Letters — for 2012-11-22 00:00:00

CGC legislation debated many times I would like to correct the many inaccuracies contained in a recent Manitoba Co-operator article about our government’s Safe Food for Canadian Act (S-11) and changes to the Canadian Grain Act (CGA). Let me start by first assuring readers that when it comes to food safety, the health of Canadians

Popular herbicide may be linked to increased pathogen virulence, says Huber

Emeritus professor from Purdue University and former U.S. army bioweapons expert points to 
growing evidence of potential harm from genetic engineering and herbicide “abuse”

Don Huber may not be a big fan of organic agriculture, but he’s become a hero among organic farmers with his contention that glyphosate is less benign than its promoters crack it up to be. Huber an emeritus professor of Plant Pathology from Purdue University, isn’t backing down, even though some dismiss him as a


New technology with old herbicides

Agroup of seven extension staff from Ohio’s Purdue University have issued a publication on the pros and cons of 2,4-D- and dicamba-tolerant crops. Two companies are set to introduce these products in combination with glyphosate as a means of controlling weeds that have become resistant to glyphosate alone. Opponents say that widespread use of these

Manitoba government defends oilpatch oversight

Companies caught dumping oilfield waste in ditches are responsible for cleaning it up, a Manitoba government official said in an email to the Manitoba Co-operator last week. The official was responding to Cromer farmer Carlyle Jorgensen’s complaint, reported in the Nov. 1 Co-operator, that the province’s Petroleum Branch isn’t doing enough to discourage improper waste


Nutrition and your vision

Vision acuity is measured on a 20/X basis, where the first number is the standard distance of 20 feet between the eye being tested and the eye chart. A person with 20/40 vision can see clearly at 20 feet what a person with normal vision would see at 40 feet. Eyeglasses and contact lenses can

Monsanto’s dicamba-tolerant soybeans approved

Monsanto Company’s dicamba-tolerant soybean product has received full food, feed and environmental release approval from Health Canada (HC) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The approval brings Monsanto Canada one step closer to introducing dicamba tolerance stacked with Monsanto’s existing Genuity(R) Roundup Ready 2 Yield(R) trait technology in soybeans. Plans are to commercially brand


Bone fractures may be linked to dietary mineral levels

The incidence of hog carcass contamination and trimming related to spine fractures is increasing at Olymel’s Red Deer processing plant and possibly at other plants, according to Eduardo Beltranena, monogastrics research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. While the incidence is not widespread, for some farms this problem is up to six times more

Reconditioning soybeans in storage poses problems

Reconditioning low-moisture soybeans in storage can damage the grain bin, cautions Ken Hellevang, the North Dakota State University Extension Service’s grain-drying expert. Warm, dry fall weather can result in soybeans being harvested well below the market moisture content of 13 per cent. Hellevang says he has heard reports of harvested bean moisture contents as low


Novozymes and Syngenta team up on product registration

Biological manufacturer Novozymes and chemical/seed giant Syngenta, have announced a global marketing and distribution agreement for Novozymes’s microbial-based biofungicide Taegro, a microbial-based fungicide based on the naturally occurring Bacillus subtilis bacterium. Novozymes says Taegro targets fungal diseases such as rhizoctonia and fusarium on fruit and vegetables, and its application is expected to be expanded to

Building nitrogen on the range through better grazing management

Low rainfall during the growing season is the most obvious factor causing reduced grass production. However, low available mineral nitrogen at less than 100 pounds per acre is responsible for greater than half of the reduction in herbage production. “Most grassland pastures managed with traditional practices have mineral nitrogen available at 60 to 75 pounds