Five GFM writers received six CFWF awards, which honour excellence in the field of ag journalism. Of particular note was the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to Laura Rance, long-time former editor of the Manitoba Co-operator and now executive editor with GFM.

“The award recognized her extraordinary contributions to agricultural journalism and her lasting impact on the industry over many years of dedicated service, mentoring and leadership,” read a CFWF news release.

WHY IT MATTERS: The Canadian Farm Writers Federation honours top works in farm journalism every year.

John Greig won the gold C.B. Fairbairn Award for business/economics reporting for his Western Producer story “Beef focus a game changer for dairy.”

That story was later reprinted in the Manitoba Co-operator and other GFM publications.

“The huge increase in value for beef cattle and the decline in the cow herd in North America has meant opportunity and fundamental change for how dairy farmers manage their male and extra female calves,” said Greig, GFM’s senior editor for technology, livestock and Ontario.

“Dairy farmers have always been in the beef game, but now they are in a big way. This story illustrated the extent of that change and what it means for dairy farm management.

“This is my first CFWF award for work of mine published in the Western Producer, which is exciting. Thanks to my Canadian Cattlemen colleague Melissa Jeffers-Bezan for her quote from Kee Jim, which I used in the story.”

Geralyn Wichers took home silver in the Dick Beamish Award for current affairs feature for her Manitoba Co-operator-published story “In the shadow of the ‘80s.” This was one of a series of five stories — all written by Wichers — exploring rural depopulation through the lens of a 1970s Manitoba program that tried to help rural kids stay in their communities by giving them summer jobs.

“Former student workers say it was a great summer job, but it didn’t do much to stem the flow out of these little rural towns,” said Wichers, GFM’s digital editor, news and national affairs.

“In conversations with Manitoba Co-operator editor Alexis Stockford, we realized that we had to look at the decade that came after the program: the 1980s. That decade was infamous for how tough it was on farmers. Were farm kids discouraged from farming because of their parents’ hardships? Based on interviews and historical records, it seems likely that they were.

“I’m really proud of the whole rural depopulation series, so I’m honoured and very pleased that the judges also appreciated my work.”

Karen Briere, a longtime reporter with Western Producer’s Regina bureau, received two bronze awards: the Q.H. Martinson Award for current affairs reporting and the Jack Cram Award for people-based feature.

The current affairs award was for her story “Farmers frustrated with equipment manufacturer.” Her people feature was: “Farming north of 60 requires self-sufficiency.”

Briere expressed gratification for her work being recognized but noted that awards are “highly dependent” on judges and what they are looking for.

“Reporters by nature are competitive people (or they should be) in terms of getting the story, getting the best story and getting the best story first. We can’t possibly do that with every story we write, but the awards program provides the chance to put our best efforts up against those of others.”

Janelle Rudolph, whose work commonly appears in both the Manitoba Co-operator and Western Producer, received a New Writer of the Year Award on the strength of three stories: “Saskatchewan hit hardest by late August hail,” “Forum finds common ground on climate issues” and “Canadians miss out on higher U.S. honey prices.”

“The climate forum piece was the first long feature that I wrote with GFM, and it was a lot of research and interviews. It was an interesting piece with various perspectives to write about, and I had great help from my editors, Gord Gilmour and Alexis Stockford, on it. They provided important insights for my writing,” aaid Rudolph.

“I’m so happy and proud to have been chosen as new farm writer of the year. To me, it’s like a confirmation that my writing is growing and improving, and feeds people’s interests. I hope to continue to grow and look forward to all my future story opportunities.”

The annual ceremony recognizes excellence across 14 award categories, with gold, silver, and bronze honours determined by a panel of 17 judges representing diverse backgrounds in journalism, agriculture, and communications from across Canada and the United States.

The post Five Glacier FarmMedia writers earn awards for farm journalism appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The CFA was responding to the announcement of $1.7 billion in direct payments to dairy producers over eight years, compensation for opening a portion of the dairy market to international competition under a series of trade deals.

While it welcomed the news, CFA also noted that other sectors have been experiencing similar pain, but no help has been coming for them, as our Geralyn Wichers reports on page 11.

Pork producers, for example, are currently shut out of the Chinese market. That comes on the heels of months of lower prices because of Chinese tariffs on U.S. pork, which Canadian pork prices are based on.

And of course canola remains largely locked out of the Middle Kingdom too, ostensibly for phytosanitary reasons but likely really due to a combination of economic and political factors.

To respond to this, CFA is calling for a more robust farm safety net that addresses farm losses more quickly and fully, outside the existing business risk management structures.

Cereals Canada’s Cam Dahl’s column adjacent to this editorial adds a few more examples of farmers who are subject to trade woes including durum producers, pulse crops growers and wheat producers.

He advocates for a better and more unified approach to the problem that puts the right resources in the right place to grapple with what he characterizes as a radically changed trade environment.

The numbers certainly back up the claim times are getting tougher again down on the farm. StatsCan’s 2018 farm income statistics, the latest available, showed a 41.5 per cent drop in realized net farm income, for a total of $3.9 billion.

But little of that drop seems to have been related to trade issues. To quote StatsCan: “Rising feed, interest and labour costs together with little change in farm cash receipts pushed realized net farm income lower.”

Trade upset will definitely impact commodity sales, but even with China closed to Canadian canola for most of the latter half of the past crop year, it would appear a new record for total exports has been set, albeit with more wheat and less canola in the mix.

Clearly there should be a reaction to these accumulating trade issues. The real pain likely lies ahead as canola carry-over has grown. Less clear is what that reaction should be.

Payments to farmers, either ad hoc or through safety net programs, might be the preferred response for some. But there may be more merit in calls for a better national capacity to address trade issues.

If we’re suddenly faced with a more protectionist world, Canada will need to be ready to fend off more of these sorts of challenges in the years to come.

What’s quite certain is they’ll likely be more salable to the general public, who have frequently found themselves on the losing end of trade deals.

While Canadian wages have increased in real terms recently, that growth comes on the heels of decades of stagnation. Much of that stagnation can be directly traced to jobs offshored to new manufacturing centres such as Southern China.

With government budgets at all levels already firmly in the red, the reality is any programs are going to have to be salable to taxpayers, many of whom are already hard pressed themselves.

Someone who’s seen their good manufacturing job shipped offshore, replaced by a lower-wage service job, might look at this situation and think to themselves, ‘that’s a real shame, but things are tough all over.’

To bring them on side, agriculture is going to have to build a case that any action will benefit the country as a whole, rather than just protect relatively few farmers.

Here the case can be made for the sector as a major contributor to the national economy and a creator of jobs, including decent-paying industrial jobs in processing plants. More exports, and stable exports, will enable the sector to hire more workers here at home, a case of a rising tide lifting all boats.

There’s also perhaps an easier case to be made for readjusting the existing farm income support programs, which would almost certainly be more salable than a call for any sort of ad hoc payments.

The government changed the AgriStability trigger a few years ago from 85 per cent of reference margin to 70 per cent of reference margin. Advocating that they overshot the mark while attempting to fine-tune the program will be an easier argument to make than for new money.

In the end what’s important is that farmers be afforded an opportunity to get their income from the market.

Nobody wants to see the sector return to the status of poor cousin in the national economy.

The post Editorial: Farmer support complex issue appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Through the Great Depression, Second World War, the postwar boom, the farm boom of the 1970s and the bust of the 1980s and 1990s, it has evolved right alongside its readership.

It chronicled the end of summerfallow, the evolution of zero tillage and the death of the farm co-operative movement that gave the publication its very name.

Like all facets of modern society, at times the pace of change in agriculture can be dizzying, and there are few signs it’s going to slow.

We’re on the cusp of another major revolution. Agriculture in Manitoba is a tipping point towards digital and precision technology and a fully integrated approach to crop production. What once appeared to be the realm of science fiction is now on the verge of becoming reality in the field.

At the same time the industry is in the midst of a generational transfer unlike it has seen before. The baby boomer generation is approaching retirement and pondering how to hand over the keys to the farm gate to the next generation. That next generation is of course grappling with the challenges of sorting out how those farms will evolve.

The coming changes are at once exciting, tantalizing, terrifying — and even entertaining. Throughout the province young producers are taking up this challenge and seeking innovative new ways to farm.

They’re looking at regenerative agriculture as a way to leverage the biological system that is their farm to lower cost, greater profitability and a more sustainable way to do business.

Others are seizing on to the technological possibilities that the digital farm presents, going well beyond the issues of what to seed when and where and how to manage that crop precisely. They envision a time where information technology spreads out like a web from the farm, capturing efficiencies and opportunities.

Against this backdrop, we’d like to welcome you to the new Manitoba Co-operator, a new look for a new era, but beyond that even, a new way of delivering information to you for the management of your business.

Our team of designers, directed by creative lead Ron White, have put considerable time, effort and expertise into modernizing the look of the publication and finding a better way to tell the stories, including more visual elements. The result is a package that better recognizes the limited time we all have to consume information today, and will better integrate our print and online efforts into one seamless package.

From the editorial side of the equation we’ve been working hard at developing a new editorial package that addresses this new era. We’ve been delving more into stories about what you’re doing on your farms, and what you need to be doing to prepare for this fast-approaching new era.

We’ve been striving to ensure we tell the stories that are important to Manitoba farmers, from their perspective. In future issues you’ll see this focus showing up in the form of more stories about farming culture. That culture is a unique one, combining business, family, cutting-edge technology and proud traditions. It’s a mix like no other, and it needs and deserves a media that understands it and serves it.

Times may have changed, but, as our new tagline on the front page masthead now reads: “Farming matters.” That’s true now more than ever. It’s our privilege to cover Manitoba’s farm community as it enters this new era.

We hope you’ll come along for the journey. It promises to be quite the ride.

The post Adapting to changing times appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Allan Dawson reports on what Manitoba corn growers need to know about resistance to Bt corn that was recently discovered in Atlantic Canada. Provincial entomologist John Gavloski told him that might seem far away, but farmers need to realize it can happen here too. Following proper protocols and using the tool only when necessary will help.

Alexis Stockford looks at why it’s been a tough season for weed control. Some growers skipped the burnoff and may be regretting that now, especially as cold conditions have reduced crop competition and hampered in-crop control efforts.

For these stories and more, see your June 20 edition of the Manitoba Co-operator.

The post In Your Co-operator this week: June 20 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The hall of fame on Monday unofficially announced its 2018 group of inductees, ahead of its annual meeting Wednesday in Portage la Prairie and an official induction ceremony to be held in June.

The hall’s 2018 class includes John Morriss, Peter Pakosh, Fred Streich and Bill Streich.

Morriss, whose first job as a farm writer was with Grainews in 1975, returned to agriculture journalism in the 1980s as publisher and editor of the Manitoba Co-operator, then owned by Manitoba Pool Elevators.

He later co-founded Farmers Independent Weekly in 2002 before returning to the Co-operator, now part of Glacier FarmMedia, in 2007 as editorial director for Glacier’s Farm Business Communications division.

Now semi-retired, Morriss was hailed Monday by the hall of fame for his “significant contributions to agriculture journalism.” He has long been active in Farm Radio International, the Manitoba Farm Writers and Broadcasters Association and the Canadian Federation of Farm Writers.

Pakosh, who developed several farm equipment innovations before his death in 1999, grew up on a Manitoba farm but was working as a draftsman for Massey-Harris in Toronto when he developed the idea for the grain auger used by combine harvesters.

When Massey rejected the idea, Pakosh began selling it directly to Prairie farmers, then took it to co-found the Hydraulic Engineering Company, later Versatile Manufacturing, in 1947.

The company moved west to Winnipeg in 1952 and rebranded as Versatile in 1963, expanding into field sprayers, harrow bars, swathers and, ultimately, four-wheel-drive and bi-directional tractors. Versatile later became part of New Holland in 1987 and is now the farm tractor arm of Winnipeg’s Buhler Industries.

The late Bill and Fred Streich, who hailed from Beausejour and Niverville respectively, “worked tirelessly to come up with changes and improvements to the way combines operate,” the hall of fame said.

Their best-known such improvement was the development of the rotating screened drum to separate kernels from chaff, improving the quality of separation over the vibrating conveyor systems then commonly used in mechanical threshers.

The rotary separator was put commercially to work in a small run of combines produced by Western Roto Thresh Ltd. in Saskatoon in the 1970s. The company was unsuccessful but the rotary separator ultimately morphed into the axial flow technology used in modern combines.

The 2018 class will be inducted into the hall of fame at a ceremony June 18 at Winnipeg’s Victoria Inn. That event will also include the announcement of the Red River Exhibition’s 2018 Farm Family of the Year and presentations of the Red River Exhibition Foundation’s Agriculture and Agri-Food scholarships. — AGCanada.com Network

The post Morriss, Pakosh, Streichs named to ag hall of fame appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Stockford hails from the Altamont area, where she grew up on a mixed farm, and will be based in Brandon.

“The Manitoba Co-operator has an excellent team that I’m very excited to now count myself a part of,” Stockford said. “I’ve been told by my fellow staff how much they’ve enjoyed their experience and I look forward to adding some experiences of my own.”

Stockford also says she is looking forward to getting to know the issues and people of western Manitoba better in the coming weeks and months.

Stockford is a graduate of the journalism program at Thomson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C., where she won that institution’s medal for excellence in journalism.

Prior to joining the Co-operator Stockford was a staff reporter with the Morden Times.

In her spare time Stockford is an avid alpine skier, having competed in the 2007 Canada Winter Games, among other competitions. Today she continues to ski, as well as coaching junior alpine racers.

The post Stockford joins Co-operator appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Reporters from the Manitoba Co-operator will be at Ag Days taking in and talking to many speakers and exhibitors in order to report back to you, our readers.

Below, we offer a wrap-up of what we covered, and upcoming stories you can look for in future issues of the Manitoba Co-operator.

The clubroot situation for Manitoba canola growers

By Shannon VanRaes
Manitoba Co-operator reporter

VIDEO: Holly Derksen of Manitoba Agriculture talks about what the province learned about clubroot’s spread in 2016, offering a view of the provincial clubroot map and the steps canola growers can take if they’re concerned about clubroot spores in their soil.

A carbon pricing approach for Manitoba farmers

By Greg Berg
Online editor

VIDEO: Sean Goertzen of Keystone Agricultural Producers spoke about what may lie ahead for carbon pricing in Manitoba and the two-pronged approach its proposing to the provincial government that could ultimately help benefit local agriculture.

Corn: Is Goss’s Wilt on the rise in Manitoba?

By Shannon VanRaes
Manitoba Co-operator reporter

VIDEO: Holly Derksen of Manitoba Agriculture talks about the spread of Goss’s Wilt in Manitoba and what corn growers can do to manage the bacterial disease.

Get ready to sell your canola

By Allan Dawson
Manitoba Co-operator reporter

VIDEO: Prepare to sell new crop canola soon and more than you might normally, said Oil World’s Thomas Mielke at Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon on Jan. 17. Manitoba Co-operator reporter Allan Dawson hears the reason why.

Grain entrapment unit demonstrated at Ag Days

By Greg Berg
Online editor

VIDEO: Glen Blahey of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association talks about the BEGRAINSAFE grain entrapment unit at Manitoba Ag Days and participates in a demonstration of how to safely remove a person – a dummy in this case – trapped in a grain bin.

The Because I Love You List

By Lorraine Stevenson
Co-operator reporter

Every farmer needs a “Because I Love You List,” an Eddystone-area rancher told an Ag Days seminar this week.

Angela Fox was 33 and mother of four children when her husband, Jay Fox, died in a farm accident in 2012. Heartbroken and overwhelmed, she was nonetheless able to carry on farming. They had talked over how to handle various personal and business matters in the event of an accidental death.

Complicated farm businesses absolutely need to do this kind of pre-planning, said Fox who handed out templates for Because I Love You lists to her Ag Days audience.

These lists contain critical information such as passwords and who to call for farm help, to details on investments and farm business agreements.

Preparing such a list “is not only responsible, it’s a gift you leave behind,” she said.

Fox and Country Guide associate editor, Maggie Van Camp, whose husband also died in a farm accident, share their story and discuss the importance of this pre-planning in an article published in the Manitoba Co-operator in 2016.

Great Tastes of Manitoba seeks new content sponsors for 2017

By Lorraine Stevenson
Co-operator reporter

Great Tastes of Manitoba first aired in 1990 and is now Manitoba’s longest-running locally-produced television series.

More than a quarter-century later, seasons of the half-hour CTV show showcase a range of Manitoba foods, with dietitians and home economists sharing recipes and offering expert advice.

Great Tastes of Manitoba now wants to create another way to tell agriculture’s story. These would be webisodes, or content available for download or streaming outside the show, said Donalee Jones, the show’s senior producer, during an Ag Days talk Wednesday.

“What we’d like to develop are stand-alone webisodes about farm practices or meeting farmers and then those can be shared outside the 30 minute broadcast,” she said.

Great Tastes of Manitoba is now pitching the idea to farm organizations and agricultural businesses and offering sponsorships to start developing this content.

In an upcoming issue of the Co-operator read more about Great Tastes of Manitoba’s own story, how it engages the public, and new sponsorship opportunities for 2017.

Cattle producers widely use pain control products, says Ag Days speaker

By Lorraine Stevenson
Co-operator reporter

Most western Canadian cattle producers now use pain control on animals when conducting procedures such as castration, said a veterinarian speaking at Ag Days Wednesday.

Pain control is a requirement of animal care codes of practice. Dr. Roy Lewis, an Alberta-based vet working for Merck Animal Health, said he thinks producers are already ahead of the curve.

“We’re already years ahead of the requirements of the code, I think,” he said.

Lewis’ presentation discussed some of the new products now available for pain control and the benefits cattle producers see using them. Animals recover more quickly when administered these products, he said.

“They’ll gain better, milk better,” he said.

Lewis also spoke about prudent use of antimicrobials and preventative treatments producers can adopt to minimize their use.

For more on this story see an upcoming issue of the Co-operator.

Ag Days Inventor’s Showcase winner

Arnold Innovations’ AI100-Lexion hydraulic ratcheting wrench

By Greg Berg
Online Editor

Plugging your combine is one of those things you don’t want to see – but it happens – now there’s a hydraulic ratcheting wrench that can make the task of unplugging your Claas Lexion series combine much easier. Arnold Innovations’ returns to Manitoba Ag Days this year with a new wrench design, and for its efforts, it took home the win in the Manitoba Co-operator Inventor’s Showcase.

(read full article)

Don’t let this happen to you, says Ag Days speaker

Curtis Weber offers a cautionary tale on farm workplace safety

Co-operator staff

A momentary safety lapse nearly cost then-17-year-old Curtis Weber his life in 1999.

He was severely burned on his third day on a new job as a construction labourer while helping move a steel grain bin. It touched overhead power lines. He survived and is today a much sought-after speaker warning audiences about what can happen when you’re  afraid to ask questions about a dangerous job assignment.

“Try to envision me being your son or your daughter or your husband or your wife,” he told a pin-drop-quiet Ag Days seminar Tuesday.

“Take this home to your families and have those conversations. You’re working in an industry where incidents do happen.” Weber also lost part of his arm and a leg in in the incident.

For more on his story please see the upcoming issue of the Co-operator.

Climate change needs ‘made in Manitoba solution

Province discusses flooding at Ag Days

By Allan Dawson
Co-operator reporter

The Manitoba government is still working on its climate change plan, agriculture minister Ralph Eichler and Premier Brian Pallister told reporters during separate scrums at Ag Days, Jan. 17.

Before Christmas Eichler said the plan would be revealed early this year.

“We only have one chance to do this,” Eichler said.

“That is why a made-in-Manitoba solution is a priority for our government in order to ensure that we get it right.”

(read full article)

Manitoba government to consult with KAP to make its checkoff more efficient

The current system is often frustrating to farmers and farm product buyers and costly to KAP

By Allan Dawson
Co-operator reporter

The Manitoba government is going to change the Keystone Agricultural Producers’ (KAP) refundable funding checkoff, Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler announced at Ag Days Jan. 17.

“The current funding structure creates needless and excessive administration costs for farmers and KAP and purchasers of agricultural products,” Eichler said. “A review of the system is something that the industry has been requesting for a long time. This government is committed to doing just that. Consultations will begin immediately on how to implement those changes to what the government considers a more efficient alternative system.”

(read full article)

New safe handling program announced at Ag Days

CASA launches BEGRAINSAFE program

By Lorraine Stevenson
Co-operator reporter

A new exhibit for the BEGRAINSAFE program launched by the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association is on display at Ag Days this week.

The interactive trade show display and a mobile entrapment trailer demonstration unit in the Westman Place Arena aim to help educate farmers about the risks associated with handling grain. The risks are rising, say farm safety officials.

(read full article)

Weber says Trump the wild card

The maverick president will be a market-mover, like it or not

By Gord Gilmour
Co-operator editor

Commodity analyst Larry Weber says he’s changed his morning routine recently.

In the years he’s been in the business of analyzing grain markets, the first thing he always checked every morning was the news wires, looking for world events that could make a difference in markets.

“Now I’m checking Twitter to see what Donald Trump might have tweeted last night,” Weber told farmers at Ag Days during his semi-annual market outlook presentation at the event.

“I check it because that’s what’s moving markets. Canola is up $4 today because of what he said last night. Friday the world is going to change, and I’m scared. In all my time, I have never been so fearful of an incoming president.”

For more on this story and other Ag Days coverage, see the upcoming issue of the Manitoba Co-operator.

Small spuds a big business

Little Potato Co. head says agriculture needs to be ready to try new things

By Gord Gilmour
Co-operator editor

One of the biggest challenges Edmonton’s Little Potato Company had to overcome was convincing the industry it was worth their while to try something different.

CEO Angela Santiago told attendees at Ag Days that everyone in the value chain, from growers on, was married to the way they were already doing business.

That reluctance led to issues that nearly saw the company permanently derailed at a crucial juncture.

“At one point our bank unceremoniously dropped us after we’d signed a lease and ordered new equipment,” Santiago said. “They just didn’t believe in what we were doing, it was too untraditional.”

But that lack of believe has been the doubters loss.

It caused them to pass up an opportunity that, in hindsight, is one of the few growth areas for potato consumption.

French fry consumption is at best stable, and traditional table potatoes are seeing their market shrink. But little potatoes, or “creamers” as they’re known in the trade, have exploded to reach over 10 million pounds a year.

“We haven’t made it easy for consumers to take potatoes home,” Santiago told the Co-operator in a conversation following her presentation.

For more on this story, and other Ag Days coverage, see the upcoming issue of the Manitoba Co-operator.

Ag Days at 40

Forty years ago, a business-minded group of Manitobans saw the need for a gathering that would be by, of and for those living and working in the world of agriculture.

Way back then though, the group had no way of knowing their one-room “Weed Fair” would explode in popularity and evolve over the next four decades as Manitoba Ag Days, Canada’s largest indoor farm show.

(read full article)

New products highlighted at Ag Days

Once again Manitoba Ag Days is expected to be a launch pad for a wide range of new farming technology and products.

“All new products are listed in the show guide and on the website at www.agdays.com,” Kristen Phillips, Manitoba Ag Days general manager said. “All qualifying entries are judged and the Best New Product Award is presented at the show. Winner of the Best New Product 2016 was MacDon with its R1 Series pull-type disc mower.”

(read full article)

Farm safety to be a highlight of Ag Days

Canada’s agricultural industry is one of the top three most hazardous industries in which to work.

According to the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA), while 85 per cent of Canadian producers believe safety is a priority on their farm, less than 10 per cent currently have an agricultural safety plan on their farm or ranch.

(read full article)

Students go on an ag adventure

Ag Days will see students scouring the show site, seeking clues and gathering information about agriculture.

That’s because Agriculture in the Classroom will once again be designing and delivering the Manitoba Ag Days Adventure. This year’s theme is “Agriculture — Think Global, Act Local” where students in Grades 7 and 8 take part in the World Game where they are introduced to global agriculture challenges.

(read full article)

Ag Days ‘Under The Influence’

Agvocates rejoice. If you want to hear stories, build stories, tell and promote stories, then the 2017 Manitoba Ag Days lineup of speakers is certain to make you happy.

“Sharing our story is important when it comes to agriculture and advocating agriculture in general,” says Kristen Phillips, Manitoba Ag Days general manager. “I am particularly excited about the inclusion of Terry O’Reilly from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as the keynote speaker at our event. Terry breaks the art of storytelling down, shows how to harvest stories from businesses and how to package those stories into powerful marketing that wins hearts and dollars.”

(read full article)

Ag Days all-in on agriculture

One of the most important features of Ag Days is that over the past 40 years it’s steadfastly remained 100 per cent focused on agriculture. That ongoing commitment sits well with producers and prospective volunteers and board members, says Kristen Phillips, the event’s general manager.

“The board members are committed to ensuring the show remains 100 per cent about agriculture,” Phillips said during a recent interview. “They strive to ensure the show features equipment, to parts, to agriculture services, and all things in between. If it’s a part of a Manitoba farming operation, you’ll find it at Manitoba Ag Days.”

(read full article)

Ag Days pays it forward

Whether it is the generosity of attendees or the philanthropic mindset of organizers, there is no doubt goodwill abounds at Manitoba Ag Days.

“Manitoba Ag Days has a strong “giving back” philosophy,” said Kristen Phillips, Manitoba Ag Days general manager. “We are a not-for-profit organization and will continue to operate this way.”

(read full article)

The post WRAP UP: The Co-operator at Manitoba Ag Days appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

FBC, an arm of Glacier FarmMedia, earned a total of 10 gold, silver and bronze awards on Oct. 1 from the Canadian Farm Writers Federation (CFWF), which held its annual conference that weekend in Saskatoon.

FBC’s Quebec farm journal, Le Bulletin des agriculteurs, also earned three awards on Oct. 7 from CFWF’s Quebec counterpart, the Association des communicateurs et redacteurs de l’agroalimentaire (ACRA). This year’s ACRA annual meeting was held at Saint-Jean-de-Matha, west of Trois-Rivieres.

Le Bulletin won the Prix Roger-Blais, a prize honouring farm newsletters, for its July 6 e-newsletter. Le Bulletin writer Marie-Josee Parent also earned two Prix Moise Cossette awards, one for technical feature writing and the other a special “jurors’ favourite” prize.

At the CFWF awards banquet in Saskatoon, Grainews editor Leeann Minogue and Country Guide contributor Gerald Pilger earned the gold and silver Frank Jacobs Award respectively for best press column.

Writing in Country Guide, Jay Whetter, editor of the Canola Council of Canada’s Canola Watch, and Canadian Cattlemen contributor Madeleine Baerg earned the CFWF’s gold and silver Jack Cram Award respectively for monthly press reporting.

Manitoba Co-operator reporter Shannon VanRaes, as part of a Glacier FarmMedia analysis of the proposed Canada/EU free trade agreement, and Alberta Farmer Express reporter Jennifer Blair won the CFWF’s gold and bronze Q.H. Martinson Award for weekly press reporting. VanRaes also earned the silver John Phillips Award for news photography.

Country Guide field editor Ralph Pearce and Grainews columnist Sarah Weigum also earned the CFWF’s silver and bronze Peter Lewington Award for best technical feature, while Country Guide contributor Angela Lovell won the silver Dick Beamish Award for press feature writing.

CFWF, ACRA and the Eastern Canada Farm Writers’ Association (ECFWA) plan to hold their next annual conferences jointly in September 2017 in Quebec City.

FBC’s Grainews, Country Guide and Manitoba Co-operator are also nominated this year for a total of four Canadian Online Publishing Awards (COPAs), to be announced next month in Toronto. — AGCanada.com Network

The post FBC earns national, provincial honours for farm coverage appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The Manitoba Co-operator’s website, ManitobaCooperator.ca, part of Glacier Media’s Farm Business Communications division in Winnipeg, won silver for Best Media Website, coming in second behind SalonMagazine.ca in the Blue division (scholarly, farm and B2B publishing).

The Best Media Website award goes to “the media website that best serves its target audience through content, design, navigation and overall reader experience on any device that includes desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones.” A “media” website is a site bearing the brand of a media property such as a newspaper, magazine or broadcast outlet.

ManitobaCooperator.ca’s second silver in the Blue division came in the Best Editorial Packaging category, for “the digital property that provides an editorial message that meets the highest journalist(ic) standards in serving (its) intended audience.”

The site finished second in Best Editorial Packaging behind foreign policy and international affairs site OpenCanada.org.

ManitobaCooperator.ca was also a finalist in the Blue division for Best Video Content, while sister site AGCanada.com was a finalist in the same division for Best News Coverage.

The COPAs, an annual juried awards competition run by Mississauga-based publishing industry magazine Masthead, were held Thursday night at Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre.

Manitobans earning COPAs Thursday night also included Winnipeg-based Canada’s History, which won gold for Best Email Newsletter Design and Engagement; Winnipeg web company Modern Earth, which won silver for Best Website Design, for its site for law firm Pollock and Co., both in the Red (consumer magazines and websites) division; and the Winnipeg Free Press, which earned silvers for Best Editorial Packaging and Best Infographic/Data Visualization in the Green (news) division.

Another Glacier Media site, Vitamin Daily, earned silver in the Red division for Best Use of Social Media.

The Co-operator site also earned national silver, the Henry Heald Award for best World Wide Website, at the Canadian Farm Writers Federation awards in Calgary in September. — AGCanada.com Network

The post Co-operator website earns national silvers appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Manitoba Co-operator reporter Shannon VanRaes talks to Jason Clay of the World Wildlife Fund about how to balance diverse interests while pursuing sustainability, during the Forum on Canada’s Agri-food Future in Ottawa.

The post VIDEO: Economics trump environment without careful planning appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.