Grant Carlson, industrial development leader with Manitoba Agriculture, speaks on the role of economic development organizations in drawing business to communities June 1.

EDAM makes its mark on Melita with forum

The Town of Melita hosted the 2017 Economic Development Association of Manitoba (EDAM) 
spring forum from May 31 to June 2

The Town of Melita is looking for some constructive feedback following an economic development meeting held there. About 40 economic development officers from across Manitoba descended on the town May 31 to June 2 for the 2017 Economic Development Association of Manitoba (EDAM) spring forum. A community assessment was part of the three-day event. Participants

Beneficial rains a boost for local cattle buyer optimism

Beneficial rains a boost for local cattle buyer optimism

Local markets overcome turbulence in cattle futures

Moving into the summer, Manitoba’s ranchers are watching cash markets and the weather, with both delivering good news. Cattle futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) saw some turbulence over the past week, though prices for cattle at auctions in Manitoba were able to resist that pressure. “The cash market didn’t seem to reflect it,”


Editorial: The science of marketing

There’s an old truism from the world of marketing that goes, “the customer is always right.” Too often these days it’s used by bad customers to justify their even worse behaviour. They seem to feel it excuses all sort of boorishness, from yelling at the wait staff to making insulting low-ball offers. But its original

Woman in supermarket shopping groceries

Multinationals face new pressures in grocery stores

Consumers increasingly want fresh, unprocessed food. The middle of the store now sees less traffic and that’s clearly affecting sales for most grocery products

Skippy peanut butter and Dad’s chocolate chip cookies are gone from the Canadian marketplace. If you feel sad about seeing these iconic brands go, brace yourselves. It’s just the beginning. Within days, two major U.S.-based food multinationals pulled well-known brands from the Canadian market. Mondelez International discontinued the iconic Dad’s cookies and Hormel Foods pulled


The art and science of farm marketing

The art and science of farm marketing

There are no pat or easy answers for marketing commodities as each commodity is different

Farm marketing like most aspects of a farm business is a mix of art and science, of theory and practice. And, it’s important to understand and apply both. This reminds me of a quote by American playwright Wilson Mizner: “Art is science made clear.” I’ll try to combine them both so you gain a better

Opinion: Trump’s butcher shop

Donald Trump may want to “Make America Great Again” but his just-proposed 2018 budget contains no plans to make rural America great again. In fact, according to the Trump administration’s budget blueprint, American farmers, ranchers, and down-on-their-luck citizens must achieve greatness with trillions less so it and Congress can bestow a trillion-dollar tax cut on


Finance Minister Bill Morneau was at the Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals at the University of Manitoba to speak about how Innovation Superclusters could impact agriculture.

Funding available to collaborative projects

Government aims to push agriculture to industry value of $75 billion by the year 2025

The federal government has announced it will spend $950 million on what it’s calling an “Innovation Superclusters Initiative” to advance sectors like infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and agriculture. While Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains made the announcement near Ottawa last week, Finance Minister Bill Morneau was at the University of Manitoba to “highlight”

Half of U.S. crop workers are unauthorized immigrants

Most of the 700,000 workers on U.S. dairy farms also believed to be Mexican born and unauthorized

An excerpt from ‘Trump, Immigration, and Agriculture,’ an article by Philip Martin in Choices, a magazine published by the U.S. Agricultural and Applied Economics Association www.choicesmagazine.org. Eight million unauthorized foreigners are part of the U.S. labour force, and at least a million are employed primarily in agriculture. It cannot be a surprise, therefore, to learn


grain rail cars

Nitty-gritty details in Bill C-49

The revenue cap stays, but railways can include the cost of new hoppers

It took a few days of intense review for the Western Grain Elevators Association (WGEA) before giving its blessing to the Transportation Modernization Act. Others were equally meticulous. “Every word does matter, and the order of the words matters,” Greg Cherewyk, Pulse Canada’s chief operating officer, said in an interview. And while Pulse Canada also

Editorial: But what about the farmers?

The statistic does give you a bit of a jolt: In 2015 tiny Netherlands was No. 3 in world agri-food exports, with Canada way behind in No. 12 spot. That statistic is highlighted in the second report by the Advisory Council on Economic Growth, which was established by Minister of Finance Bill Morneau and led