Feds Short Beef Producers On Aid

Drowned-out Manitoba cattle producers are feeling hung out to dry after last week’s $448-million excess moisture aid announcement by Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. The federal government is so far refusing to cost share greenfeed or forage restoration, as was anticipated when the provincial government announced $194 million in aid for Manitoba farmers June 30. The

Federal Funds Diverted From Beef To Hogs

While Manitoba’s hog industry celebrated some rare good news last week, the beef sector was reeling from yet another setback in the bid to re-establish federally inspected beef slaughter capacity here. Citing unspecified problems with the Keystone Processors Ltd. business plan, the federal government has withdrawn $10 million in financing it promised the beef-processing company


Flood Recovery Will Be Slow

Wi t h Heartland Livestock in Virden taking the week off, there were only two cattle sales in Manitoba during the week ended July 18, with light volumes being reported in both Brandon and Winnipeg. Although volumes were light, prices were holding firm, with even some higher prices seen in the slaughter market. But even

Niverville Sets A New Standard For Caring For Seniors

Thanks to some creative ingenuity, Niverville will open the doors on the largest personal care home in southeastern Manitoba in 2013. The 80-bed $11.3-million facility will be built next to the Niverville Heritage Centre, an 80,000-square-foot complex now home to a primary health-care centre and medical, physiotherapy and dental clinics, plus a day care and


Letters – for Jul. 7, 2011

Manitoba should be proud Manitobans have a big reason to celebrate. On June 16, we became the first province in Canada to pass a life-saving law requiring public access to AEDs (automated external defibrillators). The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba (HSFM) congratulates the provincial government and all the parties involved for passing Bill 20,

Let Farmers Vote On Cwb

The Manitoba government is putting up $180,000 to pressure the federal government into letting farmers decide the Canadian Wheat Board’s future through a vote. The provincial government hasn’t ruled out funding a legal challenge to prevent Ottawa from unilaterally removing the CWB’s monopoly on the sales of all western Canadian wheat and barley destined for


Lake Manitoba Residents Forced To Flee Flooding

Tom Teichroeb was busy last week moving the last few cattle off his flooded farm near the shores of Lake Manitoba. When he’s done, he’ll move his family out, too. Teichroeb, his wife and two young daughters had rented a house in town and were moving in furniture when shifting flood waters would let them.

Smoking Guns And Testy Waters

We almost expected to hear the hoofbeats of a white horse in the background as Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger rode to Lake Winnipeg’s rescue last week. Armed with a new report by Saskatchewan biologist Peter Leavitt that says changing agricultural practices, specifically increased hog production in Manitoba, are to blame for at least half of


Use LIDAR For Flood Control, Province Told

Manitoba’s Chambers of Commerce wants the provincial government to go “light” on floods. The Manitoba Chambers of Commerce is asking the province to use Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) to help control flooding in the Red River Valley and Assiniboine River basins. LIDAR is an optical remote sensing technology which accurately measures the distance to

Wetland Drainage Increases Spring Flooding, Research Shows

It’s a long way from Broughton’s Creek in southwestern Manitoba to Lake Winnipeg smack in the middle of the province. But to Pascal Badiou there is a relationship between this tiny rivulet in Prairie pothole country and the condition of one of Canada’s largest freshwater lakes. There’s also a connection between the history of the