Ag News

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has launched an investigation into a case of bovine tuberculosis in an animal originating from the Pembina Valley in Manitoba. It was slaughtered at a federally registered abattoir in Manitoba.

According to the CFIA, Bovine TB is a reportable disease in Canada and has been subject to a mandatory national eradication program since 1923. While all areas of Canada are considered to be officially free of bovine TB today, isolated cases in cattle may occur.

Some areas of the prairies have received some rain over the past few days, but the weeks of hot, dry weather have had an impact on crops, hay, and pastureland. 

With the dry conditions across so much of the Prairies, there's been an increased concern about grasshopper infestations.

Dr. Meghan Vankosky, a research scientist in field crop entomology with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, says grasshoppers could be shaping up to be an important story again this year.

Manitoba Agriculture has released the latest edition of the Potato Report - here is the Executive Summary

Farmers across the G7 are confronting unprecedented pressures as the world faces overlapping geopolitical, economic, and environmental challenges. Inflation, high interest rates, and continued fallout from recent financial shocks have destabilized farm economies. At the same time, trade disruptions, and fractured supply chains are compounding uncertainty in the agricultural sector. Meanwhile, the impacts of climate change—more frequent droughts, floods, and extreme weather—are threatening productivity and straining rural infrastructure.

Federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald recently spent Friday and Saturday touring Saskatchewan.

During his visit, he had an opportunity to talk with producers and stakeholders about key agricultural issues and concerns and the potential opportunities that exist within the industry today and in the future.

Manitoba Agriculture is ramping up for their annual Field Day through the Westman Agricultural Diversification Organization (WADO) in Melita scheduled for Thursday, July 17th.

Applied Research Specialist, Scott Chalmers, says they're looking forward to sharing their test plot studies on a variety of crops and varieties.

"We're bringing back our touring buses for people to ride in comfort as we travel from field to field," he explains. "But we're looking forward to having a great day at this year's Field Day once again."

Manitoba and northern Ontario rep (all the way to Thunder Bay) for Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Dale Friesen, has been making the rounds, touring across his region to meet and greet partner Foodgrains communities and learn more about their projects.

Friesen stepped into the role upon the retirement of former rep, Gordon Janzen.  He says the first 5 months of this new position has been great in getting to know the folks behind the projects.

He sold his first million-dollar pre-sort cattle sale in Kelvington, Saskatchewan at just 12 years old and hasn't looked back!

Last week, Branch Manager at Heartland Livestock Services in Brandon, Brennin Jack won the Reserve Champion at the World Livestock Auctioneering Championship in Iowa, placing second in the 30-competitor lineup.  The Livestock Marketing Association convention was held in Omaha, Nebraska with the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship being held at Dunlap Livestock Auction in Dunlap, Iowa.

Applied Research Crop Specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, Scott Chalmers, calls this spring's seeding season a 'split start', but in the end we're off to a great start!

"So, we had an early start. A lot of people seeded their serials and corn nice and early, and then we had that soggy May long weekend, which was perfect because, you know, when it decided to rain it sure rained and we ended up with 2 1/2 to 3 inches in the area, which laid kind of a really nice foundation for seeding our shallow and expensive crops like canola for example," explains Chalmers.

Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious and severe disease that affects cattle, sheep, swine, and other cloven-hoofed animals making it hard for them to eat and walk, leaving them weak and sick.

The FMD vaccine bank builds on existing protections for the livestock industry and equips producers with another tool to control and eliminate the disease should an outbreak occur.

Budget 2023 committed $57.5 million over five years, with $5.6 million ongoing, to the CFIA to establish the FMD vaccine bank and response plans.