Ag News

Manitoba beekeepers will be eligible for $7.5 million in support from the federal and provincial governments to rebuild their colonies following extraordinary losses incurred over the winter of 2021-22, federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Manitoba Agriculture Minister Derek Johnson announced today.

HyLife is working to help 87 employees deal with losing their jobs due to lay-offs, and approximately 50 of them are in Steinbach. 

The company points to challenges in the industry as the reason for reducing their workforce by around 3.5 percent. 

The Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence (LFCE) is holding its Summer Field Day tomorrow.

Director Scott Wright says the event presented by Canadian Western Agribition is free and gives producers an opportunity to tour the facilit.

He says producers will have an opportunity to chat with graduate students from the U of S about their work and then they'll head out to see some of the research work happening on-site.

To hear Glenda-Lee's conversation with LFCE Director Scott Wright click on the link below.

The warmer weather is really advancing this year's hay crop.

Crop maturity is advancing quickly with some alfalfa fields already in full flower.

Livestock and feed extension specialist Dwayne Summach says this year the hay crops coming in in a hurry.

He says if you're using it for beef cattle ideally you want to cut it at 10 to 15 per cent flower, and since some fields are well past that it is definitely time to get out there and cut it.

The County of Stettler is the first to make that declaration.

A very light snowpack with no run-off combined with an early and extended heat wave and no moisture led Council to make the announcement.

In a press release from the county Reeve Larry Clarke says they've been hearing the pleas from farmers and producers and they needed to take action.

Bill C-234 would see farmers exempt from paying the carbon tax on propane and natural gas used on-farm for drying grain and heating barns.

Conservative Senate David Wells sponsored the bill in the Senate and says it received second reading last week and has been referred to the Finance and Agriculture Committee.

CN's assistant vice president of grain David Przednowek says as a result they're watching what's happening with crop development and taking that into account when trying to determine new crop movement.

He says last year, they implemented a lot of operational changes that delivered really strong consistent grain movement and this year is an opportunity to refine the plan and tweak it. 

Prairiewide grasshoppers are a key insect to monitor for right now, especially in the southern and drier areas.

Grasshoppers can cause tremendous damage to a crop.

Saskatchewan's insect specialist James Tansey says with that in mind it's important to take note of the economic thresholds for the crop.

The Prairie Pest Monitoring Network Report shows flea beetles are still out there.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Field Crop Entomologist Dr Meghan Vankosky says farmers should be busy scouting for insects.

"Flea beetles are still out there, but most canola is past the damage stage and patchy reports of cutworm damage are still coming in from Alberta."

She says grasshoppers are going to be an issue across the prairies.

Farmers are in the home stretch right now when it comes to seeding, 99 per cent of the crop is in the ground.

Last-minute fields were seeded as they dried up over recent weeks following late spring storms, heavy rains and cool weather. 

Crops Extension Specialist Matt Struthers says producers were able to get all their fields seeded without major issues or delays.

Storm activity over the last week resulted in some localized flooding, hail and wind damage, but overall producers were happy to see a good rain.