Harvest Moon expands food initiative

Harvest Moon expands food initiative

Local buying clubs take the burden of direct marketing off the shoulders of small farm operators

The six-year-old initiative connects consumers and farmers through buying clubs and pickup sites. Customers place and pay for the orders online and later pickup their order at a site set up by the buying club in that area. Last year, there were four sites in Winnipeg and one in Starbuck. But organizers are now adding

Seeding gets off to a cool start, but soil moisture is generally good

Weekly provincial summary Seeding of spring wheat, barley, oats, canola, potatoes, and grain corn has occurred in various areas across Manitoba. There has been limited seeding completed to date. Winter wheat and fall rye crops are being assessed for winter survival and establishment; winterkill and injury is being reported in some fields. In most cases,


Cattle producer Jim Lintott has been feeding straw since February.

Hay short after long winter, dry summer

Demand for Canadian hay south of the border has Manitoba farmers 
searching farther afield in order to feed their cattle this spring

A late spring and growing demand for cattle feed has depleted hay stocks across the province, leaving many beef producers paying more and travelling farther to find what they need. “We normally buy our hay locally, just 10 or 15 miles from home. But this year we’ve had to bring it in 250 miles from

This photo taken at the Saskatoon CanoLab shows resistant kochia in the front tray and susceptible in the rear.

WGRF funding hunt for glyphosate-resistant kochia in southern Manitoba

A search for glyphosate-resistant kochia in Manitoba will be done this fall thanks to $17,000 in funding from the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF). WGRF executive director Garth Patterson confirmed the funding in an interview May 6. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Hugh Beckie, a world leader in herbicide-resistant weed surveys, will work with officials from


Forced to graze early? Some options for stemming the losses

For every day too early you graze in the spring, 
count on losing three days of grazing in the fall

With previous flooding, drought and now a late spring, many producers will be faced with the question of what to do with pastures weakened by flooding and overgrazing. No matter how you look at it, you may be forced to sacrifice the health of some of your pastures. Let’s take a look at the cost

A million acres of glyphosate-resistant weeds in Canada?

A million acres of glyphosate-resistant weeds in Canada?

More than one million acres of Canadian farmland have glyphosate-resistant weeds growing on them, including 43,000 in Manitoba, according to an online survey of 2,028 farmers conducted by Stratus Agri-Marketing Inc. based in Guelph, Ont. The shockingly high Canadian numbers met with skepticism from some experts who suggest farmers might be mistaking hard-to-kill weeds with


Nerves on edge as spring thaw remains elusive

It’s too early to start grumbling about another “year without summer” like 2004, but the forecast for the next month is for more colder-than-normal weather. That’s the far-from-reassuring word from Peter Cherneski, manager of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s climate monitoring and forecasting service. “It is unique,” said Cherneski. “The low temperatures that we’ve seen through

Flooding potential threatens fertilizer movement

Fertilizer makers may be hard pressed this spring to move their yield-boosting products to western Canadian farmers during a shortened planting season, as the potential for major flooding grows. Cold weather has delayed the melt of heavy snowpack in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, raising the risk that floods in late April and


Off-label glyphosate applications can be costly

Farmers are increasingly going “off label” applying higher rates of glyphosate to their Roundup Ready canola at a later crop stage than recommended, a survey commissioned by Monsanto Canada reveals. As a result farmers are losing three bushels an acre, Monsanto Canada said in a recent new release citing its own research. “The symptoms of

What to know when choosing seeds

In the spring gardeners are busy planning their summer gardens, and one of the enjoyable tasks is choosing and purchasing of seeds both for the vegetable garden and for the flower border. There are a few points to keep in mind when doing this job so that the garden produces its maximum output. Rather than