The Canadian Wheat Board is already working on a model for converting the single-desk seller of western barley and wheat into an open-market grain company, the Manitoba Co-operator reports. But for this “new entity” to survive the federal government must make major concessions, including assuming CWB employees’ pension liability, CWB chair Allen Oberg said in […] Read more
CWB working on open-market model: MCO
Broadcasting seed only option left for some
Broadcast seeding, the option of last resort, could become the only option left to farmers struggling with wet fields and rainy forecasts. Extension officials don’t recommend the strategy, whether by air or floater, but with time running out, they’re offering their best advice for how to make it work. As of May 25, some farmers […] Read more
Manitoba’s goal to save homes in controlled spill zone
A “controlled spill” from the surging Assiniboine River is now set for sometime Saturday, Emergency Measures Minister Steve Ashton said at Thursday’s flood briefing in Winnipeg. A time had yet to be announced. Meanwhile, the goal is still protect the 150 or so homes in the flood zone before the water arrives, he said. “I […] Read more
Farmers in Manitoba spill zone to be compensated
Farmers flooded by a controlled spill to prevent an uncontrolled blowout of Assiniboine River dikes will be compensated “fairly and swiftly and comprehensively,” according to Agriculture Minister Stan Struthers. “It’s a special case and it will be a special compensation package that we come forward with,” Struthers said in an interview Wednesday. “We need to […] Read more
Possible dike breach looms over Man. vegetable farms
Sandor Arendse can see and hear the big equipment preparing to breach the dike separating him and his family farm from the surging Assiniboine River, but as of Tuesday afternoon he hadn’t had any official word that he could be flooded. “It looks like I’m going to lose my home and my livelihood,” the onion […] Read more
Don’t drive across flooding roads
The only sure way for drivers not to drown when crossing flooded rural roads is not to cross them, says Gordon Giesbrecht, associate dean at the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation. Even if a road isn’t washed out — something drivers can’t see — it takes just 18 inches of water to […] Read more
Man. livestock feed transportation program extended
Manitoba livestock producers now have until the end of this month to get in on a program to help pay to haul feed to their animals, or to haul their animals to feed. The deadline to apply for the transportation component of the Canada-Manitoba Feed and Transportation Assistance Program (CM-FATAP) has been extended to March […] Read more
Man. to rebate hail premiums on drowned-out acres
A group of farmers will get half their Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. (MASC) hail insurance premium refunded on acres enrolled in the Canada-Manitoba Excess Moisture Assistance Program (CMEMAP). “Early in October our (MASC) board agreed we could give back half of the premium for those drowned-out acres,” Craig Thomson, MASC’s vice-president of insurance operations, said […] Read more
Manitoba’s lost-acres cheques in the mail
Cheques to compensate Manitoba farmers for crops lost or unseeded this spring due to excess moisture are on the way. About 900 cheques under the Canada-Manitoba Excess Moisture Assistance Program (CMEMAP) had been mailed as of Aug. 31, according to David Van Deynze, manager of claim services with the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC), which […] Read more
Man. farmers working against June deadlines
The deadline for filing penalty-free excess moisture claims for unseeded acres in Manitoba is June 22. The final deadline, with a penalty of up to $500, is June 30. Farmers who fail to file by June 30 are ineligible for excess moisture coverage, according to Craig Thomson, Manitoba Agricultural Service Corp.’s (MASC) vice-president of insurance […] Read more