already-eligible BMPs available through the program. Among the new BMPs, for example, are rollers for

Bale grazing may require rethink, say researchers

Winter feeding cattle on pasture has long been pitched to ranchers as one of the best things they can do to help the environment and their own bottom line. But new research on the Pipestone Creek watershed in Saskatchewan shows that it may not be as green as earlier suggested. “It’s controversial only because you


To Clear-Cut Or Not, That Is The Question

Tree huggers think clear-cutting is a sin, but woodlot foresters say it’s sometimes the right thing to do. “There’s basically two stand types in southern Manitoba,” Carol Graham, a MAFRI woodlot forester based in Souris, said at a recent presentation at the Forester’s Memorial Hall in Baldur. “The one that’s most prevalent is an even-aged

BMP Program Approves 180 Projects

The Manitoba Sustainable Agriculture Practices Program (MSAPP) has completed its first intake of applications for beneficial management practice (BMP) incentive funding for the 2010-11 fiscal year, Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Minister Stan Struthers has announced. “The MSAPP is a incentive-based program announced by the province in 2008 to encourage producers to adopt and implement

No Till No Silver Bullet For Lake Winnipeg Phosphorus Loading

It has long been a commonly held belief that zero tillage is a good way to keep phosphorus out of watersheds. But the latest research at South Tobacco Creek, near Miami, shows that the soil conservation practice aimed at covering up bare dirt with crop residue may be leading to more of the nutrient leaking


Holistic Approach To Phosphorus Management Urged

“It’s time to treat environmental health like we do human health.” – DON FLATEN They’re the latest buzzword in environmental management – beneficial management practices, or BMPs for short. Follow them and your farm will be environmentally sound, producers are told. It sounds good in theory. But are BMPs really the answer to environmental problems

Flap Over EFAP Funding

“If you saw my application – it would make a grown man weep” – BRIAN STERLING First, there was the Environmental Farm Plan in 2005. It met with rave reviews from producers, who lined up in droves to become involved in the process – and to get their share of freebies from the four-year program’s