Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration Archives

Comment: Bring back the PFRA

Soil conservation in Canada has been losing ground despite a general feeling erosion is a problem of the past

By John Morriss May 26, 2019

Some say it saved Western Canada. But the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, perhaps the most respected government agency in Canada’s history, was dissolved in 2003. It’s time to bring it back. Scientific principles are one thing. Encouraging farmers to use them are another — that requires expertise in ‘extension,’ a word which has unfortunately fallen

The changes will remove an advantage currently given to younger Manitoba producers who need access to Crown lands to build their herds.

Comment/Feedback, Opinion

A made-in-Manitoba tragedy of the commons

Community pastures will suffer under recent changes to agricultural Crown land leasing in Manitoba

By Lynne Fernandez June 4, 2018

In February, a provincial news release about changes to agricultural Crown land advised that “The Manitoba government has launched a consultation focused on agricultural Crown lands, to ensure upcoming policy changes reflect the views of the livestock industry while improving fairness and transparency in the system (. . .).” How will these changes affect the

Crops, Opinion

Editorial: Changing how we think

By Laura Rance-Unger January 12, 2015

Back in the days when Prairie farmers were still in the experimental phase of adopting what is now known as conservation agriculture, I remember interviewing a farmer who had gone all the way and embraced zero tillage. He said it was an exercise in frustration bordering on failure until he realized the transition involved more

Local news

‘Disaster by design’ wreaks flood havoc on the Prairies

Meeting participants agreed the only way forward is to collaborate on a plan

By Lorraine Stevenson November 28, 2014

Some have coined the term “disaster by design” to capture how severe weather now impacts those farming and living on the Prairies. But improved long-term planning for times of excess and drought can reduce our vulnerability to the latter, said speakers at the inaugural Assiniboine River Basin Initiative conference in Regina earlier this month. “One

Beef cattle, Livestock, News

AAFC Brandon beef research cuts condemned

By Allan Dawson May 23, 2013

The Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Research Centre at Brandon is losing eight full-time employees, 850 head of cattle and $300,000 a year in revenue because the federal government is shutting down its beef research program. Whether the herd is sold or moved, it will be the first time in the centre’s 127-year history without

The axe is falling again at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Union officials predict 400 job losses following Workforce Adjustment notices issued to almost 700 staff May 9. Beef research at the Brandon Research Centre is one of the casualties.

Beef cattle, News

Hundreds of jobs cut at Agriculture Canada

By Allan Dawson May 14, 2013

Farmers question the  federal government’s  commitment to publicly funded agricultural research

by Allan Dawson Almost 700 Agriculture and Agri-Food (AAFC) employees across Canada, including 55 in Manitoba, have been notified their jobs are on the line. Their unions say the notifications are part of a plan to eliminate an estimated 400 jobs as the federal government tries to cut spending. The Brandon Research Station’s beef research

Opinion

Fighting more deserts

By John Morriss April 9, 2013

When I went to the barber in Swift Current in the summer of 1937 to get a haircut and shave, he said the haircut was OK but he had quit shaving people. I asked “how come” and he said he couldn’t keep an edge on the razor anymore. With the terrible dust and the shortage

Forages, Opinion

Trees are just too boring

By John Morriss October 26, 2012

It was 12 years ago now, back when civil servants could still express an opinion without having their comments vetted through the prime minister’s office. The government of the time, through some now-forgotten body called the Canadian Agri-Food Marketing Council, had for some reason decided that Canada needed to set a goal of increasing Canada’s

News

Agriculture Hall of Fame

August 10, 2012

Five Manitobans were honoured for their contribution to agriculture and their community at an induction ceremony for the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame July 12. The Co-operator is featuring each in consecutive weekly editions.

Herb Lapp was born and raised on a farm at Alameda, Saskatchewan. He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a pilot during the Second World War. In 1949, he graduated in agricultural engineering from the University of Saskatchewan. In 1962, he obtained an MS in agricultural engineering from the University of Minnesota. Herb

News, Opinion

The statistical portrait

By Laura Rance-Unger May 17, 2012

So the federal government wants to get out of community pasture management and producing shelterbelt trees. Fair enough. There’s nothing saying those pastures can’t continue under local management or that trees can’t be produced by private nurseries. Manitoba already has two locally managed community pastures, which appear to be functioning well. And judging from the

Daily Network News

U.S. livestock: CME cattle fall on profit-taking

U.S. grains: Soybeans rebound as market weighs China prospects

B.C. ostrich owner condemns violence near embattled farm

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