Darren Bond, farm management specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, runs the audience through 2017 commodity markets during Ag Days Jan. 16-18, 2018.

Forget cost per acre — what’s it cost to grow a bushel?

Cost is often expressed as dollars per acre, but farm management specialist Darren Bond says it makes more sense to think of cost in terms of product produced

Darren Bond wants farmers to stop thinking in dollars per acre. The farm management specialist with Manitoba Agriculture says cost per bushel sold is a more valuable number when farmers go to develop a marketing plan. Farmers sell their product per bushel, making it easier to track and predict profitability if cost uses the same

Dr. Rigas Karamanos explains the basic factors of maximum yield, one of several seminars held during Ag Days 2018.

Drought bullet dodged, but what’s next?

Crops drew heavily on water reserves last year, something that might be a problem with Manitoba’s meager snow cover

Manitoba managed to thrive last year despite scant rainfall, but skimpy snow cover might mean trouble when it comes to maximum yield next year. Water was one of four things that Rigas Karamanos says will impact yield potential, along with genetic potential of the variety, solar radiation and fertility. The senior agronomist from Koch Fertilizer


Ardyn Williams of Souris tries her hand at the wheel of a virtual combine Jan. 16, one of over 800 booths at Ag Days 2018.

PHOTOS: Ag Days holds the course on exhibitor numbers

This year’s Ag Days attendance and participation lines up with previous years

The weather is clear, the crowds have arrived and the exhibitor list is as big as ever as Manitoba Ag Days kicks off. Exhibitors met the bar set last year during the 40th anniversary event. The show expanded both its footage and exhibitor list after opening up the over 19,000-square-foot Brandon Curling Club for booths.

Speaking at at Ag Days in Brandon Jan. 16 Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler announced an average seven per cent drop in crop insurance premiums for the 2018 crop. Some other important changes to crop insurance were announced in a news release, including ending the pre-harvest deductible for corn and soybeans.

Lower crop insurance premiums, in 2018

The pre-harvest deductible on corn and soybeans is ending and CHNR wheat gets its own category

A host of changes, including lower premiums, are coming to crop insurance for the coming season. Speaking at Ag Days on Jan. 16 Ralph Eichler, the provincial agriculture minister told farmers they can expect to pay less, to no longer have pre-harvest deductibles for corn and soybeans, and to see changes in soybean coverage and



Hans Rindlisbacher will be taking in his 41st Ag Days this year, where you’ll find him at the Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association booth.

Volunteers make Ag Days happen

Barely a wheel would turn at the Keystone Centre later this 
month without their efforts

Forty-one years ago, on a crisp and cold winter morning in 1977, Hans Rindlisbacher packed up his own handmade forage display and headed off to the Brandon Weed Fair. He did know he hoped to educate farmers in attendance on the different varieties of grass common to Manitoba. What he didn’t know was that this


Ag Days gives back to Manitobans

Every year Ag Days tries to give something back to Manitoba’s agriculture sector and rural communities. This year they’re slated to provide $26,000 in grants to agriculture-related charities, organizers say. “We want to support the communities that our exhibitors and patrons live in,” said Kristen Phillips, Manitoba Ag Days general manager. “Being able to contribute

CASA’s BeGrainSafe mobile unit returns to Ag Days this year, just one of many safety-related displays.

Safety first at Ag Days 2018

With farm safety becoming more prominent, Ag Days is stepping up this aspect of the show

Farm safety is a growing concern for everyone, and rightfully so. Consistently, farm accidents create media headlines that no one ever wants to read. Organizers at Manitoba Ag Days 2018 consider attendees and patrons as their community and no one wants to see a member of your community hurt. As such, Manitoba Ag Days organizers


Middle school students will once again benefit from an opportunity to learn about farming at  Ag Days 2018.

Kids get Ag Days adventure

Ag in the Classroom brings students to the event annually

Once again you’ll be seeing students from far and wide milling through exhibits, presentations and displays searching for clues at Ag Days. They’ll be searching for clues and answers that fit that day’s fun assignment — while simultaneously learning a bit more about agriculture. It’s the annual Ag Days Adventure, a joint venture of Agriculture

Show the world Ag Days

Organizers hope to encourage social media engagement and raise the profile of the event

Ag Days draws farmers from far and wide. Yet, despite having all those people inside the show’s excellent facilities in Brandon this January, organizers see Manitoba Ag Days as a vast gateway to the world’s agricultural attention. Enter an engaged social media platform fuelled by show attendees, in particular the young farmers the show is