David Rourke takes field tour attendees through his on-farm trials in mid-2022.

Net-positive farm research taps into farmer knowledge

Faces of Ag: Farmer wants to hear from peers in his quest to make net-positive farming work

Glacier FarmMedia – David Rourke, a 67-year-old grain farmer from Minto, Man., made it clear he’s not in competition with his mother, but he’s obviously cut from a similar cloth. After earning a master’s degree in education and then a master’s degree in nursing, Rourke’s mom went back to school in her 50s to pursue a doctorate in nursing. Rourke got

A flooded field in St. Andrews, Manitoba. A new paper says Canada’s water policies, management and research efforts are under-developed and uncoordinated.

CAPI pitches national agri-food water strategy

Think tank says farmers have been let down by lack of a national plan

Glacier FarmMedia – Canada should use its enormous water resources to become a sustainable food powerhouse and a global water research superpower, says a new paper from the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute. The country’s water policies, management and research efforts are under-developed and uncoordinated, it said, which leaves water resources and challenges largely unaddressed. That’s something a national plan should fix, says the report written


Cattle cross into a paddock with fresh forage within Ted Unruh’s rotational grazing system near Cromer, Man.

Turning back the clock with grazing

Cattle can help fill the biodiversity void left from the loss of bison

Cattle are often maligned for their contributions to greenhouse gas levels, but Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Tim McAllister says that’s wrongheaded. “We hear about people advocating for the need to eliminate livestock from agriculture production, basically without really understanding the negative connotations that would have,” the researcher said during a University of Manitoba webinar in August. “We really need to be

(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Funding set to improve Ontario deadstock removal, disposal

Application intake open as of Sept. 21

Ontario’s livestock producers could see more and improved options for pickup and sustainable disposal of deadstock through a new federal/provincial program now on offer. The Ontario and federal governments on Thursday opened the intake for applications under what they’re calling the Increasing Deadstock Capacity Initiative, budgeted for $1.5 million over two years. The program, to


(HiltonFoods.com video screengrab)

U.K. firm to process meats in Canada for Walmart

Plant would be Hilton Foods' first in North America

A British-based firm processing proteins for the retail and foodservice sectors plans to set up shop somewhere in Eastern Canada, after reaching a deal to supply meat products to Walmart’s Canadian grocery business. Hilton Food Group announced Thursday it plans to open a new manufacturing plant in that region to supply Walmart Supercentres in Canada

University of Manitoba research scientist Kim Ominski.

Giving beef a good rep

FACES OF AG | University of Manitoba research scientist honoured

A Manitoba research scientist has earned top accolades from the Beef Cattle Research Council for her work on sustainability and the cattle sector. Kim Ominski of the University of Manitoba received the 2023 Canadian Beef Industry Award for Outstanding Research and Innovation at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference in Calgary Aug. 16. Why it matters:


The Gosselin site in July 2023.

Conservation efforts pay off for farmers

Field day highlights projects that pay farmers to be ecologically friendly

Farmers are learning that environmental stewardship can pay dividends. During a recent field day, the Seine Rat River Watershed District highlighted two of the four projects in which farmers were able to take advantage of Alternative Land Use Services Canada (ALUS) funding to incentivize environmental upgrades to their land. The district entered a partnership with

(Diane Kuhl/iStock/Getty Images)

Dates moved up in dairy sector’s CUSMA compensation calendar

Calculation date will shift to Aug. 31

Changes are being made to the timetable for the remainder of the program compensating Canada’s dairy farmers for market share lost to recent multilateral trade deals. The Dairy Direct Payment Program (DDPP), which issued $1.75 billion over four payments from 2019 to 2023 to compensate for the Canada-European Union (CETA) and Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade


“If we give the farmer the tool of the soil health report, along with an understanding of what they need to do to improve soil health, they’re going to improve crop yields and profitability and reduce the risk in a dry year or a wet year.” – Wayne Black, A & L Laboratories

Confusion remains about soil health

Producers get mixed messages on what they should do to improve their ground

Soil health is a catchphrase that has dominated the agri-food landscape for at least five years, but what does it mean? The term has been adopted and re-imagined by countless individuals, organizations and groups to support everything from organics to cover crops, reduced till or no till, carbon sequestration, sustainability and regenerative agriculture. Adding to

Barclay Uruski, who farms near Arborg, Man., says Farmers Edge promised his carbon credits would pay for their services and then some.

Farmers urge caution on carbon credits 

Farmers say they were told carbon credits would cover subscription costs with a little extra but the reality fell far short

[UPDATED: June 13, 2023] Several farmers from Manitoba and Saskatchewan say they are out thousands of dollars after subscribing to a carbon credit program offered by Farmers Edge. “We have not seen a dime,” said Barclay Uruski, who farms near Arborg, Man. Why it matters: Carbon credits have been touted as a way for farmers