Articles by Shannon VanRaes | Alberta Farmer Express

Cover crops can get cattle back onto cropland — where they belong, according to one soil health specialist.

Cover crops ‘essential’ to in-field grazing

Producers need to more closely mimic nature to avoid long-term soil health issues, says USDA conservationist

By Shannon VanRaes January 12, 2018

Got cows? On your cropland? Jay Fuhrer certainly hopes so. The soil health specialist believes cropland and large ruminants are a natural fit. He advocates turning animals out of the barn and onto the land whenever possible. “Soils, plants, and animals evolved together,” he said at the recent Dairy Farmers of Manitoba conference. “And we […] Read more

Dairy Cattle, Livestock

Talk to family, friends about farming

By Shannon VanRaes December 20, 2017

This holiday season Melodie Chan wants producers to avoid what she calls the “spiral of silence,” which can happen around the dinner table, over beers or even in the gentle lull between turkey and pie if farmers don’t speak up when they hear misinformation about agriculture. “What are we afraid of?” asked Chan, speaking at […] Read more

Former European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and former prime minister Stephen Harper were all smiles after signing multibillion-dollar trade deal in Brussels in October 2013. But its potential impact is still being gauged.

News

CETA a household word on Canadian farms, in Europe not so much

Trade deal is a ‘non-story’ on the other side of  the Atlantic

By Shannon VanRaes March 28, 2016

The man on the other end of the phone is confused. “I have not heard of this before,” Marek Nowak says slowly. “I am of no help for this.” He’s been asked about the impact the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement — commonly called CETA — might have on Polish dairy farmers such as himself. […] Read more

News, Pulses

VIDEO: Cooking up good things with pulses

Canned chickpea water substitutes for egg whites in making macarons

By Shannon VanRaes January 8, 2016

While Canada grows copious amounts of pulses, most are exported. Chefs Geoffroy Dextraze and Chef Chris Kopp of Winnipeg’s Prairie Ink Restaurant and Bakery share their experiences developing new pulse recipes for the provincial launch of the International Year of Pulses. The event was put on by the Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers and attended by […] Read more

News

VIDEO: Resettling refugee families in rural Manitoba

By Greg Berg, Shannon VanRaes December 23, 2015

Rural communities in many parts of the Prairies have joined the effort to alleviate the plight of refugees escaping war-torn Syria. Small Manitoba towns such as Altona, Winkler and Morden are doing their part to make room by welcoming seven Syrian families – a total of 45 people – into their communities. The area has a […] Read more

Lawrence MacAulay sworn in as Canada’s new agriculture minister

By Shannon VanRaes November 5, 2015

Ottawa/Manitoba Co-operator – Only hours after being sworn in by Governor General David Johnston and mere minutes after leaving his first cabinet meeting, Canada’s newly minted Minister of Agriculture paused to speak with reporters gathered on Parliament Hill Nov. 3. “I’m certainly pleased,” said Lawrence MacAulay. “Being a dairy farmer and a seed potato farmer […] Read more

Dairy Cattle, Livestock, Markets, Poultry/Eggs

TPP not the death of supply management, N.Z. trade chief says

By Shannon VanRaes October 15, 2015

Hamilton, N.Z. | MCO — Canada’s supply-managed sectors should not worry about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, from where New Zealand’s Trade Minister Tim Groser sits. “I can understand why producer groups would wish to perceive this in a different way, but this is not the end of supply management,” he said here Thursday. “I don’t think […] Read more

Dairy Cattle, Livestock, Markets, Poultry/Eggs

VanRaes: TPP deal seen shrinking supply-managed markets

By Shannon VanRaes October 5, 2015

CORRECTION, Oct. 7: Canada’s supply managed sectors can expect to lose $4.3 billion to foreign interests in the 15 years following the implementation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. After years of negotiations, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S. and Vietnam reached an agreement Monday morning, which includes granting access […] Read more

Gerry Ritz says he’s ready to use regulations to ensure railways — which charge for rail cars not loaded on time — have to pay when cars aren’t delivered on time.

Crops, News

Group calls for sweeping changes to curb railways’ ‘monopolistic behaviour’

Crops Logistics Working Group wants penalties for not delivering rail cars and meaningful sharing of data

By Shannon VanRaes August 12, 2015

Ongoing assessment and better protection for small shippers are two ways to fix the grain transportation system. Those are two of eight recommendations made by the Crop Logistics Working Group as part of a review of the Canada Transportation Act. More on the Alberta Farmer: Eight fixes for an ailing grain shipping system The working group […] Read more

Crops, News

Eight fixes for an ailing grain shipping system

By Shannon VanRaes August 12, 2015

Here are excerpts from the Crop Logistics Working Group (CLWG) on its eight recommendations to improve the grain-handling and transportation system. The full report can be found here. Recommendation 1: Enhance Transparency in the Rail Market CLWG members request that the government encourage CN and CP to accurately report car order fulfilment data in a […] Read more

ICE weekly outlook: Canola stronger after Canada Day

Ontario investigating 17 temp agencies after virus outbreaks on farms

U.S. grains: Corn pauses after fund buying spree, watches weather

GFM Network News