Ag News

Manitoba Environment and Climate Change is encouraging residents to test their well water or cistern to detect coliforms and E. coli in their water supply.

The ideal time to conduct these tests is in the spring, especially after a flood or heavy rainstorm.

Changes in the colour, clarity, odor, or taste of well or cistern water are also indicators that testing should be done. The Private Well Testing Subsidy Program, in collaboration with Duracan Laboratory in Winnipeg, offers these tests at a subsidized cost for private well and cistern owners once per year.

As the 2025 crop season begins, farmers across the prairies are already on high alert for potential insect damage. Dr. Meghan Vankosky, a research scientist in field crop entomology with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, provides insights into what farmers might expect this year based on last year's conditions and winter observations.

As seeding season begins in Saskatchewan, SaskPower is reminding everyone to stay safe when working near power lines.

Last year, there were 262 farm-related incidents involving power infrastructure, a slight decrease from 268 in 2023, according to SaskPower. Most of these incidents occurred in the spring.

"Safety at SaskPower is our number one priority. So, if we can share the message with farmers and other large equipment operators working in the fields this spring, we're absolutely happy to do it," said Scott McGregor, spokesperson with SaskPower.

Abbey Norek of Gerald is this year's Agriculture Student Scholarship grand-prize $6,000 winner.

Norek's winning video highlighted an urban-rural disconnect when it comes to agriculture. 

She proposed education and advocacy as key solutions to this issue. 

In her video presentation, she talked about her experience building a school garden using recycled materials, leading outreach programs on her family farm, and lobbying for agriculture electives in her school division.  

Southern Alberta farmer has long-standing issues with supply-management system for smaller egg producers like himself.

A southern Alberta egg producer who had been jailed for missing a court date for violating the provincial laws governing egg production has passed a premises inspection by Egg Farmers of Alberta.

Henk Van Essen said an inspector only spent a few minutes inside his operation before coming back out and telling him he was in full compliance.

“They were so sure they were going to find thousands of chickens in this barn,” Van Essen said.

Seeding is kicking off across the province. And whether you're already putting in fertilizer, or still fine-tuning your plan, it’s important to make informed decisions when it comes to your inputs for the season ahead.

New products are everywhere on the market and choosing the right ones can determine profitability and long-term success for your farm. I’m going to talk about one group of products that gets a lot of attention -- micronutrient fertilizers.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is reporting the presence of AI in three non-commercial poultry flocks in Saskatchewan last week, in the RM of Indian Head, the RM of Colonsay, and the RM of Lipton.

To date, one case has been found in a commercial poultry operation in Manitoba in the RM of Wallace.

Previous occurrences have been found in Ontario and Nova Scotia.

Most poultry and egg production operations already have biosecurity measures in place, but producers who maintain small flocks, should look at enhancing their on-farm biosecurity measures.

 Alliance will remain a 'standalone' brand under Canterra ownership.

The lone remaining shareholder in a pedigreed seed company formed by a group of independent grain handling companies in Western Canada is selling that business to another Prairie seed firm.

Canterra Seeds announced May 1 it has acquired Alliance Seed for an undisclosed amount, and will continue to operate Alliance as “a standalone brand under Canterra Seeds’ umbrella, with key staff transitioning to maintain continuity and customer relationships.”

SASKATOON — Canada has far fewer green peas than the government is reporting, says an analyst.

“Purely from a price perspective, markets believe the Canadian harvest was smaller than estimated by Statistics Canada,” Stat Publishing noted in a recent article.

Using crop insurance data, a “strong argument” can be made that growers planted 358,000 acres of green peas last year, well below Statistics Canada’s 463,000-acre estimate.

Stat believes the area has been over-reported since 2021.

Root rots are the number one disease issue for pulse crops, significantly impacting pea and lentil fields across the Prairies.  Studies show that the disease which thrives in warm, wet conditions can cause a yield loss of anywhere from 60 to 84 percent.

Last year, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture conducted a pulse disease survey, which focused on the root rot disease complex.