Manitobans challenged to DIG IN

Initiative of Food Matters Manitoba challenges Manitobans to spend $10 a week of their grocery money on a local food purchase An urban-based food issues think-tank is challenging Manito-bans to make this the year they start buying more local food and connecting with the people who grow it. The Dig In Challenge is a five-month

Winter wheat can germinate in spring

There are reports circulating of agronomists telling producers to reseed winter wheat fields that have just germinated this spring. As I understand, it is related to the process of vernalization and whether it has occurred or not. Last fall I wrote a Crops eNews article titled “What Happens if My Winter Wheat Didn’t Emerge?” –


U.S. lapping up Canadian canola oil

Reuters / Canada’s canola crushers are processing the oilseed at a record-brisk pace, as demand for canola oil heats up among U.S. makers of biodiesel and food products like potato chips. The United States has long been a key export market for canola, Canada’s second-biggest crop after spring wheat, but its appetite has spiked in

Dominoes starting to fall as end of single desk draws nearer

Research and market development, keeping an eye on the railways, 
and the fate of short line railways are just three of the issues KAP is trying to address

Manitoba’s farm leaders are scrambling to plug holes that will be left by the demise of the single-desk CWB. Research and market development, keeping an eye on the railways, and the fate of short lines were high on the agenda when Keystone Agricultural Producers delegates gathered at their General Council meeting last week. But challenges


Canadian forage exports remain strong

Commodity News Service Canada / Solid U.S. demand and interest from China are keeping Canadian forage exports firm, but higher transportation costs and competition from the U.S. Midwest may limit the upside potential, says Wayne Digby of the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association. The easing of drought conditions in the southern U.S. could lessen demand, but

Canada lagging in ag research

Canadian agriculture is being shortchanged by governments when it comes to basic research compared to other countries, according to John Cranfield of the University of Guelph. “We are standing still while other countries are getting ahead of us,” said Cranfield, citing statistics from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The professor, an agricultural economist,


Ritz says budget cuts won’t affect food safety

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz is brushing off accusations that cuts at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency will eliminate the jobs of 100 veterinarians and inspectors. Reductions will be predominantly “backroom changes,” said Ritz. “Anyone who says this will affect food safety is off the mark,” he said. But the president of the agriculture division of

OUR HISTORY: April 19, 1962

Our April 26, 1962 issue reported on ice jams and flash floods in southern and western Manitoba, conditions in stark contrast to the news item below, which was on slow pasture recovery following the drought of 1961, the driest year on record in Western Canada. Accordingly, another story reported that on-farm grain stocks were the


Bison farmer fined

Staff / A McCreary farmer has been fined $1,000 in provincial court for failing to submit his bison herd to Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials for inspection and testing for bovine tuberculosis. Ron Chotka pled guilty and was fined under the Health of Animals Act Dec. 19, 2011, a CFIA release says. Livestock owners are