OrganicManitoba ranch family turns its cover crop into a sunflower u-pick
The Duguids of Arnes, Manitoba, added cut-flower sunflowers to a regenerative grazing cover crop, so the same field now feeds their cattle and draws visitors to u-pick days.
Source
Manitoba Co-operator
Reporting from this source, summarised, rewritten or translated and published under its name · 51 stories
Organic
CropsThirty edible bean lines tested across three provinces and North Dakota for flood, drought and heat
Grower groups, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and North Dakota State University are testing 30 edible bean lines at five sites, irrigated and dry, to find genetics that can survive waterlogging, drought and heat across very different growing regions.
Daily lifeHarvest field suppers: a farm writer on the meals, and memories, at the end gate
In a Manitoba Co-operator column, Joan Mudryk recalls how her mother and mother-in-law fed harvest crews in the field, and why the meal at the end gate matters more than the food.
CropsAs Ottawa steps back from wheat breeding, Canada studies Australia's grower-funded model
With Agriculture Canada pulling out of late-stage variety work, farm groups are weighing Australia's levy-and-match system, the US mix of universities and companies, and Brazil's public Embrapa model.
OpinionYoung farmers need to know the books and the family dynamics to grow the farm, columnist says
In a Manitoba Co-operator column, Janelle Rudolph argues that most farm advice is aimed at the generation that owns the farm, and that successors need to learn the farm's finances, ask why ideas are refused and build their own ties with advisers.
CropsCanada eases durum smudge tolerances and changes lentil grading to cut needless downgrades
New Canadian Grain Commission grading factors for durum, wheat and lentils took effect on 1 August 2026, treating darkened durum kernels as smudge rather than severe midge and raising tolerances, after research showed the discolouration does little harm to pasta quality.
LivestockManitoba funds a dedicated RCMP investigator for cattle theft and fraud
With a 500-pound calf now worth close to $3,000, the province will pay for an RCMP officer focused on livestock crime, a step cattle producers had sought for years.
EnvironmentManitoba's first Net Zero Action Plan keeps $7.6 million for sustainable farming
The plan leans on fertilizer efficiency under the 4R framework and on existing farm programmes, but leaves open whether grain dryers qualify for efficiency support and how rollout will affect farmers.
LivestockUniform weights and vaccination records pay off in online calf sales, study finds
A University of Saskatchewan study of 1,164 feeder calf lots sold online in Western Canada in 2025 found premiums for tight weight ranges, larger lots and documented vaccinations.
CropsPrairie farmers weigh a grower-owned breeding agency as Ottawa steps back from wheat varieties
With Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada narrowing its role to early-stage breeding, the wheat and barley research coalitions have partnered and are considering a farmer-directed agency to keep new varieties coming.
AgrotechHealth Canada proposes letting vertical farms use some greenhouse biopesticides
Canada's vertical farms have no registered pesticides; a Health Canada proposal would let them use certain low-toxicity and microbial products already approved for the same crop and pest in greenhouses.
LivestockSome Canadian dairy farms stop classifying cows, putting bull proofs' accuracy in question
At Lactanet's dairy forum, two large farms said they no longer use type classification, relying on genomics and robot data instead, while a Quebec farmer warned that fewer records could weaken genetic evaluations.
LivestockRopes, boot covers and udder wipes: how swine vets now test whole herds
Manitoba veterinarian Blaine Tully describes low-cost sampling methods, from chew ropes to shoe covers and processing fluids, that let farms test hundreds of pigs for PED, influenza and PRRS by PCR and antibody tests.