Colourful, but effective

Both Alex Binkley and Allan Dawson relate some memories of the accomplishments of the late Eugene Whelan elsewhere in this issue, but we can’t let him leave us without noting one ambition he failed to achieve. Whelan desperately wanted to be minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board (never making a secret of it) but

Barry Todd retires March 1

Barry Todd knows what he’s going to miss most as he prepares for retirement after serving Manitoba’s agricultural sector more than three decades — the people Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural initiatives’ (MAFRI) deputy minister retires March 1 after almost 32 years with the department, including the last 10 as acting and then the permanent


New leaders at NCLE

Martin Scanlon of the University of Manitoba’s department of food science, has been appointed chair of the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment (NCLE) for a three-year term. Scanlon replaces Don Flaten, who has held the position over the past four years. Christine Rawluk, a beef-forage systems researcher, has been appointed research development co-ordinator

Hairy vetch opens up opportunities

Hairy vetch has long suffered snickers and quizzical looks at the very mention of its name, but new research shows the legume has potential in Manitoba. Scott Chalmers, a diversification technician with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives, told producers at the annual Special Crops Symposium in Winnipeg that plant is a possible cover crop



ADM to shut Medicine Hat flour mill

Archer Daniels Midland is set to permanently close its century-old Medicine Hat, Alta. flour mill at the end of May. The Chicago-based food firm quietly announced Jan. 31 it would close the former Ogilvie Flour Mills plant and supply the plant’s customers from its “larger, more centrally located” flour mill at Calgary. The decision followed


Put these crop pests on your radar

Which pest is going to strike where next and how hard ranks right up there with weather forecasting for jobs that are difficult to get right. But extension agronomists say these are some of the yield robbers on their watch list. Soybean cyst nematode This pest hasn’t been found in Manitoba yet, but it could

Letters, Feb. 7, 2013

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Optimism in agriculture unprecedented, says KAP president

It’s a good time to be a farmer and the future for agriculture looks even brighter, says Keystone Agricultural Producers’ president Doug Chorney. “I think the level of optimism in agriculture today is really unprecedented,” he said in his state-of-the-industry address kicking off the general farm organization’s 29th annual meeting in Winnipeg Jan. 23. “I