Weeds helped save his farm

Weeds aren’t always a farmer’s enemy. Sometimes they’re an ally. Grant Rigby says weeds helped him tackle soil salinity on his farm near Killarney and led him into organic agriculture. “The fundamental reason I dropped herbicide spraying was to allow plants to live on those areas of the farm where the crops I planted were

Science behind organic systems gains ground

Organic agriculture’s critics routinely claim the practice is more philosophy than agronomy — and the worst cut of all — lacking in “sound science.” Not anymore. Organic is pushing back one peer-reviewed research paper at a time. “We can claim science and we are,” declared Ralph Martin at the opening of the first Canadian Organic


Sustainability equals profitability

Bigger doesn’t mean better and unconventional doesn’t mean unprofitable. In fact, Lisa Clouston of Spring Creek Farms, a holistic rancher and part-time social worker, thinks it’s time to toss those ideas aside when it comes to farming. “You need to look at your costs, your time, and quality of life … higher volume doesn’t mean

Briefs Feb. 23

La Broquerie farmer recognized Staff / La Broquerie farmer Gerry Dube has been honoured by the Manitoba Eco-Network for his efforts in sustainable agriculture. Dube was among four recipients of the annual Anne Lindsey Protecting Our Earth Awards Feb. 3. Dube was a founding member of the Organic Food Council of Manitoba as well as


Big exports but cattle herd expansion unclear: USDA

Washington / Reuters Recent drought and forecasts for limited rainfall could constrain the size of the U.S. cattle herd despite high retail beef prices and forecasts for near-record exports, the Agriculture Department said Feb. 15. Record-high retail beef prices “are not sufficient to provide the long-term margins and profits the wholesale and cattle-feeding sectors must

Project aims to make the case for more shelterbelts

Everywhere you look around the Manitoba countryside, shelterbelts and bush can be seen lying in big, ugly bulldozed piles. Farmers just can’t seem to get rid of it fast enough, it seems. A two-part, four-year project sponsored by the Upper Assiniboine Conservation District (UACD), Brandon University’s Rural Development Institute (RDI), and a handful of other


Wet soil and nitrogen don’t mix, says expert

Annoyed that you have to fork over more cash to replace lost fertilizer nutrients from last year’s flood? It could be worse, says Tom Jensen, Northern Great Plains regional director of the International Plant Nutrition Institute. On Manitoba’s relatively youthful soils deposited by glacial activity about 9,000 years ago, potassium is abundant. Farmers here apply

Seven Billion And Growing

To me this is the major problem facing the world, said Michael Trevan, dean of the faculty of agricultural and food sciences at the University of Manitoba. Climate change may come and go… but we ve got a bigger problem on our hands. He noted world population is expected to reach 9.5 billion in the



Fall Tillage: Downsides Outweigh The Positives

Canola Council of Canada Growers have made great strides in advancing no-tillage and conservation-tillage practices. General benefits include reduced fuel use, reduced soil erosion, higher soil moisture reserves (which are welcome most years), and a general increase in profitability. Any return to tillage, even if only one field or across the whole farm for only