The post Manitoba cattle prices, March 25 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The post Manitoba cattle prices, March 11 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The post Manitoba cattle prices, March 4 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

It’s become something of an annual tradition for the producer, with the proceeds going to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

This year, however, is different. This year, there was crisis close to home. Beef producers, Howatt included, watched anxiety ratchet up through the growing season as drought gripped the province. One dire story after another flowed out of Manitoba’s northern cattle country: producers with no pasture, little water, hayfields that weren’t worth the fuel to harvest them, productive breeding animals hitting the market by July, or herds dispersed entirely.

At the same time, Howatt’s normal charitable destination, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, put out a plea for funds to help Haiti, which, on top of political instability, had suffered a 7.2 magnitude earthquake Aug. 14, killing thousands and causing widespread infrastructure damage — just in time for the nation to be hit by Tropical Storm Grace days later.

Howatt saw a chance to help both.

Why it matters: A handful of farmers in central and southwestern Manitoba hope feed donations will both add some buffer for producers whose feed is stretched, as well as raise money for disaster relief in Haiti.

Unlike many northern producers, Howatt did have oat straw to spare this year. Instead of her normal steer, she thought, why not donate and auction off the feed? Proceeds would still go to the foodgrains bank — dedicated to Haiti — and the donation might also help keep some cows in province that might otherwise hit the market.

“I thought this year, with the drought situation and the shortage of feed, this just kind of seemed like a double-dipper,” she said.

Howatt pitched the idea to her brother, Chris Lea, who added his support.

The idea quickly gained momentum.

Allan Munroe, owner of the Killarney Auction Mart, agreed to auction the feed Aug. 30. The auction later put out a social media post promoting the event.

From there, participation snowballed — including grain producers who do not own livestock. Howatt said she was “overwhelmed” by the family, friends and neighbours who also pledged straw, while other producers contacted the auction mart to add their own contribution.

“The one morning, I got four phone calls,” she said.

Munroe, likewise, said he was contacted by one of his customers the day after the social media post went out, interested in donating.

“It’s certainly grown beyond what I was expecting,” Munroe said.

“It’s a win for everyone,” he added. “It’s making a little bit of feed available to people and it’s raising some money to a good cause.”

As of Aug. 25, the donation list included 10 producers, and the auction had grown to 11 loads of cereal straw, as well as 100 tonnes of donated corn silage, courtesy of Peter Gilbraith of Gilbraith Farm Services, estimated at a value of $6,000, assuming a price of $6 a tonne.

This year, with feed shortages expected, that value was expected to be considerably higher.

Aid need

Gordon Janzen, Manitoba representative for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, said the organization is working through the Humanitarian Coalition — an umbrella group of aid agencies — to provide food support for Haiti.

Details of that aid is still being hammered out, as the coalition works with local partners to respond to the crisis, he said.

The Canadian Foodgrains Bank has not laid out a fundraising goal for its campaign, although Janzen noted the Humanitarian Coalition has put out a nationwide appeal for funds.

“We are expecting significant donations,” he said.

For Howatt, the event, and the response to it, was a “good news story,” in a year when so much of the news in the industry has been bad.

“It’s kind of like a community effort in the ag circle, is kind of how I look at it,” Howatt said, “and this way, we get to also help our bigger world community by doing the Haiti disaster relief overseas.”

The post Double-benefit feed auction held at Killarney appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipal council unanimously approved a conditional use order April 19, allowing the mill to be built in the northeast end of the community.

“We’ve been working with HyLife probably for the last six months on this,” Mayor Rick Pauls said. “We’re very pleased that it chose our community to build this in and we’re looking forward to the economic spinoff that it’s going to provide for us all here.”

According to HyLife president Claude Vielfaure, the community located 100 kilometres southeast of Brandon was chosen due to the large number of HyLife-run barns already in the area. The company produces about 1.69 million hogs annually, according to its website.

The Killarney mill is expected to create 20 jobs. Pauls further noted that the addition will not jeopardize current feed mill companies in Killarney, since the mill will be targeted for HyLife’s internal use.

“This is just a net win for us,” he said.

With an expected capacity 250,000 tonnes of feed per year, the mill will resemble the 12,800-square-foot facility opened in eastern Manitoba last year in the RM of Hanover, Vielfaure said.

The feed mill is part of HyLife’s ongoing expansion. In October 2016, the company announced $125 million in investment, starting with a 130,000-square-foot expansion of its Neepawa processing plant.

“With that, we needed more pigs, so we also are building the feed mill out of western Manitoba and then we plan to build some pig barns to also be able to bring more pigs to our plant,” Vielfaure said.

At the time of the 2016 announcement, Vielfaure said the expansion would increase technological sophistication of the plant and address growing congestion concerns. Work has since begun on the project, which is expected to be complete in March 2018. HyLife is also exploring potential locations for its new barns, although Vielfaure said no decisions have been made.

“We’re defining the location right now,” he said. “We’re working hard on that and trying, obviously, to find the best location to build these barns.”

The mill will be the company’s sixth. The aggressive expansion has been welcomed by the Manitoba Pork Council.

“We’re very pleased that one of our members is excited to make a very significant investment in the industry and it’s encouraging to others,” Andrew Dickson, Manitoba Pork Council’s general manager said. “It shows they’re prepared to put their money where their mouth is and invest in the industry and we’ve got other producers coming to us and wanting to do the same thing and so we’re pleased that this is happening in western Manitoba. Local producers in the area should be pleased that there is going to be a major user of feed grains that is going to be opening up a new plant and it will be a big benefit to western Manitoba.”

The expansion will likely also mean increased revenue for the council, which earns an 80-cent levy for every pig finished in the province. Dickson has said that any additional money would be spent in accordance to the Manitoba Pork Council marketing plan.

“The marketing plan that is approved by the province is very specific about where we spend our money and that includes spending money on developing the industry, supporting initiatives that would enhance the development of the industry, supporting research and promotion of the product,” he said.

Pauls said that three area residents attended the public hearing April 19 for clarification on the project, but offered no objections at the time of the vote.

The post Ground about to break in Killarney on HyLife feed mill appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The occasion was the harvest of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) Killarney Grow Project, and it wound up being a display that impressed even the organizers.

“It is amazing how the community came together. For the three swather operators to work until 10 p.m. to get their job done and then 20 combines to show up the following day, and have 200 people come to witness it, it was just overwhelming. We couldn’t do it without their support,” said Betty Turner, project board member and Killarney-area producer.

For the past eight years the Killarney Grow Project has rented a piece of land, grown and harvested a crop all through volunteer labour and donation, and then donated the proceeds to the CFGB.

“This will be year No. 8 that we have been involved in this and it kind of started off on my father’s land,” said Myron Peters, project field manager. “We had a quarter section and he had retired from farming and wanted to get this project up and running again. So, a small committee was formed. The first year we had maybe five combines out there and it has just grown every year.”

This year, the CFGB Killarney Grow Project held its harvest event on Aug. 6 and saw a record number of participants.

“This project is just a great way to help people in need and bring the community together, because there are so many aspects of putting the crop in that different people can be involved in,” Peters said.

At the event, 20 modern combines and one vintage 1957 model 35 Massey Harris, harvested 140 acres of Emerson winter wheat.

With four grain carts and five semi trucks, the wheat quickly made its way to a neighbouring storage bin where it will rest until sale.

“There were a ton of volunteers involved from start to finish. You could never do a project this size by yourself,” Turner said. “It was really fun and at the same time really moving.”

The greater community of Killarney and area also played a role in the fundraising of the project by sponsoring acres.

“We did the acre sponsorship thing again this year and we are at about 93 per cent sold. So, we do have a few acres left if anyone is interested in sponsoring an acre,” Turner said.

Funds fight hunger

Every CFGB growing project donation across the country is matched four to one by the federal government.

Last year the Killarney Growing Project harvested 148 acres of canola and raised $90,000.

“With the government being involved and matching anything that we can produce, times four, you can really get some substantial numbers up there,” Peters said. “Plus, the Foodgrains Bank isn’t just a handout. It is involved in first getting people back on their feet but then showing them techniques and ways they can do their own farming in their own countries so that they have a chance at sustaining themselves.”

Donations to the CFGB are put towards the organization’s overarching goal of fighting global hunger, reducing malnutrition and achieving sustainable food security.

In 2015-16, the CFGB helped over one million people in 40 countries by providing food in times of crisis and helping people grow more food to better support themselves.

Last year in Manitoba, 29 similar CFGB efforts were held throughout the province, growing and donating approximately 5,750 acres.

“This crop is not sold yet because it wasn’t 100 per cent dry but that is good. It gives us a couple more marketing options,” Turner said.

“We have got around that 65 to 70 bushels an acre this year and with all the rain that we have had we are very happy with the outcome,” Peters said. “The disease level in the wheat is also next to none so we are very thankful for that as well.”

Personal connection

This year the Killarney Grow Project’s crop was seeded 10 miles east of Killarney on land rented from Dennis and Betty Turner, who have a special reason to celebrate the CFGB’s efforts on this particular piece of the farm.

“This year is our farm’s 125th anniversary, so we had just received our new farm sign and this project was a good way for us to give back,” Turner said. “In 1891, Dennis’s great-grandfather farmed on that very corner that we held the CFGB field. So, it was kind of special in that way for us personally.”

In February of this year the Turners also took part in a CFGB tour that took them to one of the regions where donations are put to work, drought-stricken Ethiopia.

“We have been to Ethiopia and we know that this makes a difference,” Turner said. “I think we knew in our hearts before that it was making a difference but now that we have seen it first hand, we know it makes a difference. We know that all the effort and the time that people take is making a tremendous difference in the lives of those who need it and they are just so thankful for it.”

Ethiopia is currently experiencing the worst drought in decades and 80 per cent of its population subsists on rain-fed agriculture.

“For the Ethiopian people this project really just reassures them that other people care about their struggles and I think that the best part about this project is that we get such awesome community support and you know when you are organizing it that other people care as well,” Turner said.

For more information on the CFGB Killarney Grow Project or to sponsor an acre, contact Myron Peters at 204-534-7861.

A drone video of the Killarney Growing Project’s harvest, shot by Killarney-area producer Brian Archibald, can be seen on YouTube.

The post Bringing a community together for a cause appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“We tried to prepare ourselves for what you read about and what you see on TV but there is really nothing like seeing it first hand,” said Turner. “We asked the local farmers what more we could do and they said, pray for us and pray for rain. And although we may not experience those drastic of circumstances, as farmers we can all relate to praying for rain.”

Betty and her husband Dennis have been farming on the edge of Killarney for the past 30 years and last year, as part of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) Killarney Growing Project, helped to raise over $90,000 for the organization.

The couple was recognized by the CFGB as leaders and was offered the opportunity to follow the CFGB donation trail to see how project money is being put to use.

“If people have never been to the developing world, it is such a huge eye-opener and just really makes them understand how blessed we are in our country and how far a little bit of our help can really go,” said Harold Penner, CFGB regional representative for Manitoba and northwest Ontario. “Very few dollars can go a long way in helping someone get back on their feet.”

At the beginning of February, the Turners joined eight other Canadian farmers on a 10-day tour of CFGB projects throughout Ethiopia.

“The purpose of these tours is to give people like Betty, great advocates, a chance to see what is happening overseas. To inspire them and also to give them their own stories to tell in their communities as they talk to others and involve them in the work of their growing project,” said Penner.

A personal account

Paying their own way, Betty and Dennis left the comforts of their southern Manitoba home and began the 30-hour journey to Ethiopia.

“Landing there and the airport when we first arrived was an experience in itself,” said Turner. “There was certainly an element of culture shock from the heat and high populations of people everywhere.”

She says the effects of drought were obvious everywhere they looked and despite the local farmers’ best efforts, there was very little growth because it has not rained in such a very long time.

“It is really dry and farmers talking to farmers, we all know that you need rain for crops to grow and they are dependent on those crops for food. That is the hard thing,” she said.

Ethiopia is no stranger to drought but experts say the severity and length of the country’s current drought is one of the worst since the 1960s due to El Niño, which has caused shifting rain patterns.

Eighty per cent of Ethiopia’s population subsists on rain-fed agriculture and local media has reported crop production fails of 50 to 90 per cent in certain regions and complete failure in others. Hundreds of thousands of livestock have already been lost.

The CFGB also reports that approximately 10 million people in Ethiopia are currently in need of emergency assistance.

Turner describes the farms she witnessed to be very small, 1.25 acres to 2.5 acres and usually existing on rocky, dry hillsides.

“We travelled in both north and south Ethiopia and focused on projects that the CFGB had already established. One of the projects focused on conservation agriculture. It showed farmers how to create mulch. We saw these plots of fields that were covered with banana leaves, maize leaves and manure from animals and they left their land covered with this to keep as much moisture in the soil as possible,” said Turner.

Everything was done by hand with no equipment and the most commonly grown items Turner saw were tomatoes, cabbage, ginger root, maize, teff (an annual grass) and bananas.

During the tour they visited a CFGB project that involved building weirs and holding areas with aqueducts that would carry the water down to the fields, and another where hillsides were terraced to help prevent erosion.

“They really have some great projects. You know the story about you can give a man a fish or teach him how to fish. Well, these projects really help the people of Ethiopia with the tools in order to learn sustainable agriculture,” said Turner.

Despite the grim situation Turner says she was still taken aback by the happiness of the local people she met.

“Standing beside these people they were so warm and happy and you can tell that they help one another. It is just in their culture that no matter how little they have they still help their neighbour and that was really moving. They really are happy people but they are hurting too and it’s not their fault, they work really hard but it just hasn’t rained.”

CFGB involvement

Every year in Canada farmers step up and dedicate a few acres of crop production for the CFGB, a donation that is matched four to one by the federal government.

Those funds are put towards CFGB initiatives in countries around the world.

“Last year we worked in 40 countries and spent about $43 million, helping over a million people. We usually spend around the $40-million mark on our projects every year,” said Penner.

According to a recent press release from the CFGB, in Dugda, the Oromia region of Ethiopia, the Foodgrains Bank has been providing 41,000 people a month with emergency food rations through its member, World Renew.

“Through these programs I think that it gives the local farmers some hope that people in other parts of the world care about what they are going through and that we are trying to help,” said Turner.

According to Penner, it is projected that this year Manitoba will see 6,000 acres of crop production donated to the CFGB.

“This trip was an experience and a journey. One we will never forget. They say the journey changes you and it should,” said Turner. “I am thankful every day for where I live and the blessings we have in this country. Here it seems like such a little thing to give a few hours and grow a crop for someone who is hungry.”

The CFGB Killarney Growing Project committee sowed 140 acres of Emerson winter wheat last fall on the Turners’ land and will also be mapping and selling additional acres for fall harvest that will be donated to the CFGB.

“I am certainly motivated to work with our committee, neighbours, and community and we are excited about growing another crop again this year,” said Turner.

The post Following the donation trail appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

For the past 25 years, the Killarney Marketing Club has gathered once a week to share insights and tips of the trade.

“Farming is a very complex business and things are always changing,” said Blake Bell, club member for the past 18 years. “Part of the challenge is figuring out what to do next or what to try and that is the benefit of having a group of producers like this. We can bounce ideas off each other.”

The club initially began as a way for local farmers to pool together to trade futures and buy options, but over the years, its focus has shifted to production techniques.

“We don’t talk about the markets all that much anymore because everyone has a different philosophy on how they want to market their grain,” said Dennis Turner, founding member and club president. “We do discuss different strategies and theories, but there isn’t a lot of specifics discussed. It has become much more of a networking opportunity.”

The club often takes part in crop tours, invites presenters to demonstrate new products or applications and has previously arranged tours of machinery manufacturers, grain and chemical companies.

“I find that if you just stay at home you get a bit of barnyard blindness and you can become a little bit disconnected with what is going on in the farming community around you,” said Turner. “This has been our way of staying current.”

At 25, Cory Archibald is one of the club’s youngest members and has been involved with the group for the past four years. “This group is really a mix of the best local producers and we all come together to share our ideas, thoughts and new techniques,” he said. “It is really just a good networking thing and I really think it gives us a competitive edge compared to other farming communities.”

The group currently consists of 21 members who run a variety of operations including grain, oilseed, hogs, chickens and cattle.

“It is interesting because one guy will try something, a new product or a different practice and you can kind of share it and learn from their mistakes and successes,” said Scott Kroeker, a club member for the past six years.

“That is the beauty of farming, everyone has their own way of doing things. But you can often take away something that others have tried and apply it on your own farm.”

Despite contrasting production philosophies and dealer loyalties, group members find that openly exchanging information and ideas only strengthens their local operations.

“There are definitely some arguments and tension between old versus new and new ideas versus tried-and-true practices sometimes, but we all just discuss and respect each other’s positions,” said Archibald.

Many rural communities across Manitoba had organized similar groups in the past but most have failed to stay active or maintain membership.

“I think we have stayed alive because of the good members we have and the willingness that people have to share,” said Kroeker. “If you don’t share, you don’t get anything out of it and that is probably why a lot of them die off.”

Today, the club has a close-knit group that is proud to mark 25 years. The farmers say membership definitely gives them a competitive edge in the industry.

“This information has proved to be so valuable. I know without a doubt that information we have taken home from these meetings has had a direct positive effect not only to our farm but to our bottom line,” said Betty Turner, longtime member.

The post Staying connected to the farming community appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.