More states join call for end to U.S. ethanol rule

Two U.S. states that depend on the livestock industry are adding their voices to a string of states asking Washington to ease pressure on corn prices by suspending rules that send a large share of the crop to produce ethanol. Georgia, the centre of U.S. poultry production, and New Mexico, with its large cattle industry,

Stay hydrated, avoid overheating

You’d better come inside. You look sunburned,” my husband said earlier this season. “I’m just going to finish planting a couple of things, and then I’ll be done,” I replied. I was wearing sunscreen, and I wasn’t feeling really warm, either. In fact, I almost felt a little chilled. The day was very hot and


Who needs water to take a bath?

Reuters — With inspiration from a friend too lazy to take a shower and a few months of research on the Internet, South African university student Ludwick Marishane has won global recognition for an invention that takes the water out of bathing. Marishane, a 22-year-old student at the University of Cape Town invented a product

Province bulldozes Agro Woodlot Program

Manitoba Woodlot Association “disappointed” that the one-of-a-kind 
program assisting small-scale forestry has been cancelled


Manitoba’s Agro Woodlot Program has fallen to the provincial budget axe. Short-term contracts for four forestry technicians based in communities in the southern part of the province were allowed to expire in March, and grants for logging based on beneficial management practices will no longer be offered. A provincial spokesperson confirmed the Manitoba Agro Woodlot


Making perfumes sans the whale barf

University of British Columbia researchers have identified a gene in balsam fir trees that could substitute for ambergris, a perfume fixative made from whale barf. When sperm whales consume sharp objects, such as seashells and fish bones, their gut produces a sticky substance to protect their digestive organs. They then regurgitate the mixture — much

Manitoba filmmakers delve into alternative fuels

If you have a pile of mouldering Tim Hortons cups in your car, you might have a fuel source at your fingertips: some work required. It’s one of the alternative fuel sources explored in the Manitoba-made documentary, “Drive For Free: The Alternative Fuel Revolution.” “We like to do stories that kind of question the status


The dirt on drainage

It is laudable that the government is now talking about surface water management strategy for the province, but why don’t we just come out and say what this is really about? Drainage — the good, the bad and the ugly. The current policies are not enforceable and as a result, they are not respected. The

MLMMI calls for “commercially available” solid manure solutions

With a November 2013 deadline looming for compliance with the province’s manure phosphorus regulations, the Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative (MLMMI) continues to look for solutions. In a recent call for proposals, the organization invited applications for projects examining commercially available technologies for storing, distributing, and making value-added use of the phosphorus-rich solid component of


CDC Triffid contamination on the decline

Officials from Canada’s flax industry are in Europe this week to brief government and industry officials on the progress Canada is making removing traces of CDC Triffid, a genetically modified (GM) flax, from Canadian flax. “It’s getting less and less frequent and less and less intense,” Flax Council of Canada president Will Hill said in

Social media: Lending credibility to marketing in the digital age

Just being good isn’t enough. Being special can elevate products like canola oil to new levels and increase sales

Low in saturated fat and high in healthy omega-3 fatty acids canola oil, offers clear health benefits to consumers. But marketers can’t expect the product to sell itself — they need to grease the wheels. Kit Yarrow, a consumer psychologist, author and consultant spoke at the Canola Council of Canada’s convention in Washington, D.C. about