Ag News

The WADO Field Day & Bus Tour took place last week Thursday in and around the Melita area to check out the crop trial test plots.

This was the first time during the annual WADO Field Day where a touring bus was used to help with travel to the different locations.  With the heatwave the air-conditioned touring bus was a welcome relief.

Applied Research Specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, Scott Chalmers, says the hot and humid weather is certainly contributing to the healthy growth across the board when it comes to crops.

Manitoba's agriculture sector will have access to key tools to help advance the industry in the growing world of digital technology

EMILI - the Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative - will receive over $2 million in Federal/Provincial funding to advance Digital Agriculture Opportunities.

Premier Wab Kinew says he sees this investment as being key to helping the province, the ag industry and farmers adapt to new challenges and opportunities in the ever-changing digital world.

The Canadian Charolais Youth Association is holding its National Show and Conference this week in Swift Current. 

Darwin Rosso, a director with the Canadian Charolais Association says it's great to see the youth involvement.

"It's very important to see the participation of the youth because they're the future of our breed down the road"

The event kicked off on Wednesday, with 92 youth members from Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Rosso says there are a lot of activities for the participants with a lot of educational components.

The Grain Growers of Canada executive director Kyle Larkin has been on the road this week driving from Winnipeg to Calgary as part of the GGC's Summer Tour.

The tour kicked off on Monday, when he visited Doug Martin's farm at East Selkirk, Manitoba with MP Kevin Lamoureux.

"We discussed a number of issues, including the Capital Gains Tax increase, the carbon tax, potential rail strike. You know, there's a lot of issues out there right now impacting grain farmers and we're just here to raise awareness of them over the summer."

This week's crop report shows the recent heat has really helped to advance the crop.

Dennis Lange, Manitoba's soybean specialist and puts together the weekly crop report and says fall rye is now in the late dough to dry down stage, with harvest potentially beginning in about ten days. Winter wheat is at the hard dough stage with some dry down starting to occur. 

He says when you look at corn, soybean and dry bean crops things have really started to pick up with the heat.

On Tuesday, the Canadian Grain Commission revoked the grain dealer licence of LSM Grain Ltd. in Saskatoon.

Grain farmers in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta may be owed money by this company for grain deliveries.

According to the company's website they handle Organic and Conventional cereals, pulses and oilseeds.

Grain farmers who may be affected could be eligible for compensation through the CGC's Safeguards for Grain Farmers Program. 

The Canadian Grain Commission has finished reviewing producer compensation claims for unpaid deliveries to  Zeghers Seed Inc. (operating as Zeghers Canada).

The company held a grain dealer licence and a primary elevator licence for an elevator located in Holland, Manitoba.

 Producers who were not paid for  grain delivered to Zeghers Seed Inc. will be fully compensated for their eligible claims through the Canadian Grain Commission’s Safeguards for Grain Farmers Program.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada has announced two new projects in Southwest Saskatchewan as part of their effort to protect native Prairie grasslands.

The two parcels of land total 962 acres (389 hectares) in the Rural Municipality of Arlington, located in the eastern part of the Cypress Hills area.

Mike Burak, NCC's natural area manager for southwest Saskatchewan says the land is located northwest of Shaunavon.

The $12-million Challenge, launched in November 2023 in partnership with Impact Canada, uses a staged approach to move innovators through the process of developing and deploying their solutions in the cow-calf, dairy and feedlot sectors. The first stage of the Challenge attracted 86 applications from innovators across Canada and internationally. The 13 semi-finalists' entries span a diverse range of areas including feed additives and related technologies; production efficiencies and animal management systems; and pasture and grazing management approaches.

Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay announced $8.5 million for two projects led by Dairy Farmers of Canada.

“Dairy farms are at the heart of so many communities across the country, and I know just how hard our dairy farmers work to provide us with top-quality products while caring for their animals and the environment. Today’s investment is about giving Dairy Farmers of Canada the support they need to help farmers adopt sustainable practices to lower emissions, and improve the traceability and safety of dairy products.”