Redfern marks half-centennial 

Redfern Farm Services celebrated half a century in business in 2022

The name Redfern has history behind it in western Manitoba.  Ray Redfern started his company, Redfern Farm Services, in 1972 and opened the first location in Rivers.  Just over 50 years later, the company has grown to 11 sites, with a head office in Brandon and branches in Carberry, Hamiota, Shoal Lake, Hartney, Kenton, Virden,

Edible mealworms in a wooden spoon

French insect-based ingredients maker Ynsect to expand in North America

U.S. plant would use Ardent Mills' flour milling byproducts

Paris | Reuters — French company Ynsect said on Tuesday it had signed deals to build insect ingredient production sites in the United States and in Mexico as the firm kicks off what it says will be the world’s largest insect farm. Ynsect breeds mealworms that produce proteins for aquaculture, livestock, pet food, fertilizers and


File photo of a BNSF grain train crossing the Gassman Coulee trestle near Minot, North Dakota. (Photo courtesy BNSF Railway)

Biden asks Congress to avert U.S. rail strike

U.S. president warns of dire economic impact

Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday called on Congress to intervene to avert a potential rail strike that could occur as early as Dec. 9, warning of a catastrophic economic impact if railroad service ground to a halt. Biden asked lawmakers to adopt the tentative deal announced in September “without any

Grain ships carrying Ukrainian grain are seen in the Black Sea, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, near Ukrainian port of Odesa, Ukraine Oct. 30, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Serhii Smolientsev)

Black Sea grain export deal extended

Deal's terms unchanged; Moscow to still seek removal of obstacles to grain, fertilizer exports

Reuters — A deal aimed at easing global food shortages by helping Ukraine export its agricultural products from Black Sea ports was extended for four months on Thursday, though Russia said its own demands were yet to be fully addressed. The agreement, initially reached in July, created a protected transit corridor and was designed to


John Heard discusses methods to reduce nitrous oxide emissions through nitrogen management.

New program funds farm emissions reduction practices

Prairie Watersheds Climate Program offers incentives toward control of nitrous oxide emissions; N management field tour coming up July 29

A new program is taking aim at agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Last month, the Manitoba Association of Watersheds (MAW) launched the first phase of the Prairie Watersheds Climate Program, a part of the federal government’s On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF). That’s a $200 million, three-year fund (from 2021 to 2024) that underwrites 12 different programs

There are many microbes that are used as biofertilizers, including bacteria and fungi, and the most common application is to improve crop nutrient status.

Comment: Unintended consequences of bioproducts

Adding fungi to soil may introduce invasive species, threatening ecosystems

Invasive, alien species are bad for ecosystems. They reduce biodiversity and disrupt food chains, including our own. History is full of examples of intentional and unintentional introductions of invasive species. VIDEO: Struvite shows promise as organic fertilizer The introduction of cane toads to Northern Australia in the 1930s to fight cane beetles led to the


Smoke rises from the site of burning railcars at a CP derailment near Guernsey, Sask., on Feb. 6, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Nayan Sthankiya)

Canada to cut speed limits for trains hauling dangerous goods

New curb follows another Saskatchewan crash, fire

Ottawa/Winnipeg | Reuters — The federal government said Thursday it would impose temporary speed limits on trains hauling dangerous goods after a Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) crude oil train derailed and caught fire. The accident, which happened in the early hours of Thursday near Guernsey, Sask., about 40 km south of Humboldt, was the second

The Red River, shown here at Winnipeg, forms most of the border between North Dakota and Minnesota as it flows northward into southern Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg. (File photo by Dave Bedard)

Trump administration scales back U.S. water protections

Washington | Reuters — The Trump administration finalized a rule on Thursday to pare back the types of waterways protected from pollution under federal law, easing burdens on industries such as agriculture and mining but angering environmental groups. The Navigable Waters Protection Rule could win political points ahead of the November election for Republican President


(Dave Bedard photo)

Third-quarter grain handle down for CN, CP

Canada’s Big Two railways both booked reduced traffic but increased their revenue per carload in their grain handling segments for their third fiscal quarters ending Sept. 30. Canadian National Railway on Tuesday reported third-quarter net income of $1.195 billion on $3.83 billion in total revenues, up from $1.134 billion on $3.688 billion in the year-earlier

Algal blooms are nothing new on Lake Winnipeg. But what’s causing them is a very complex, multi-jurisdictional problem.

Getting phosphorus out of Lake Winnipeg and onto fields

Manitoba’s agriculture needs and waterways are on opposite sides of the phosphorus debate — or are they?

Lake Winnipeg might be drowning in phosphorus, but plenty of soils in the province are gasping for it. Lake Winnipeg has become infamous for its water quality, and not in a good way. Algal blooms and E. coli cases have become a familiar state of affairs in the south basin, while over half of samples