A former board member of the Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA) offers thoughts on harvest 2025 yields, tariffs and the push to prepare for winter and beyond on Manitoba beef and grain farms.
Tag Archives forages
Farmer musings of post-harvest Manitoba
Harvest 2025 results, tariffs and the push to prepare for winter and beyond on Manitoba beef and grain farms
New high-performance forage training program to launch in 2026
Program is meant to be a resource for farmers, agronomists and others in the forage sector
A new Canadian Forage and Grasslands Asssociation high-performance forage program will be a resource for farmers, agronomists and others in the forage sector.
BrettYoung flags efficiencies with new seed plant
Company says turf-focused addition will open space at legacy facilities for ag-related products
The new jewel of BrettYoung’s Winnipeg operations will focus on the turf side of the seed company’s business, but executives say improved efficiencies will carry into the rest of the firm. The new NorthCore seed processing plant is a $20-million investment for BrettYoung, whose business includes forage and turf seed, crop inputs and professional turf
Forage association presents 2023 Leadership Award
The Canadian Forage and Grassland Association (CFGA) presented its Leadership Award at its 14th Annual Conference on Nov. 29, in Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia, to Dr. Dan Undersander of Wisconsin – the first non-Canadian to win this award. As well as being the keynote speaker at the conference, Undersander has worked as a forage
Setting seed for 2024’s marginal acres
Dormant seeding can make the most of marginal land next year
Seeding isn’t over, if Ducks Unlimited Canada has any say. The organization is promoting a dormant seeding program to boost 2024 forage production and make the most of marginal land. “We’re targeting the areas that farmers have identified as not being the most economically suited to grain cropping,” said DUC forage specialist Charlotte Crawley. “We’re talking kochia-infested areas, foxtail-infested areas
Comment: Time to stop wasting ditch grass
Publicly funded forage could be one small step toward climate resiliency
It is time for Alberta and perhaps the rest of the Prairies to start thinking outside the box and recognize we may have to start doing things differently. We can start with a new approach to emergency cattle feed supplies. For the past three years, a feed crisis has risen in the Prairies, affecting many
Hay prices, supply steady for now
FEED | Producers in some parts of the province will be buying hay this winter
Areas across Manitoba may be hard up for hay and feed, but those watching the market say there’s good supply available for purchase and prices have yet to rise significantly. Ads for new-crop and carryover forage are plentiful, said John MacGregor, forage expert with the Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association, and prices have been fairly
For cattle producers, the time to attack Canada thistle is now
A herbicide application after a hard frost can hit the noxious weed where it lives
Of all the weeds beef producers should focus on, Canada thistle is high on the list. Livestock avoid the prickly plant and it’s estimated to cost Canadian ag and forestry $7.5 billion in lost revenue annually. Fall control on pasture might be one of the most effective tools in stopping growth of the weed, said one industry
Sweet and salty: Using sweet clover to fight salinity
Producers use salt-tolerant forage to claw back productivity on previously flooded land
East of Deloraine, in the far southwestern corner of Manitoba, waves of yellow sweet clover are reclaiming farmland that, three years ago, was under the waves of Whitewater Lake. A road runs near the field planted with the legume, a raised snake of land that, in 2019, would have been surrounded by water. In August,
Making the most of available forage
Start the grazing season with a plan and lower cost of production over time
Developing a grazing plan is an important first step to ensure effective grazing management on an operation, and it can help save a producer on cost of production in the long run. A grazing plan that matches animal numbers to predicted forage yields should be made before turn out. Several key steps should be included:
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
