Direct Farm Manitoba wins specialty chicken appeal

Direct Farm Manitoba wins specialty chicken appeal

Direct Farm Manitoba is pleased with a ruling by the Manitoba Farm Products Marketing Council (MFPMC) earlier this month that orders Manitoba Chicken Producers (MCP) to not charge extra administrative fees for a decade among those participating in its new specialty chicken quota system. DFM co-ordinated an appeal on behalf of three specialty chicken producers

Manitoba Agriculture land management specialist Marla Riekman (l) and Andrew Wilton and his father Doug Wilton examine the underwear that was planted April 18 and tighty-whities that were planted a foot away a month later after both were exhumed June 29 from Doug Wilton’s oat field between Jordan Siding and Miami, Man.

Holey underwear shows soil health

After two months in a zero-till field, this underwear was well on its way to being one with the earth

What a difference two months can make on the weather and tighty-whities buried in the soil. There wasn’t a lot left of the cotton underwear Marla Riekman buried in local farmer Doug Wilton’s zero-till field April 18, when she retrieved it June 29. “We can obviously see a lot of breakdown,” said Riekman, Manitoba Agriculture’s


Aphids on wheat.

Aphids turning up in cereals, peas

Aphids have been a concern in some cereal and pea fields, according to Manitoba Agriculture’s latest insect and disease update on Wednesday. Aphids have also been reported in corn, and isolated incidence of turnip aphids have been found in canola, the province said. Thistle caterpillar and their webbing continue to be quite noticeable in some

Soybean acres are now higher than wheat, but it’s not certain whether they’re high enough to attract a crushing plant to the province.

Manitoba soybean acreage now higher than red spring wheat

Manitoba farmers’ affection for soybeans has hit new heights. Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC) projects 2.3 million acres of insured soybeans this year, up 39 per cent from last year’s record and for the first time higher than Canada Western Red Spring wheat. In 2000, Manitoba farmers insured just 18,419 acres of soybeans. Insured plantings


KAP president Dan Mazier says AgriStability is not working for farmers and needs an overhaul.

Farm coalition wants BRM review

Brandon — When Canada’s agriculture ministers meet this week in St. John’s, N.L., a coalition of farm groups hopes they announce a “comprehensive review” of business risk management (BRM) programs. Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) is among them. Manitoba’s general farm organization wants improvements to AgriInvest, and especially AgriStability. “(AgriStability) is not doing what it was

Don Guilford (MBFI management committee chair), Katherine Kingdon (Co-op corporate secretary), Ken Jenner (Heritage Co-op president), Lorne Zacharias (Heritage Co-op general manager), Robin Hamilton (Ducks Unlimited Canada agronomist), Ramona Blyth (MBFI president), Glenn Friesen (Manitoba Agriculture, MBFI management committee), Duncan Morrison (Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association, MBFI management committee) and Brian Lemon (Manitoba Beef Producers general manager, MBFI management committee)

MBFI Learning Centre site gets funding

Brookdale site is one of 27 projects supported across Western Canada 
by the Co-op Community Spaces program

The Co-op Community Spaces program is putting $125,000 towards an educational centre at Brookdale that will serve as a site for both on-farm research and a place to learn about the role of agriculture in rural and urban communities. Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives (MBFI)’s Learning Centre of Excellence will be located at the research


Turtle Mountain Conservation District manager Yasmine Wruth takes tour members through a five-year-old bank stabilization project south of Deloraine June 28.

Turtle Mountain Conservation District puts its best foot forward

The Turtle Mountain Conservation District toured the public around some of its recent 
and long-standing projects as part of the biennial event

It was a once-in-two-year chance June 28 as participants lined up for a look behind the scenes of the Turtle Mountain Conservation District during the biennial bus tour. “We just wanted to focus on the Waskada Creek area,” district manager Yasmine Wruth said. “We couldn’t do the entire area, but we focused on the southern

Martha Bergman (front) was the visionary behind planting a garden in Winkler to create habitat for the endangered monarch butterfly. Members of the Winkler Horticultural Society and Winkler Art Gallery shared her vision. Also pictured are Betty Klassen (l to r) Margaret Penner, Tim Klassen, Valerie Harder, Sue Denison and Tanya Waino.

Putting the petal to the metal

A 500-lb. monarch butterfly is now featured in the newly planted butterfly garden next to the Winkler Art Gallery. The gallery is Winkler’s former water treatment plant

Planting a butterfly garden is a bit like hosting a party. You get everything ready, then hope those you invited show up. Members of the Winkler Horticultural Society are now eagerly awaiting the arrival of their orange and black attired guests to their own ‘garden party.’ This spring the group created a specially designed butterfly-friendly


Lower demand and falling futures drag on cattle

Lower demand and falling futures drag on cattle

Cattle auction yards around Manitoba are in full-on summer mode, with very little activity to report during the first week of July. Many yards shut down completely for a few weeks in the summer, while the Canada Day long weekend added to the holiday mode. One of the few yards still moving cattle through the

Tom Wolf, co-founder of Agrimetrix and Sprayers 101, models the importance of sprayer cleaning to avoid accidental application of canola-unfriendly chemicals.

Tank cleaning key to avoid Group 2 herbicide injury in canola

Agrimetrix co-founder Tom Wolf explores how a clean spray tank can curb unintentional damage in the field

It may take a concentration less than 1/250th for Group 2 herbicides to start damaging canola, according to sprayer specialist Tom Wolf. “That’s quite a dilute mixture,” he said. “You’d never think it would do anything.” Wolf was one of many presenters at Canolapalooza 2017, held in Portage la Prairie June 22. Group 2 herbicides