At St. Jean Farm Days earlier this month, Gerry Friesen (a.k.a. ‘the Recovering Farmer’) took to the podium for a presentation entitled, Mental Health Matters on the Farm. In it, Friesen spoke about the prevalence of mental health challenges in the farm community and how farmers can find help via the Manitoba Farmer Wellness Program. Here, Friesen speaks candidly about ways that farmers can manage their mental health and how it’s not only good for their well-being, but the profitability of their farms as well.

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With the amount of financial risk farmers are exposed to in any given growing year, paying close attention to operating costs to remain profitable is essential. At St. Jean Farm Days on Jan. 9, Darren Bond, farm management specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, delivered a presentation entitled, ‘Finding profit in 2025.’ In his presentation, Bond spoke to some of the challenges and volatility he’s seeing shape up for the 2025 growing season and offered advice on where farmers may want to focus their attention to help cut costs and maintain their yields.

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There are a number of problem weeds that growers often contend with each season, but kochia is one weed problem in particular that’s of growing concern – and not only here on the Prairies, but also south of the border.

Jason Hanson, a crop consultant in North Dakota, travelled to St. Jean Farm Days earlier this month to illustrate the depth of the kochia problem his clients are seeing in their fields and some of the methods and herbicide strategies he’s suggesting to keep kochia pressures to a bare minimum.

The post VIDEO: Taking the fight to kochia in North Dakota appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

No matter what crop you grow, producers have that unwilling relationship with pest insects. So as Manitoba growers head into this year’s growing season, which bugs should you prepare to deal with in your fields this year?

Manitoba Agriculture entomologist John Gavloski spoke at St. Jean Farm Days on Jan. 10 to remind attendees which insects were standouts in 2023, which pest insects he’s keeping a close eye on in 2024, and more importantly, mitigation advice for crop producers heading into the growing season.

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