Rising export demand is underpinning prosperity in agriculture.

Churchill exports up after longer than usual shipping season

OmniTRAX says exporting crude oil through Churchill would help ensure the port’s viability

The Port of Churchill, which closed for the season Nov. 12, was open almost two weeks later than usual and exported more than 600,000 tonnes of grain. Merv Tweed, president of OmniTRAX Canada, which owns the port and the Hudson Bay Railway that serves it, said that while this year’s performance is encouraging, the port

researcher studying soil at a shale pit

National soil science meeting meets Manitoba mud

A look back in time on Manitoba's escarpment — and a vision of what the future could be

Dale and Caroline Steppler’s farm on the Manitoba Escarpment was shaped by glaciers, 
but today the challenge is keeping nutrients from running down to Lake Winnipeg

In an abandoned shale pit a busload of muddied-shoed soil scientists from across Canada and beyond peer back millions of years into the geological history of this part of the Manitoba Escarpment west of Miami. Marine dinosaur fossils are routinely discovered nearby in the bentonite clay formed from prehistoric volcanic ash. They once swam in


Agriculture Hall of Fame

Charles John Froebe was a significant force behind the development of cash advance programs

There were six Manitoban’s inducted to the Manitoba Agricultural Hall 
of Fame July 10. The Co-operator will publish the inductee profiles over the next six weeks.

Charlie Froebe was born at Carman, Man., Nov. 27, 1941. He grew up on the family farm in the Homewood district where he attended grade school and was a member of the Manitoba Sugar Beet 4-H Club. His secondary education was at St. John’s Ravenscourt in Winnipeg and Western Military Academy in Alton, Illinois. He

Manitobans helping North Korean farmers

Manitobans with expertise in zero till and soil health are helping farmers increase productivity in the isolated nation

When it comes to North Korea, agriculture may not be the first thing that pops into people’s minds. But for the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) it’s been front and centre for the last five years. The Winnipeg-based organization has been providing farmers in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with assistance with soil conservation and


Rethinking the possibilities of trees

Rethinking the possibilities of trees

The view from Northern Blossom Farms

In this third letter from Northern Blossom Farms, Gary Martens 
discusses ways to keep trees on the landscape.

In my first letter I advocated integrating livestock and crops for the synergistic benefits of both components to the farming system. In the next letter, I discussed my crop rotation which includes perennials but is still based mainly on annual crops. In this letter, I want to propose the integration of trees as a beneficial

Researcher wants to know if farmers are happy with the contracts they sign

Production, marketing, and technology-use contracts are increasingly common but are they fair to farmers or tilted in companies’ favour?

Lots of farmers don’t like them but are production, marketing, and technology-use contracts unfair to farmers? “We still hear from our members that the contracts are typically quite one-sided,” said Doug Faller, policy manager with the Agricultural Producers of Saskatchewan. “Now with the changes to the wheat board and so on, the need for addressing


Dairy farmer Lisa Dyck launched a line of hand-crafted ice creams made from milk from the dairy farm she and her husband own between Beausejour and Anola.  photo: lorraine stevenson

Made-in-Manitoba ice cream flying off store shelves

Customers are happily forking over between $11 and $12 
for a litre of this premium, made-in-Manitoba ice cream

Lisa Dyck is going lickity split as summer arrives, ramping up production of a cool treat Manitobans haven’t tasted in a long time — made-in-Manitoba ice cream. This spring the Anola-area dairy producer launched Cornell Creme, a premium ice cream made from the milk of the 120 cows that she and husband William Dyck milk.

University of Manitoba food scientist Rick Holley was the principal investigator in a recently completed study on the effectiveness of low-dose electron-beam treatment to eliminating harmful bacteria in beef trim used to make ground beef. Holley also oversaw a panel of taste testers to see if the treatment changed the colour, aroma, texture, juiciness or flavour of the meat.  photo: lorraine stevenson

CCA hopeful resubmitted irradiation petition will succeed

The debate over whether to permit irradiation of beef products begins again

The waiting has begun all over again for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) as it renews efforts to persuade Health Canada to approve irradiation for beef. The CCA submitted paperwork in early May asking the federal agency to restart the approval process for beef irradiation in Canada, repeating a similar request in a 1998 petition.


Agriculture Canada’s Cereal Research Centre in Winnipeg is being mothballed and its research staff transferred to other locations.  photo: shannon vanraes

Where is AAFC’s wheat-breeding program headed?

After closing Winnipeg’s Cereal Research Centre, the federal government has
invested $85 million in a new wheat research program in Saskatoon

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) has led Canadian wheat breeding for more than 100 years, but recent actions by the federal government have some wondering about its future role. A year ago, Ottawa announced it will close AAFC’s venerable Cereal Research Centre on the University of Manitoba’s Winnipeg campus because it would cost too much

Universal rotation principles uniquely applied to each farm

The view from Northern Blossom Farms - Part 2

This is the second instalment of a series of letters from Gary Martens, who is an instructor in plant science with the University of Manitoba. His ‘nano’ experimental farm is located near Kleefield, Man.  First I will lay out the principles by which I planned the crop rotation. These principles are derived from a long-term understanding