The federal government on March 13 announced it would — at the request of the provinces — allow rural employers to keep their current number of low-wage temporary foreign workers (TFWs). It will also increase the allowable share of low-wage workers to 15 per cent of employers’ workforces, from 10 per cent. These changes expire next April.

Rural, in this case, means areas outside of census metropolitan areas, a federal spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Employers in healthcare, food processing and construction will continue to be subject to a 20 per cent cap. Seasonal sectors like seafood and tourism are exempt from the cap. Agriculture is also not included in the cap.

As of March 19, the federal government did not say if any provinces had applied to decrease caps on workers.

More than 1.3 million work permits set to expire

Earlier this month, the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB) said that more than 1.3 million work permits are set to expire, including more than 300,000 by the end of March.

CFIB isn’t able to give a breakdown of which sectors or TFW stream these workers represent, said the organization’s policy analyst Juliette Nicolaÿ in an interview. However, she said federation members in manufacturing and hospitality sectors said they were struggling to hire local workers. Some retailers may also be affected.

CFIB welcomed the federal government’s temporary changes.

“Any changes that prevent businesses from losing experienced, trained workers is a positive one,” said federation president Dan Kelly in a written statement.

However, the federal measures do not extend work permits for workers already in Canada — one of the CFIB’s asks.

“Employers will still have to apply for a new Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) and demonstrate that they meet all Program requirements, including their efforts to first hire Canadians and permanent residents, and that no domestic workers are currently available to fill the positions, before benefiting from these measures,” a federal spokesperson said.

“There will be no automatic extensions or renewals, including for temporary foreign workers already in Canada.”

Why meat processors want permanent residents, not temporary fixes

While temporary foreign workers are used sparingly by some meat processors, it’s not the main means of bringing in workers, said Kyle Larkin, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Meat Council. Processors prefer more permanent workers.

The effect of relaxed caps on workers, therefore, will be limited.

However, many processors — particularly those in rural locales — are “desperate for labour right now,” Larkin said.

“I’ve got some members that are operating at about 70 per cent capacity because they don’t have enough workers.”

Meat processors capitalized on the federal Agri-Food Pilot program, which helped “experienced, non-seasonal workers in specific industries and specific occupations immigrate permanently to Canada,” the government’s website says.

However, that pilot ended in May 2025.

“Most meat processors across Canada are now challenged in being able to bring these individuals in,” Larkin said.

The meat council is advocating for the Agri-Food Pilot to be extended and made permanent.

Meat processors also bring in workers through provincial nominee programs. Larkin noted that some provinces have looked to the federal government to increase the number of immigrants allowed under those programs.

In Manitoba, industry groups like the Manitoba Pork Council have cited for the nominee program’s success and have argued for a nuanced approach to immigration, one that takes rural and agricultural labour needs into account.

In the wake of federally driven cuts to the program, Manitoba announced in January it would have to narrow its focus on workers already here (such as temporary foreign workers or international students) rather than accepting as many new international nominees.

Ottawa’s broader push to reduce temporary foreign workers

In recent years, the federal government has made moves to reduce hiring of temporary foreign workers amidst a perceived overuse and abuse of the system. Besides placing stricter caps on certain categories of temporary foreign workers, the government also cut the maximum employment term for low-wage TFWs to one year from two.

The Carney government’s 2026 to 2028 Immigration Levels Plan includes a reduction in temporary resident arrivals as part of a broader “re-calibration” of the immigration system. This includes cutbacks on the number of temporary foreign workers, with the target number dropping from 60,000 in 2026 to 50,000 in 2027 and 2028. The 2025 target was 82,000.

Criticism of the TFW program includes accusations of labour exploitation and less jobs being available to Canadian workers. In September, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre called on the TFW program to be scrapped and a standalone agriculture program created.

Larkin said meat processors would prefer to hire domestic employees but lack people who want to build a career in the industry.

“There’s massive financial costs to meat processors in bringing in foreign talent,” Larkin said, citing labour market assessments, legal fees, the effort to find workers internationally and potential fees for relocating workers.

Workers who become permanent residents in Canada tend to stay in the sector, Larkin said.

The post Meat sector shrugs at raised cap for rural temporary foreign workers appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The award is presented by GFS annually to one supplier across North America. It’s given based on performance in quality, reliability and collaboration. Peak of the Market received the award during the recent GFS Vendor Involvement Process Awards Show.

WHY IT MATTERS: Peak of the Market is being recognized for helping get more Manitoba-grown produce into local restaurants.

“This award is a wonderful reflection of our growing relationship with Gordon Food Service,” said Derek Kostynuik, director of sales at Peak of the Market, in a press release.

“Peak of the Market has been working hard to create value within its customer base, listening to their needs and adapting to meet them, and it’s an honour to be recognized for our efforts.”

Over the past year, the company has introduced new products under Markon Local. That GFS sub-brand has a mandate to distribute produce within local markets. Peak of the Market has used that offshoot as a vehicle to move product to restaurants and food service facilities across Manitoba.

The post Peak of the Market named to industry award appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Sold in the early 2000s, it came in an “EZ Squirt” bottle and, if memory serves, was a lurid shade of brownish-mauve.

My grandmother bought it for me and my three siblings. She also got us a bottle of green ketchup. Compared to today’s pushes for additive-free, all natural less processed foods, food marketing back in the early ‘oughts’ seems a bit like a fever dream. I can only imagine how much food colouring went into purple ketchup back then.

Today though, if they really wanted to, they could probably make it without artificial colours thanks to a recent development in genetic engineering.

This August, United States-based Norfolk Healthy Produce got Health Canada’s approval to bring The Purple Tomato to Canada.

This seems to have flown under the media’s radar. I heard about them from an Australian crop breeder at a University of Manitoba lecture this fall.

Researcher Cathie Martin at the United Kingdom’s John Innes Institute used genetic engineering techniques to take genetic traits from snapdragon flowers, and apply them to tomatoes.

In case you were wondering, snapdragon blooms are, in fact, edible, according to a few gardening websites I checked. It doesn’t sound like they taste good, though.

Martin brought in the traits that boost the presence of the pigment anthocyanin in the tomatoes.

Anthocyanins are widespread in nature. They contribute to plants’ red, violet, blue and orange colouring according to a 2021 paper from the National Library of Medicine. It’s the same group of water-soluble compounds that give red, purple or blue veggies their hue and have been praised as antioxidants. In this case, they gave Martin’s resulting tomatoes a rich purple colour.

“Recent human and animal surveys revealed that (anthocyanins) are functional compounds able to increase antioxidant defences, diminish free radical damage, chronic inflammation and the risk of mutations, and attenuate, or even mitigate, the development and progression of many non-communicable and degenerative chronic disorders,” the paper said.

According to Norfolk Healthy Produce, the anthocyanins in purple tomatoes may provide benefits like anti-inflammatory effects, improved vision health and better cardiovascular health. One serving of the purple tomato delivers a similar amount of anthocyanin as a serving of blueberries, the company’s website says.

That’s not what drew me to them, though. I only thought about making purple salsa and purple pizza sauce. Perhaps even ketchup?

Based on Norfolk’s website, seeds for The Purple Tomato were only available for sale in the U.S. in 2025 and sales are closed for the season. We’ll have to see if they’re made available in time for our 2026 gardens.

The post Introducing the purple tomato appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Announced on Oct. 8, seven total changes will be made to the Health of Animals Regulations and the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations. The reduction of red tape across Canada’s regulations and bureaucracy was called for by Prime Minister Mark Carney on July 9, 2025.

The review was intended to look into aspects of the regulatory system across all sectors and address issues such as duplication or overlap with other jurisdictions, outdated requirements, and inefficient and complicated processes.

WHY IT MATTERS: Canadian farmers have been calling for a more nimble regulatory system for years.

A list of next steps stemming from the review states that the CFIA intends to improve alignment with international rules and agricultural product access. Goals are meant to improve the competitiveness of the agriculture and agri-food industry.

The Oct. 8 changes fall into the latter promise of removing certain prescriptive requirements, increasing flexibility and efficiency, and “levelling the playing field,” the government has said.

The seven changes are as follows:

– Fresh fruit and vegetables no longer require prescriptive labels.

– Traceability labelling requirements for hatching eggs and chicks are reduced to align with current industry practices.

– Produce intended for further processing, manufacturing, or preserving is exempt from mandatory grading requirements.

– Import requirements for veal producers will be revamped to let them optimize product value.

– Fresh fruits and vegetables grade standards will be managed by the Fruit and Vegetable Dispute Resolution Corporation to more effectively meet industry needs.

– Updates to animal import rules will be made easier and more efficient to align with international standards or new science, and

– there will be required testing for Salmonella Enteritidis on hatching eggs imported from the United States to licensed Canadian hatcheries.

Cautious optimism

Industry groups described the changes as a positive first step, but they’re waiting for more.

“(We) see this as one step in an ongoing process of regulatory modernization to ensure we’re building a regulatory regime that better serves a competitive agri-food industry, while maintaining the strength and rigour of Canada’s world-leading health and safety regulations,” the Canadian Federation of Agriculture said in a statement.

Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) and Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) in Manitoba built on those sentiments. Bill Prybylski, APAS president, said these kinds of increased efficiencies need to come to both the grain industry and livestock industries.

He cited the approval process for pesticides, fungicides, livestock medications and feed supplements in United States, compared to the slower timeline often seen in Canada.

That’s been a consistent frustration for Canadian farmers and the agriculture industry.

“If the EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) has done their due diligence, which we would assume that they have, and have approved a product for use in the States, being a trusted jurisdiction, there needs to be a way to speed up the approval process of bringing those products for use into Canada,” Prybylski said.

He was hopeful the momentum of the changes continues, as government and Canadians recognize their impact.

“Once they recognize that, you know, making some simple little changes like this is not in any way jeopardizing the health and safety of the food that we produce, but that it’s just making it easier for producers to do the things that they need to do, and getting a safe, healthy food out to consumers,” he said.

KAP said that they will be continuing to review these and future changes, but added that all government should review their policies.

“KAP supports the reduction of burdensome red tape that stifles the ability of Manitoba producers to prosper,” said Colin Hornby, KAP’s general manager, via email.

“We strongly urge all levels of government to prioritize the streamlining of their respective regulatory environments for the benefit of all of agriculture.”

The post CFIA red tape changes a first step: agriculture appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“Our first history of evidence that the Métis were farming in the Red River Country area is 1806,” said Daniel Benoit, Red River Michif (Métis) and knowledge holder. “They had small Red River lots farmed ranging in size from maybe 10 acres up to 400 acres. Every farm had a small or a large garden.”

Benoit was speaking at the Canadian Farm Writers Federation conference in Winnipeg on Sept. 20.

The records of Métis agriculture includes horticulture, but also open areas for cereal crops, hay lands, horses – primarily for transportation – and livestock such as cattle, sheep and chickens.

While Métis in the 1800s primarily grew crops and raised livestock for their immediate families or communities, occasionally surplus goods were sold to settlements.

“If there was surplus, it would be a little bit of surplus in a whole bunch of areas,” said Benoit.

Surplus goods such as oak planks, hops and beer, livestock, seeds and vegetables trickled into the Red River economy and, in some cases, as far away as Fort Edmonton.

Keeping goods in Western Canada – particularly food – was essential. It meant that food did not need to be imported from England to run the Hudson’s Bay Company system.

“The Red River really became the local production to run the Hudson’s Bay Company,” added Benoit.

But early model farms of the Hudson’s Bay Company were not very successful. Instead, they relied on Indigenous food and agricultural systems, including the Red River Métis.

“When the influx of settlers come in in 1870 and afterwards, they’re hiring Red River Métis to be the labourers for them,” said Benoit.

“So that knowledge transfer was happening through the white farmers … through hiring and interacting with Red River Métis that are throughout the Prairies.”

Métis agriculture today

David Beaudin, minister of agriculture, and the associate minister of environment and climate change for the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF), said their organization has 500 Métis citizens listed as farmers and ranchers.

In an email, the MMF said Red River Métis producers are relatively balanced in both farming and ranching, though average farm size tends to be smaller than non-Indigenous operations.

“If anybody does list that they’re farming, they’re probably farming hay and alfalfa to feed their cattle,” he said.

Beaudin noted, however, that the Métis demographic of farmers is aging and that more needs to be done to attract the next generation.

“We do know the age of demographics is 72-plus as far as their age,” said Beaudin.

“My big tagline when I talk with citizen’s moms these days is that, you know, your children can be anything they want to be as long as it’s in agriculture,” he added lightheartedly.

The MMF said it’s a priority for their organization to attract more youth into the farm sector, and that educational opportunities for Red River Métis youth, including new or young entrants, are key to increasing participation in agriculture and agri-food sectors.

Crown lands

An aging demographic is not the only hurdle when it comes to attracting young Métis to the farm sector.

Beaudin added that the Crown lands lease program is a hurdle when it comes to acquiring new lands for Métis.

“Existing farmers, ranchers are basically holding on to their land, but they’re getting tired, so we really need succession planning for the industry,” said Beaudin. “Hopefully we can get some help out of the province for that, and we (can) look at succession planning for Métis farmers and ranchers, not just Manitobans.”

The MMF has noted a growing number of citizens expressing interest in sharing agriculture and agri-food knowledge. But much of that knowledge is currently underutilized. The organization lacks program funding to capitalize on the interest.

To learn more about Indigenous contributions to prairie agriculture, Dan Benoit participated in a discussion with the University of Manitoba entitled, ‘Role of Indigenous agriculture in our food systems’ which can be found on YouTube.

For more reconciliation content from the Co-operator and other Glacier FarmMedia publications, see our truth and reconciliation landing page at AgCanada.com.

The post VIDEO: The long farm history of the Red River Métis appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Stefan Graner, an organic farmer near Paddockwood, Sask. has been utilizing FarmDroid, an autonomous seeding and weeding robot, for four years. Its efficiency and accuracy have proven to have strong economic benefits for him.

At between $150,000 to $180,000 they’re not cheap investments, even with federal funding available. But for Graner’s operation, the technology has been such a great addition that he now has three of the robots.

WHY IT MATTERS: A farm robot is proving to be an economical investment.

Graner and his wife made the switch to organic farming in 2018, after beginning their farm in the 1990s.

“We’re relatively small-scale,” he shared at the Saskatchewan Organics field day on July 31.

“I probably do a total of 750 acres myself. Of that, some is in cover crops, and maybe four to 500 or 450 are in crop this year.”

Typically, Graner seeds a crop for two years and follows with two to three years of cover crops. But the field he showed off at the field day had been cropped for four years, starting with mustard, then hemp, oats, and now black lentils.

The lentils were seeded by the FarmDroid, and have been weeded by it too. The robot has had its work cut out for it, though, as Graner shared there’s been plenty of volunteer oats in the crop and alfalfa — which was his cover crop from five years ago.

Weeding and seeding

It works best when weeds are smaller, since the machine has arms which act like “knives” to eliminate any weeds between the plants. But if the plants are too large, they can catch on the arms and be pulled out.

The best part of this for organic and horticulture producers is that, not only does it get between the rows but between the plants themsleves.

This severely limits the robbing of moisture that weeds typically do in a crop.

Additionally, the arms only go into the soil about a half inch, so deep rooted weeds aren’t easily eliminated. Because of this, Graner typically pairs it with and interrow cultivator to limit large weeds between the rows.

When it comes to seeding, the machine works pretty smooth. It will seed approximately 1.25 acres per hour — as it has a max speed of one kilometre per hour — only stopping if seed is empty, battery is low, or weather conditions prevent seeding.

“These can have an additional battery pack and run 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Mark Weber, FrontLink territory manager and a FarmDroid distributor.

“The solar panels, typically, especially at this time of year, they’ll easily fill up the batteries and keep you running. Most guys, if they’re running two batteries, they’re getting till two, three in the morning, it stops and then, usually within half an hour of the sun being up, it’ll fire itself back up, and away it goes.”

The seed hoppers, of which there is four, each holds six liters. With this capacity, if Graner is seeding mustard, lentils, or hemp he’ll fill it in the morning and once at night.

More efficient

He’s noticed that with the robot, less seed is being used. After seeding his lentils, he was still left with a partial bag, even though he’d done his calculations correctly.

Weber added that this has been noticed by other producers as well, both small scale and horticultural producers. He explained that due to the advanced precision, the FarmDroid is able to ensure greater accuracy resulting in less seed.

And, thus far, there’s been no effect to yields. Rather, Graner and Weber’s other clients have all said they’ve seen an increase when compared to conventional seeding practices. Between the accuracy of seeding and precision of weeding, there’s an overall better use of both land and moisture.

But there are problems with the robot when it comes to larger seeds like oats, peas, and even wheat. The largest possible seed size, currently, is eight millimeters. Last year, Graner tried to use it to seed wheat but ran into some issues.

“I wanted to seed it just like I’d seeded the lentils in pods of one to three seeds every six inches, roughly, or so,” he said. “I would have seeded one little pod of seeds, just so I get, for sure, a plant growing. And after a few meteres or so, it plugged. The seeds were too big, the valve didn’t open, and the robot said, ‘no, not going to do it.’ It sent me a text message and stopped.”

After going back and unplugging it three times, Graner fully opened the seed valve and set it to a two-inch seed placement. While this got the seeding done, it didn’t allow for the robot to go back to weeding between the plants since the rows were no longer even.

Setting it up

Graner has had quite the learning curve with the robot, but he’s figured out the best ways to utilize his equipment for his operation.

On a smart phone, producer’s can use the machine’s camera to watch what’s happening, turn it on and off, receive notifications when it stops, and are told the reason for stopping.

Once he got the hang of it, Graner said it’s been super easy to program. If a producer know how to set up an auto-steer program, they’ll be able to do this.

It’s also very simple to input “obstacles” such as bush, sloughs, or driveways. These can even be added in after the initial programming, such as in cases of heavy rains that leave standing water.

The post Robot seeder and weeder efficient for organic crops appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“You don’t want to harvest it as a one-time media and throw it in the garbage,” said Poonam Singh of the Brandon college’s Russ Edwards School of Agriculture and Environment.

Singh noted that around 24,000 hectares of peatland has been drained for use in Canadian horticulture, with 14,000 under active extraction. Canada is now one of the largest global peat producers, sourcing the material from sphagnum moss.

WHY IT MATTERS: Peat is one of the most established soil supplements and growth mediums that gardeners and horticultural operations use but peatland restoration can be difficult.

According to the Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association, peat forms through the gradual accumulation of plant material that has undergone incomplete decomposition in waterlogged, oxygen-poor and acidic wetland environments.

It has a lot going for it as an agricultural product. Peat moss’s high water-holding capacity, natural structure and lack of pathogens make it popular as a growth medium for ornamental and food production in controlled environments.

—> READ MORE: Recovering Manitoba’s peat bogs

The material’s ability to absorb and hold 12-20 times its dry weight in water makes it valuable for managing moisture. Its capacity to enhance the soil’s ability to hold and gradually release nutrients while reducing fertilizer runoff is praised for nutrient management. Additionally, peat provides aeration through natural air spaces that encourage strong root growth and plant development. It doesn’t compact through the growing cycle, maintains low electrical conductivity and has a pH that supports plant health.

Peat’s sustainability problem

It doesn’t restore itself very quickly however, and the process of harvesting often turns odds against renewed sphagnum moss growth after the site is depleted.

“At one time, it used to take 40 years … to bring (peatland) back to its original biodiversity level,” Singh said.

Researchers like Singh are instead looking for things they can add to make harvested peat go further. That list includes compost, coconut coir or biochar, wool fibre, cattails, wood products and even insect frass and worm castings.

They’re testing how much of the peat they can substitute and which kinds of peat extenders they can blend in while maintaining peat’s effectiveness as a growth medium.

Replacing peat with even 10 to 20 per cent alternative growing media can positively impact the industry, Singh said.

“There are so many other materials that have potential.”

In particular, the research is looking at materials that are byproducts or would otherwise be wasted from other sectors.

“If there is a waste product of one industry that can be used as a growing media, what could be better than that?” Singh said.

Those substances have a high bar to clear though. Peat is a versatile, highly mixable substance due to its structure, predictable performance and low disease risk, researchers noted. This allows for specific mixes tailored to particular crops or growing conditions.

Peat additive performance

Singh’s research suggests that at least some substitution is possible without giving ground on plant health and growth. In one 2024 study using cattails, mixing the additive in low levels (between 10 and 20 per cent), supported comparable plant growth. Plant size, chlorophyll content, leaf development and root growth were all measured.

Much higher than that though, and plant growth started to slow. Singh believes that was caused by nitrogen immobilization due to microbial activity.

Currently, Singh and her team are looking at how composted cattail fibres affect the nitrogen immobilization that raw fibres caused in the first trial. She hopes that will let them increase the proportion of cattails in the mix.

The post Manitoba research seeks peat moss stand-ins appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

That includes ideas to make the sector more adaptable for Manitoba’s winter-heavy northern conditions, such as how high tunnels might help vegetable growers kick off their operations earlier in spring and deeper into the fall. Another project is looking for peat moss alternatives that could be blended in to make the precious natural resource go farther (See story on pg. 10).

The college’s long list of horticultural research and other horticultural production ideas (such as raised vegetable beds) were on display during this year’s Horticulture School July 31.

WHY IT MATTERS: Current horticultural research often includes a sustainability aspect, as well as searching for solutions to make it more applicable for local conditions.

Raised beds aren’t just for the casual backyard gardener, according to one Manitoba horticultural expert.

Tom Gonsalves, vegetable crop specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, outlined his work exploring the practice to boost crop yield and quality for some vegetable crops.

“We did trials in Portage (la Prairie) … where we evaluated raised bed versus non-raised bed production. We did it over a number of years, depending on the crop,” Gonsalves said.

It hasn’t been a winner for all crops. Tomatoes, for example, didn’t see an advantage. Others, such as various squashes, zucchini, carrots and peppers, reaped noticeable yield bumps.

His work at the Portage la Prairie Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada station suggests that a four-foot-high bed between 30 and 36 inches wide yielded the best results, though ideal height and bed width depend on soil type, crop type and the type of machinery that is being used to work the soil.

The idea is to get a head start on spring. Soil on raised beds warms more quickly, which can offer producers an extended growing season. Water drainage is also optimized in raised beds. Extra water drains away more easily from the top four to eight inches of a plant’s roots, depending on the height of the raised bed.

Producers can also opt to use plastic sheet mulch on raised beds, including biodegradable or non-biodegradable mulch, which helps limit both mechanical weed control and pesticide use.

Raised beds also lead to improved root growth, reduced compaction, and more oxygen in the soil, Gonsalves said.

High tunnels offer low-energy season extension

High tunnels are another method being explored to grow crops longer without the expense of a full greenhouse.

Anthony Mintenko, a provincial fruit crops specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, and Sajjad Rao, a researcher and professor at Assiniboine College, have been growing different fruits and vegetables in a high tunnel at the college’s North Hill Campus site. They’ve documented noticeable benefits, including less disease issues with fruit and better quality compared to field-grown fruit along with the expected extended growing season.

“There’s less disease issues with fruit rot, especially with the strawberries,” Mintenko said.

Mintenko has also been able to prevent spider mites by buying predatory mites that prey on spider mites as biological insecticides.

“By doing that, we’ve eliminated needing any kind of spray for spider mites,” he said.

The high tunnel also offers climate control. Even at temperatures of -37 degrees Celsius outside the high tunnel, temperatures inside didn’t dip below -10 C.

Horticulturalists who make use of high tunnels can seed or transplant their fruit and vegetable plants earlier and push harvest later.

“You’re getting a jump three weeks before the field,” Mintenko said. “We’re harvesting through October no problem, sometimes into November.”

Berry plants can even over-winter in high tunnels without being killed off, Mintenko added.

Peat, by any other name

The research in peat alternatives hopes to stretch out use of the common, but slow-to-restore growth medium and soil improvement additive.

Around 24,000 hectares of peat land have been drained for use in Canadian horticulture, with 14,000 under active extraction, according to Poonam Singh, a professor and researcher at the college’s Russ Edwards School of Agriculture and Environment at Brandon’s Assiniboine College. Canada is now one of the largest global peat producers, sourcing the material from sphagnum moss.

Materials like compost, coconut derivatives and biochar are all being explored to see how much of those substitutes can be added while still taking advantage of peat’s water-holding capacity, root-promoting aeration and other traits.

Other possible peat substitutes shown to this year’s Horticulture School attendees included hemp products, cattails, wood products, wool fibre, and even insect frass and vermicompost (worm castings).

“There are so many other materials that have potential,” Singh said. “I’m amazed to see how many people use local materials.”

Other topics covered at the 2025 Horticulture School include horticulture pathology, alkaline soil, iron chlorosis in fruit crops and potential invasive insects to scout for.

The post Horticulture farm practices in the limelight appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Popular in produce-growing areas of the northern United States such as Minnesota, high tunnels are slowly making their way onto Manitoba fruit and vegetable operations. Much of that interest came from Manitoba Agriculture’s efforts to identify practices that maximize the benefits of these semi-permanent structures.

WHY IT MATTERS: Indoor vegetable production doesn’t have the same mark on Manitoba’s agricultural sector as in some other provinces, but there are companies making a go of it in the Keystone Province.

Under the lead of Tom Gonsalves, a vegetable specialist with Manitoba Ag, researchers have been conducting a series of tests since 2014 to see what grows best in its own built-from-scratch high tunnel in Portage la Prairie.

So far, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and spinach have proven their hardiness under its arched frame.

Perhaps their most crucial feature is the ability to extend vegetable farmers’ growing seasons, said Gonsalves.

“If we’re comparing it to field production, you’re going to get in a couple of weeks earlier and depending on how hard the frost is in the fall and how soon it comes, you’re going to get anywhere from a few days at a minimum to probably a number of weeks (in the fall).”

Tomatoes are among the plants that fare best in the tunnel. “We’ve shown you can generate higher marketable yields from tomatoes in a high tunnel versus field production. We have data to back up that statement.”

Gonsalves explained some differences between greenhouses and high tunnels.

First, a greenhouse is a permanent structure grounded by a permanent foundation. They’re usually equipped with electricity, permanent heat and ventilation systems plus glass or plastic covering. They can be used year-round “if you’re prepared to pay the heating bill,” he said.

Meanwhile, a high tunnel is a semi-permanent structure set up on the soil. A standard high tunnel is made of large metal hoops covered by polyethylene plastic. They range in size from 10 to 30 feet wide, nine to 12 feet high and 96 to 100 feet long, according to the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Most high tunnel operators plant right into the soil. In greenhouses, crops are grown in either pots or containers with soil.

“(It) doesn’t have the same degree of engineering required (as a greenhouse),” said Gonsalves.

“In our world here in Manitoba, most municipalities wouldn’t require an engineering certificate to put up a high tunnel, whereas if you’re building a greenhouse, being basically a building, you would require some municipal approvals.”

A greenhouse can be covered in glass or plastic, but glass is generally too rigid for high tunnels.

“One of the purposes of a high tunnel is that it’s cheaper to build than a greenhouse. As soon as you start using a more rigid frame with glass in there, if the frame shifts it’s going to crack the glass,” says Gonsalves.

There’s no permanent heat or powered, forced-fan ventilation in a high tunnel, but temporary heaters can augment heat if necessary. Controlling heat and ventilation in a high tunnel is often done the old-fashioned way: rolling up the sides and opening and closing doors.

Gonsalves and Bruce Berry, a vegetable grower with Almost Urban Vegetables in St. Norbert, Man., identified some of the pros and cons of vegetable producers using high tunnels:

Pro: They extend the season

Gonsalves said one drawback of high tunnels is that it costs more to produce crops versus a field, but that can be offset by the longer seasons they enable.

“Your gain is you get a longer season which gives you more marketable yield and a longer window to sell your crop.”

The high tunnel in Portage averages a one- to four-week extension in the spring and one to three extra weeks in the fall. Although not temperature-controlled, Gonsalves says it offers the growing produce an extra three to five degrees Celsius in borderline freezing temperatures.

“If we go through October where the lowest temperature is, say, minus two or three, we have no death in our high tunnel due to frost.”

However, if there’s an extended period of cold temperatures in, for example, late September, that can quickly lead to a large amount of plant death from frost, putting the producer “behind the eight-ball” for harvesting, says Gonsalves.

That’s when some economic decisions — such as whether or not to continue investing labour in the crop — will likely have to be made.

Berry has found some workarounds to frost, including interplanting tactics such as seeding hardier vegetables such as lettuce earlier than more frost-vulnerable crops.

“(The lettuce will) be out by the time that the tomatoes start really growing tall and shading them.”

Pro: They can be profitable

“We’ve shown with a number of crops … that we can get probably $5,000 to $9,000 income (per year) out of our tunnel,” Gonsalves said. “That varies on the crop you choose and varies on the price in a given year.”

This profitability allowed Manitoba Agriculture to pay the investment off in around two to three years, he says.

“I would challenge any business person to come to me, or come to anyone, with a business plan that shows their capital costs can be paid off in two to three years .”

Pro: They’re flexible

The sheer number of vegetables Manitoba Agriculture has proven high tunnel-worthy is a testament to their flexibility, said Gonsalves.

In addition to the vegetable crops proven to be successfully grown in a high tunnel, the researchers have also evaluated kale, Swiss chard and leaf and romaine lettuce. However, Gonsalves said there’s still more work to be done to gain significant data on that group.

Berry’s seasonal high tunnel crops include tomatoes and cucumbers, but he’s also successfully grown okra. He has three kinds of tunnels — high, mid and low — that are used based on specific crop needs. High-growing vegetables, for example, are usually reserved for the high tunnel.

“We’ve done eggplant in (the high tunnel), but then we realized we could do the eggplant in the mid tunnel. Same with peppers. We realized, ‘Oh, they don’t get very tall — we can do those in the mid tunnel.’”

Con: They can be pricey

Although high tunnels can be profitable and not as expensive as a greenhouse, the initial investment can be heavy. High tunnel kits are generally sold for $10,000 to $12,000, said Gonsalves, although Manitoba Ag was able to build its own for around half the price.

And just like vegetable production can be more labour-intensive compared to grain cropping, high tunnels can further increase labour costs due to a lack of mechanization, he says.

However, a little know-how and experimentation can cut the cost of a high tunnel by some measure.

Berry built one out of a garage shelter — a temporary, portable structure usually used to protect parked vehicles from the elements — on his farm. These tend to retail for hundreds of dollars compared to the thousands asked for high tunnel kits.

“(They have) a very light-duty frame with a tarp over them. And so we just said, ‘Well, we put clear poly over that and it’ll be a high tunnel. And so we did and that worked quite well.’”

A used greenhouse frame can also serve as a high tunnel frame, said Berry. But the most important consideration takes place before the structure is ever placed on the soil.

“Get the soil built up the way you like it before you put the tunnel on top. It’s hard to do that after. That’s obvious, I guess, but maybe not.”

High tunnel users need to identify their goals around these structures and recognize the management practices that drive optimum results, he adds.

“If you make really early produce with it, do you have a place to sell that early produce? And can you make enough to make it worthwhile? You have to understand, I guess, what your goals are with it.”

Con: They can be high maintenance

Berry also said high tunnels can be a nuisance to maintain.

“You’ve got more to do to look after this thing. The poly only lasts four years and then if it gets degraded, it might just rip off from the wind. So you can have maintenance there.”

They can also be a vector for soil salinity if not managed correctly. Berry says leaving the cover on all winter can create salinity leading into a dry spring.

“There’s so much evaporation because it’s hotter. And with no rain, if you’re not careful, you can get salinity building in it. Whereas in an open field, the rain is going to sort of wash those salts back down.”

The post High tunnels make for longer vegetable growing season in Manitoba appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The produce giants were in the spotlight in Selkirk on April 5 for the Giant Pumpkin Growers Seminar.

WHY IT MATTERS: Growing pumpkins to maximum size is not as easy as planting and caring for the typical garden variety pumpkin.

Milan Lukes of Winnipeg, a two-time winner for heaviest pumpkin at the Roland Pumpkin Fair was brought in to share his experience. Lukes first won the championship spot in 2015 at just 13 years old, a fact he linked to the surprising accessibility of giant pumpkin growing.

“You don’t need acres and acres. You don’t need to be a farmer,” he said. “You can be a young person from the city and still grow one over a thousand pounds.”

Small seed, big fruit

Pumpkins with championship potential come from very specific seed, attendees heard.

The Dill’s Atlantic Giant pumpkin variety, bred in Eastern Canada by Howard Dill, holds the world record for generating giant pumpkins and has become the go-to seed for hopeful pumpkin champions.

A pack of nine seeds of Dill’s Atlantic Giant sells in Canada for about six dollars.

Much like race horses though, genetic lines with proven championship potential come with a premium cost above and beyond the typical seed market. One seed from the current giant pumpkin record holder sells for nearly $500, Lukes noted.

Giant pumpkin agronomy

Just as in real estate, choosing a location is highly important. While a fully grown giant pumpkin looks formidable, it needs a great deal of shelter earlier in its development. Tarps and snow fence materials are often used as windbreaks when a permanent structure such as a garage or shed may not be nearby.

“These giant pumpkin plants have massive leaves,” Lukes said, “Think of them as solar panels, right? If these leaves are being torn and ripped during the wind, you know your plant won’t be producing as much glucose or as much energy that could be going into that giant pumpkin.”

Lukes added that it’s a good idea to identify the first true leaf on your pumpkin plant so it can be properly oriented before planting. A pumpkin plant will vine out in the opposite direction of its true leaf. Plenty of room is needed for that main vine as it extends and grows.

Growing a giant pumpkin requires a lot of sun, but the pumpkin itself needs to be protected from intense sunlight. Too much sunlight will harden its exterior and impede its ability to stretch as it grows. If the pumpkin splits down into the flesh, it’s no longer competition-worthy.

“We do allow it to have some cracking,” said Laverne Wojciechowski, secretary with the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth. “but the cracks can’t go inside of the fruit because somebody could have put something inside.”

Last but not least, be prepared to use a lot of water.

During peak season in mid-to-late July and August, Lukes used around 378 litres (100 gallons) of water a day to water his two plants and their canopy of leaves.

“Everywhere where there’s a leaf that connects to the main vine, or any vine, the pumpkin plant will actually send out roots,” Lukes said. “By watering the entire canopy, you’re also watering those roots that are on those vines that are 10 feet or more outward. So you’re not just watering and feeding the stump of the crown, but all the roots in that plant system.”

Lukes typically fills a large tank with tap water and lets it sit for a day before watering his pumpkins. This allows the water to warm up and for chlorine to evaporate. Once he finished watering, he refills the tank to prepare for the next day.

All of this takes a considerable amount of time.

Wojciechowski paraphrased comments from the current giant pumpkin world record holder made at a 2024 conference:

“Pumpkin is your life. You do nothing else. It’s 185 days of planning and getting that thing growing and getting it to the weigh-off. So if you want to grow it, you have to focus on that, and just that.”

You’ve grown a giant pumpkin. Now what?

“You want to make sure there’s a soft padding, Lukes said. “You don’t want any cracks or anything when you’re transporting it to the weigh-off. So something that can actually absorb any shock would be beneficial.”

Lukes fashions a system of straps into a sling, while digging out some of the earth below the giant pumpkin to allow lifting it from underneath. It only needs to be lifted high enough for a pallet to slide underneath. Once that’s safely achieved, the giant fruit can be lowered onto the pallet, secured and loaded onto a trailer or truck.

Some growers will retain several feet of vine on their giant pumpkins when trimming it from the garden, Lukes noted. They place these vines in buckets of water, allowing the pumpkin to continue to drink.

“Let’s say you harvest your pumpkin, but the weigh-off is not until the next day or 12 hours later,” Lukes said, “You will still get the pumpkin putting on a few pounds, and every pound matters when you’re trying to go for first place.”

Arthur Cameron, chair of the Manitoba Giant Growers Association and long-time organizer of the Roland Pumpkin fair, said many competitors will scout out their route before loading up their pumpkin and hitting the road to avoid potential shocks.

For an example, last year’s fair winner was from Minnesota and called Cameron to talk about the comparative condition of different Manitoba highways.

While some imperfections in a giant pumpkin are acceptable for competition, any severe damage will likely disqualify it.

“We want to make sure that our fruit is sound and healthy,” Wojciechowski said. “But that being said, you can get damage from mice and we do get hail, and that can create scabs on the fruit … so we do allow for damaged spots of a certain size.”

After the weigh-off

Giant pumpkins are not destined for scores of pumpkin pies — those who have tried say they are not the best edible variety for humans; the flesh is stringy.

In many cases, local wildlife such as deer reap the rewards of a grower’s efforts. Lukes said that, in past years, he’s placed a giant pumpkin on his parent’s front lawn. After about a month, it had been entirely eaten.

But one man has taken a creative, autumn appropriate approach to tap giant pumpkins for a charitable cause.

For the past several years, Chris Okell of Winnipeg has been carving up pumpkins from the Roland Pumpkin Fair as Halloween jack-o’-lanterns in memory of his mother, who died from pancreatic cancer.

In 2024, CBC Manitoba reported in an interview with Okell that his charity, The Pumpkin Promise, had raised over $64,000 for CancerCare Manitoba since 2010.

SIDEBAR: Giant pumpkin central

So how did Roland, Manitoba, get to be pumpkin central for giant pumpkins in Manitoba?

Arthur Cameron, chair of the Manitoba Giant Growers Association, said it’s likely down to one local avid gardener who was born in Roland.

“Probably close to 50 years ago, a man named Edgar VanWyck got interested in growing giant squash and pumpkins,” Cameron said. “He was actually a friend of Howard Dill of Nova Scotia.”

Dill went on to breed one of the go-to giant pumpkin varieties for Canadian growers.

For a number of years during the 1970s, VanWyck showed his giant pumpkins at the Toronto Winter Fair, even earning his name in the Guinness Book of World Records for growing a record-size pumpkin in 1977.

Interest in growing giant pumpkins for the Roland Pumpkin Fair competition has ebbed and flowed, and Cameron has seen fewer growers compete at the weigh-off in the past several years.

“I think what’s happened is we have some very serious growers who are trying to grow those big ones,” Cameron said, “but the people that don’t really want to put that much effort into it aren’t going to be rewarded, so they don’t bother bringing one to the fair.”

Ten cash prizes were awarded at the giant pumpkin weigh-off in 2024. Charlie Bernstrom of Minnesota won that top prize of $1,500 with an eye-popping pumpkin that weighed in at 2,004 pounds (about 909 kilograms), the heaviest ever recorded at the Roland Pumpkin Fair.

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