Unfortunate example Manitoba farmer says his tragic tale should be a lesson to older farmers to think safety and take simple precautions
Reading Time: 3 minutes Roy Vust suspects it was his foot slipping off the clutch that probably caused the tractor he was driving to rear up and tip over backwards. But he’s certain that if his Allis Chalmers D19 had a rollover protection structure on it, he wouldn’t have been pinned between the tractor and the 10-foot Woods mower […] Read moreRisk of a serious farming accident soars in the golden years
Expert says climate change will warm the Prairies — and that’s bad news
Hotter University of Winnipeg geography professor predicts weeks of plus 30 C summer days
Reading Time: 2 minutes Hurricane Sandy and the devastating Midwest drought have convinced many Americans that climate change is real, and Prairie residents may soon have reason to feel likewise, says a University of Winnipeg geography professor. “We are in climate change central in this part of North America,” Danny Blair said in a recent presentation to Ag Days, […] Read moreDeaths in farm workplace decline
Hazardous profession In the past two decades, nearly 2,000 people have died in farm ‘accidents’ — although experts say virtually all are preventable
Reading Time: 2 minutes The number of fatalities is falling on Canadian farms, but the statistics are far from good. The average number of deaths on farms has fallen to 89 annually since 2000, compared to 118 annually throughout the 1990s, according to the latest Canadian Agricultural Injury Report. No deaths is the only acceptable number, but the decline […] Read moreIrradiating ground beef a decade-old hot potato
Staff with Canada’s cattle producer body once thought it would be just a matter of time before Canadian food companies would get the green light to start irradiating ground beef. That was a decade ago, when the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association submitted a petition to Health Canada seeking regulatory approval for use of irradiation as another […] Read more
Fear of consumer backlash keeps irradiated beef off the shelf
Still waiting Canadian cattle producers applied 10 years ago asking for ground beef to be irradiated
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association once thought it would be just a matter of time before Canadian food companies would get the green light to start irradiating ground beef. That was a decade go, when the CCA submitted a petition to Health Canada seeking regulatory approval for use of irradiation as another tool to reduce pathogens […] Read moreGood marketing means fully engaging customers
Edu-tainment On-farm customers don’t just want products — they want to learn about them and how they were produced
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sparse population and long distance on the Prairies don’t mean there aren’t good opportunities for selling direct from your farm, says the president of the North American Direct Farm Marketing Association (NADFMA). “It’s about being really good at marketing and understanding your customer,” Kerry Engel, told a recent conference here. “It’s all about having a […] Read moreFarmers urged to adopt written safety plans
Reading Time: 3 minutes In a Farm Credit Canada survey, 85 per cent of respondents said safety is a priority on their farm, but the same survey found those good intentions don’t always translate into good practices. Nearly two-thirds of the 1,000 farmers surveyed continue to work even when overly tired and similar number don’t go for regular medical […] Read more
Marketing campaign to promote Prairie-grown fruits
Customers at Prairie U-picks and fruit stands this summer may spot colourful reminders about why they’re buying those raspberries, strawberries and other locally grown fruits. Manitoba’s Prairie Fruit Growers Association has launched a new branding program in a joint venture with like-minded grower groups in Saskatchewan and Alberta. "It’s the Taste" is the slogan growers […] Read more
Farmers head to school for Agricultural Literacy Week
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s often said farmers speak their own language, but schoolkids in nine provinces might soon understand it a little better thanks to Canadian Agricultural Literacy Week. Hundreds of farmers will be going back to school Feb. 26 to March 3 to talk to children and read from selected books telling stories about food and farming […] Read more
Farmers head to school for Ag Literacy Week
It’s often said farmers speak their own language, but schoolkids in nine provinces might soon understand it a little better thanks to Canadian Agricultural Literacy Week. Hundreds of farmers will be going back to school Feb. 26 to March 3 to talk to children and read from selected books telling stories about food and farming […] Read more
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