Ag News

Premier Wab Kinew's recent Trade Mission to Washington is being called a success. 

The trip also included Ministers Jamie Moses and Lisa Naylor, former U.S. Ambassador Gary Doer and members of the Premier’s Business and Jobs Council.

In meetings with elected representatives from across the United States, the premier and his delegation promoted Manitoba-made resources and solutions to today’s concerns including agriculture, low-carbon energy and fair labour relations.

Kinew notes that Manitoba has an incredible story to tell.

This week is National Soil Conservation Week.

Over the last few months, the Senate Committee on Agriculture has been working on developing a new study on Soil Health in Canada.

Senator Robert Black says the committee toured the country to get a first-hand look at the situation, meeting with various scientists, producers, organizations and researchers to get an understanding of what's been happening.

The committee heard from 153 witnesses over the course of approximately 18 months and received 72 briefs from interested parties and individuals.

As part of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, the Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Mary Ng is leading a Team Canada Trade Mission to South Korea.

The Indo-Pacific region is Canada’s second-largest regional export market, and in 2023 represented two-way merchandise trade valued at $257 billion.

Ng says South Korea, is one of the area's fastest-growing markets and a strategic partner for Canada.

As of 2023, South Korea is Canada’s 7th-largest merchandise trading partner, 8th-largest export and 6th-largest import partner.

Prairie residents have the opportunity to tune in for a webinar about 'scale-dependent relationships between habitat, insects, and birds in native grasslands', along with the more than 200 other people who have already signed up.

This Native Prairie Speaker Series webinar will be on Tuesday, April 30th at 12 p.m. sharp and anyone, anywhere, can attend for free.

Caitlin Mroz-Sailer, stewardship coordinator for the Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan, aims to inform community members of the significance of biodiversity and foster important conversations.

The Competition Bureau has concluded that the proposed acquisition of Viterra Limited (Viterra) by Bunge Limited (Bunge) is likely to result in substantial anti-competitive effects and a significant loss of rivalry between Viterra and Bunge in agricultural markets in Canada. 

The Manitoba weekly auction mart report for last week shows feeder steer prices dropped ranging from an average of $442.50  per cwt for the 401 to 500 pound weights to $314.25 per cwt for the 801 to 900 pound category.  The biggest drop $11.93 per cwt came in the 501 to 600 weight category dropping to an average of $413.25 per cwt, the biggest increase $7.65 per cwt was in the 900+ category up $7.65 for an average of $276.56.

The Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) in Saskatoon is training more students to work in large animal practices in rural areas.

The Prairies are facing a lack of large animal vets in rural areas as we start to see more veterinarians now reaching retirement.

Saskatchewan is increasing its annual investment to the Western College of Veterinary Medicine by $667 thousand dollars to $13.2 million for the 2024-25 fiscal year. 

The last few years have been challenging for the pork sector with higher interest rates, lower hog prices, global instability cutting into export demand, and higher feed prices. 

The General Manager for Manitoba Pork Cam Dahl says we are coming through that, adding that things are looking up for the pork industry.

"We're seeing support for demand, we are seeing a reduction in input costs. So things are looking much better now, than they were a couple of years ago."

Saskatchewan has already surpassed its 2030 Growth Plan target of $20 billion in agri-food exports hitting $20.2 billion in 2023. 
 
Vietnam is among the countries increasing their investment in Saskatchewan products.

In 2023, agri-food exports to Vietnam were reported to be worth $46 million, that marks a  227 percent increase into the country, going from $3.7 million in 2022.

The province says the most significant increase in value came from the export of non-durum wheat which skyrocketed to $40.6 million from $3.7 million the previous year. 

It was a busy week at auction marts across the Prairies with more animals moving to town.

The information below is based on the Manitoba Cattle Marketing Report, Saskatchewan Cattle Marketing Report and the Canfax Report for Alberta Beef Producers.

In Manitoba:

The Manitoba Cattle Marketing Report shows 8,658 animals moved through seven of the province's eight auction marts last week.