Brenna Mahoney, general manager of Keystone Agriculture Producers, speaks during a panel discussion at the Agriculture Enlightened conference in Winnipeg on Oct. 26. (Geralyn Wichers photo)

Think outside the agriculture box for labour, ag and tech leaders say

Agriculture in the Classroom is reaching non-farming students with inspiration for ag jobs, panelists say

Ag and tech leaders encouraged employers to think outside the agricultural box when looking to hire workers in order to expand the labour pool.  “I’m one of the lucky ones,” said Brenna Mahoney, general manager of Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP).  Mahoney entered the industry with no agriculture experience. She had training in human resources and […] Read more

Picketers with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) on strike at Gatineau, Que. on April 20, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

PSAC federal worker strike could hit at grain transport

Prolonged strike could cause grain shipment delays, lead to demurrage costs

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) strike is drawing fire from Canadian agricultural commodity groups — mostly concerned with how grain transportation could be disrupted. The Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association issued a strongly worded press release on Tuesday after striking picketers targeted Vancouver’s Cascadia grain terminal, co-owned by Viterra and Richardson International. “A […] Read more

(Dave Bedard file photo)

Manitoba to consolidate and shut agriculture, MASC offices

Province announces 'new rural service delivery model'

Updated, Jan. 7 — Manitoba’s agriculture and resource development department and crop insurance and ag lending agency will close their offices in 21 communities and consolidate others this spring, in a bid to reduce their “physical footprint.” Agriculture Minister Blaine Pedersen on Wednesday announced what the province billed as “a new rural service delivery model […] Read more

Doug Chorney. (Manitoba Co-operator file photo by Allan Dawson)

Former KAP president promoted at CGC

KAP GM to replace Chorney as CGC's assistant chief

The acting chief commissioner for Canada’s grain handling regulator has formally levelled up to the chief’s role, while the GM of Manitoba’s general farm group replaces him at the second seat. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Monday appointed Doug Chorney — an agricultural engineer and grain and oilseed grower at East Selkirk, Man. — […] Read more

Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Conservative ag critic John Barlow discussed the impact of carbon pricing on farm expenses when Bibeau addressed an agriculture committee meeting on June 10, 2020. (Video screengrabs from Parl.gc.ca)

Carbon pricing not having ‘significant impact’ on grain drying, Bibeau says

Conservatives, ag groups dispute government's numbers

Ottawa — Grain drying costs an average of $210 to $819 per farm in carbon taxes, according to federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. Her department used data provided by grower groups – including Manitoba’s Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) and the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) – to arrive at the figures. The federal estimate […] Read more



Ben Fox. (File photo/Supplied)

Manitoba Beef Producers president steps down

The race to become the federal Conservatives’ candidate in Dauphin has claimed a second Manitoba farm leader. Dauphin-area rancher Ben Fox, president of Manitoba Beef Producers and the District 13 representative on the group’s board, announced Tuesday he had resigned as MBP president to seek a “federal party nomination.” MBP didn’t say which nomination Fox […] Read more

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister, shown here in April 2016. (Dave Bedard photo)

Farm fuel to be exempt from Manitoba carbon tax

Farm fuel will be exempt from a carbon tax, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister said in an interview Thursday on the eve of announcing his government’s Made-in-Manitoba Climate and Green Plan. “It does exempt some farm costs — farm fuel, for example,” he said. “I know we’ll get pushback from some industry groups that are not […] Read more


(Thinkstock photo)

Nitrogen looking cheap across Prairies

CNS Canada — Farmers in Manitoba may be looking to fill up on nitrogen fertilizer this fall as prices reach lows not seen in over a decade. “One retailer I talked to said it was the cheapest nitrogen prices in 15 years,” according to Dan Mazier, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers. Prices also seem to […] Read more

KAP president Dan Mazier.  Photo: File/Shannon VanRaes

Keystone Agricultural Producers defends cash ticket deferrals

Manitoba’s Keystone Agricultural Producers has joined other farm groups in calling on the federal government to keep a regulation that allows farmers to defer grain sales into the following year for tax purposes. The government announced in its recent budget that it is considering eliminating grain ticket deferrals because it is a left over from […] Read more