Thoughts on Valentine’s Day

The elderly farmer is watching a show where they are restoring old tractors. His eyes have a spark and I can see the love for farming on his face. A number of years ago he moved off the farm but was still able to put in a full day’s work. Now he is housebound, has

Deaths in farm workplace decline

The number of fatalities is falling on Canadian farms, but the statistics are far from good. The average number of deaths on farms has fallen to 89 annually since 2000, compared to 118 annually throughout 1990s, according to the latest Canadian Agricultural Injury Report. No deaths is the only acceptable number, but the decline is


Don’t forget your map — there are 500-plus exhibits

One of the most read pages in the Manitoba Ag Days program is the Ag Days map. With more than 500 exhibits under one roof, it’s an essential aid for navigating the show and making sure nothing is missed. Farm equipment is always a crowd pleaser and Ag Days features displays from just about every

OUR HISTORY: November, 1928

The front page of the November, 1928 issue of The Scoop Shovel featured information on the Campbell Farming Corporation in Montana, which had 95,000 owned and leased acres, with 65,000 acres plowed and 45,000 in crop each year. It owned 56 tractors, 500, 14-inch plow bottoms, 60, 12-foot drills, 50, 10-foot discs, 72 binders 100


Bipole route fails to consider effects on farming

The needs of agriculture were ranked equally with garter snakes, while birds, mammals and caribou were given extra consideration

The following is an excerpt of a presentation by Niverville farmer Karen Friesen to the Clean Environment Commission hearings on Bipole III last month. The hearings are continuing in Winnipeg through November. Of the 20 million acres farmed in Manitoba, only 25 per cent is classified as Land Inventory Classes 1, 2, and 3 —

Tough conditions for Canadian, provincial plowing matches

Neither heat, nor snow, nor rock-hard ground kept enthusiasts from 
competing in the provincial and national championships

A full week of plowing competitions wrapped up last Saturday, with entries from as far away as Ontario and New Brunswick doing their best to turn perfect furrows. Weather conditions on the field owned by the Bob Mazer family ranged from broiling hot sun, to light snow, strong winds, and rain. However there was one


Light up for safety

With this year’s harvest winding down, I can’t help but reflect over a season that has resulted in both one of the earliest combining seasons I have ever seen, and also one that has seemingly dragged on forever. Early seeding and hot weather in August and September has ripened off plants and allowed producers to

Large Canadian presence at Big Iron

The 32nd Big Iron farm equipment and services show here is like a huge handshake between U.S. and Canadian farmers and equipment manufacturers that do business across the 49th parallel. More than a dozen Manitoba- and Saskatchewan-based companies were exhibiting at the annual event, which typically marks the last of the summer shows in the


It’s August — take a nap

One part of every day on the southern Illinois dairy farm of my youth was inviolate: the noon nap; nearly everyone took one. We didn’t rest very long, just 30 minutes or so, because the farm work never rested long. The naps, however, were as integral a part of our farm routine as the big,

Cross-Canada tractor pull

Little house on the trailer: Couple travels across the nation to document 
farmers’ stories and speak to city dwellers about rural issues

A crowd is forming in the downtown Winnipeg parking lot, but it can’t obscure what has sparked the interest — a small red tractor pulling a tiny farmhouse. For more than a year that tiny farmhouse — veranda included — has been home to John Varty and his fiancée Molly Daley. The couple is driving