Our history: Thomas Bunn House

River Lot 97, Bunn’s Road, RM of St. Clements Begun in 1862, the former Thomas Bunn House is likely the oldest continuously occupied dwelling in all of Manitoba and one of its oldest surviving stone structures. It is also a superb example of a modest-size “Georgian-style” house, popular at the time in Scotland and England,

Professor says more must be done to prevent repeat of Lake Manitoba flood damage

Scott Forbes estimates flood damage at $2 billion and says most of it 
could have been prevented if there had been better drainage

Like the problem child in the family, Lake Winnipeg gets all the attention over its phosphorus problems, while its well-behaved smaller sister to the west tends to be ignored. Or at least that was the case for Lake Manitoba until last year, said Scott Forbes, a professor of biology at the University of Winnipeg, who


New campaign urges Manitobans to buy local food

Increasing awareness of food products produced and processed in Manitoba and making them easily identifiable to consumers on store shelves and on restaurant menus are objectives of new Buy Manitoba campaign

A new campaign launched in Manitoba this week will urge food shoppers to “taste, smile, repeat,” by discovering Manitoba-grown, -raised and -processed foods and buying them more often. Buy Manitoba is a multi-year awareness and promotion which was to be unveiled at a Canada Safeway in Winnipeg April 26. It will help consumers easily identify



Farmers fear consolidation, not foreigners, in Viterra bid

Reuters / For most of the past year, western Canadian farmers have braced for the rush of competition that will follow the end of the Canadian Wheat Board’s 69-year-long monopoly on grain marketing in August. Now, they’re preparing for the possibility of seeing less than expected. The fertile region’s biggest grain handler, Viterra, said March

The $5 million advantage of local processing

(Excerpts from the latest Manitoba Cattle Enhancement Council newsletter) Alberta cattle fetch more at auction than Manitoba cattle. A lot more. “One of the main reasons why Manitoba’s prices are lower is because they are the furthest distance away from any federally inspected slaughter plants,” said Canfax market analyst Brian Perillat. The simple fact is


Letters — for Mar. 8, 2012

Cattlemen’s checkoff story in error Regarding the story “CCA town hall: Showcases beef industry group’s ongoing efforts,” in the Feb. 16, 2012 edition of the Manitoba Co-operator, this article attributes incorrect information to Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) vice-president Martin Unrau regarding the allocations of the $1 national checkoff. Unrau was in fact talking about the

Southwest reeve slams province’s 2011 flood response record

The provincial government’s handling of the 2011 flood has come under fire from a group representing 40 rural municipalities and towns in the southwest corner of the province. The province needs to step up its efforts in the area hard hit by severe overland flooding of the Souris and Assiniboine rivers almost one year ago,


Farmers head to school for Canadian Agricultural Literacy Week

It’s often said farmers speak their own language, but schoolkids in nine provinces might soon understand it a little better thanks to Canadian Agricultural Literacy Week. Hundreds of farmers will be going back to school Feb. 26 to March 3 to talk to children and read from selected books telling stories about food and farming

Letters — for Feb. 2, 2012

Are court cases really baseless Mr. Ritz? It was really quite funny to watch the minister of agriculture strut around in front of his flock at the recent Western Canadian Wheat Growers conference. He used his bully pulpit to call the recent court cases, against his government implementing legislation dismantling of the Canadian Wheat Board’s