Portage

Grow Hope Saskatchewan is launching its eigth season with a new national partner - Canadian Lutheran World Relief.

The Canadian Foodgrains Bank's 'Grow Hope Saskatchewan' project connects farmers who donate land with donors who help to cover input costs.

The project started in 2017 as a way to get more people involved in the effort to help end global hunger, originally a collaboration between the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Mennonite Central Committee Saskatchewan, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon.

The Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) is announcing some key moves within the organization.

Jennifer Babcock has been promoted to the Chief Government and International Affairs Officer.

She has a proven track record of advocacy successes.

Babcock will lead CCA’s initiatives to promote and protect the interests of Canada’s beef cattle industry domestically and internationally.

In a recent CCA Action News Blog, Babcock says she looks forward to her new and expanded leadership role on CCA’s advocacy efforts.

A U.S. company develops a trait that it says provides genetic resistance to sclerotinia, which can be challenging for growers.

A San Diego company is closer to commercializing a trait that could protect canola from sclerotinia.

In April, Cibus announced that two of its disease resistance traits for canola have been designated as “not regulated” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We are encouraged by USDA-APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) broad designation for these traits being developed,” said Cibus co-founder Peter Beetham.

After a few clouds and light showers early this week, Portage la Prairie is in for a long stretch of sunshine and steadily warming temperatures, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.

A warm and dry pattern

Meteorologist Shannon Moody says the cloud cover on Wednesday is expected to clear out by the evening, with mainly sunny skies taking over through the weekend and into next week.

The Manitoba Agricultural Museum in Austin has announced a groundbreaking five-year partnership with Winnipeg-based production company Eagle Vision. The agreement names Eagle Vision the presenting sponsor of the Manitoba Threshermen’s Reunion and Stampede and renames the museum’s main arena the Eagle Vision Arena.

The president of the Association of Filipinos in Portage la Prairie says the recent tragedy in Vancouver, where a driver intentionally plowed into a crowd during a Filipino cultural festival, has deeply affected the local community.

Oliver Cabading, who leads the organization, says the incident is especially painful because it touches a shared cultural identity.

Manitoba's latest potato report shows planting in the province is now estimated to be 95 per cent complete. 

Planting has been going very smoothly, with most farms now finished.

Potato and Horticulture Crops Pathologist Vikram Bisht says with planting nearly over, it's now time to take care of cull piles in and around fields and farmyards, as cull piles can be a source of disease inoculum and may harbour Colorado potato beetles and aphids.

Scott Jespersen has been named the acting chair for Alberta Grains. 

Chair Tara Sawyer is taking a leave of absence effective immediately following her appointment by Premier Danielle Smith as the United Conservative Party (UCP) candidate for the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills by-election. 

Sawyer, a wheat and barley farmer from Acme, Alberta, was elected as Alberta Grains’ inaugural chair in 2023 after the amalgamation of the Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions.

The training agreement will establish an environment, social and governance program that will be offered to students in Uzbekistan.

Countries across the globe are seeking out Canadian post-secondary institutions for partnerships focused on learning and exchanging knowledge.

Olds College in Olds, Alta., is one of the latest, signing an international training agreement with Uzbekistan April 29 following a memorandum of understanding signed last November.

A Portage restaurant owner is dealing with a third break-in in the past nine months after a front window was smashed early Wednesday morning.

Tornado's Restaurant and Lounge owner Jan Verwey says the culprit made off with two cases of beer.

"We do have 20 cameras inside and outside of the building," noted Verwey. "I received a notification immediately when the window was broken, cops were notified, and I was there within 5 minutes. The intruder was dressed all in dark clothing with his face covered. This is their full time “job”, they seem to know what to do."