(Dave Bedard photo)

Manitoba farmers feel left out on farm policy tour

CNS Canada –– Manitoba has been dropped from an upcoming consulting tour meant to lay the foundation for Canada’s next agricultural policy funding framework. That will limit the province’s producers, the head of an industry group says. The House of Commons’ standing committee on agriculture and agri-food is holding a consulting tour to hear from […] Read more


(Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

PED reappears in southeastern Manitoba

Manitoba has logged its first on-farm case of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) in over three months, in a sow barn in the province’s livestock-intensive southeast. Southeastern Manitoba has been home to all of the province’s nine on-farm outbreaks of PED since the virus first appeared there in February 2014. In the latest case, the provincial […] Read more

Harvest action on the evening of Aug. 28 near Domain, Man., south of Winnipeg. (Shannon VanRaes photo)

Rain expected for Prairies into weekend, next week

CNS Canada — Rain is going to slow weekend harvest progress in parts of the Prairies, though farmers in most areas will still be able to get into their fields, one meteorologist says. But as temperatures drop, some late-maturing crops may have been hit with frost damage. Showers are expected to slow weekend harvest activity […] Read more


(Bruce Fritz photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Manitoba sunflowers take beating from storms

CNS Canada –– Manitoba crops have suffered an array of problems due to unfavourable weather this year, and sunflowers are no exception. “(Sunflower) crops would be looking really good if it wasn’t for the storms that have been rolling through Manitoba over the last few weeks,” said Troy Turner, agronomist with the National Sunflower Association […] Read more

(File photo)

Shallow roots potential concern for Manitoba sunflowers

Commodity News Service Canada – Sunflower crops in Manitoba are generally in good shape for this time of year, but excess moisture in the key growing areas have kept root systems shallow, which could create problems later in the season, according to an industry participant. It’s still relatively early for sunflowers, with diseases usually not setting in until […] Read more


Photo: File/Sharlene Bennie (2014)

Combining begins in drier sections of Western Prairies

Commodity News Service Canada – Producers in southern Alberta have begun to combine some grain and pulses, according to a farm leader. “Down around Lethbridge and south of it, they had pretty decent moisture so they’ve got good crops. Guys are starting to combine winter wheat now and peas,” said Lynn Jacobsen, president of the Alberta […] Read more

Federated Co-operatives builds new fertilizer terminals

Saskatoon, Sask. – Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) has announced it will spend $75 million to build two new state-of-the-art, high-throughput fertilizer terminals in Western Canada. “These are not only investments in agriculture, they are investments in western Canadian communities,” said Scott Banda, CEO of FCL. “The fact that we are building these facilities in a challenging […] Read more


These giant hailstones were found after a storm near Manitou, Man. July 19. Michelle Sanders/Twitter

Hail damage claims skyrocket in Manitoba

Claims already exceed the average for an entire year

Commodity News Service Canada — The massive storms that have steamrolled through parts of Manitoba are causing significantly higher than average hail damage claims, according to the Canadian Crop Hail Association. The association’s most recent hail report said the ratio of claims to policies have soared due to storms on July 4, July 10 and […] Read more

Rainfall for July 13, 2016 as of 6:40 p.m. CT. (CoCoRaHS.org)

Storms trim potential for big Prairie crops

Reuters — Heavy rain and strong winds are likely to curb the potential for Western Canada’s crops, government officials said, but the harvest may still be bigger than average. Pockets across Saskatchewan, Canada’s biggest wheat- and canola-growing province, received as much as five inches of rain, strong winds and hail since Sunday. The storms flattened […] Read more