MCPA Airs Range Of Wildlife Beefs

Robin Hood famously hunted the king’s deer in Sherwood Forest. Should Manitoba’s ranchers be allowed to do the same? As part of a wide-ranging discussion of wildlife issues at the Manitoba Cattle Producer’s Association annual general meeting, Don Ransom spoke in favour of a resolution carried by the MCPA to lobby the provincial government to

Feds Hand Income Tax Break To Soggy Ranchers

Ranchers caught without winter feed due to excess rainfall during the summer haying season have been thrown a lifeline from the federal government. Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced last week that livestock producers in northern Manitoba, the Interlake and Westlake regions struggling as a result of excess moisture will be able to tap tax


Cattle Producers Still Live In BSE’s Shadow

Cattails and swamp grass are all that’s visible on some pastures as Menno Friesen drives a visitor around his Interlake farm in an aging pickup truck. Friesen spent 45 years beating back bushes and shrubs to develop some prime crop and grazing land in the heart of cattle country. But due to the abnormally wet

Supplies, Domestic Demand, Prices All Strong

Wi t h ha r-v est operations now virtually complete across Manitoba, auction marts across the province saw large volumes during the final week of October, as the fall calf run brought in big numbers of cattle. Keith Cleaver, manager of Heartland Livestock in Brandon, said it was a good week to be selling. “The


Improved Mite Control Cuts Bee Losses

The worst may be over for Canadian honey producers, following three straight years of devastating overwinter bee colony losses. A new survey shows beekeepers lost 21 per cent of their colonies last winter, much less than in previous years. But officials warn it’s premature to say the industry has turned a corner in its fight

Phosphorus Depletion An Ongoing Concern

The excess moisture that has plagued Manitoba’s Interlake forced Bragi Simundsson to cut back on his organic operation last year. “If you can’t cultivate for over a year, you’re pretty much beat trying to be organic,” says Simundsson, who had as many as six quarters of his 2,000-acre mixed grain farm near Arborg certified. Organic


Crop Report – for Oct. 14, 2010

SOUTHWEST REGION Cereal crops are 80 to 85 per cent complete; yields are average and quality is average to below average due to several rain showers. Canola harvest is 80 per cent complete with yields average to below average with reports that later-seeded canola has been impacted by frost. Flax harvest is 70 per cent

Ottawa Cited For Delay In Cattle Flooding Program

Manitoba has done its part to develop an emergency aid program for flooded cattle producers and it’s now up to Ottawa to deliver the goods, says Agriculture Minister Stan Struthers. The NDP government approved its share of the assistance package weeks ago and it’s not responsible for a federal delay in announcing it, Struthers said


Rising Waters Too Expensive To Fight

Flooded ranchers and landowners around the three Shoal Lakes in the Interlake were told last week it is cheaper for governments to buy them out than come to their rescue with drainage. Area residents who packed into the community hall here had their worst fears confirmed as they learned the conclusions of a study commissioned

The Future Is Now

Tempers flared and fingers pointed as 350 residents from communities surrounding the three Shoal Lakes in the Interlake gathered in Woodlands last week. They were there to hear the long-awaited results of a study into possible solutions for an unfolding natural disaster – the seemingly unstoppable rise in lake levels that is submerging land that