Livestock producers in Manitoba facing a feed shortage due to dry conditions will be allowed to cut hay and graze animals on Crown land not normally designated for agricultural use. “Pastures and forage crops in parts of Manitoba have been greatly affected by low levels of rain and dry soils this summer,” noted Agriculture Minister… Read more »
Tag: Ralph Eichler
$2.85 million for beef and forage research announced at MBFI Learning Centre grand opening
Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives (MBFI) celebrated the opening of the Learning Centre at its Brookdale Farm north of Brandon on Tuesday. Coinciding with the ceremony, the federal and provincial governments announced $2.85 million to support MBFI’s research over the next five years. MBFI is a partnership between Manitoba Agriculture, Manitoba Beef Producers, Ducks Unlimited… Read more »
Fuel for heating barns and drying grain to be exempt from Manitoba carbon tax
The Manitoba government has decided it will not apply a carbon tax to fuels used for heating or cooling barns and greenhouses or to run grain dryers — an exemption that was not announced when the Pallister government rolled out its carbon pricing plan last fall. The province originally said farm diesel and gasoline would… Read more »
Simplot announces $460 million potato plant expansion at Portage la Prairie
Simplot announced a $460 million expansion of its potato processing facility at Portage la Prairie, Man. on Wednesday. Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister and Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler were on hand with J.R. Simplot CEO Bill Whitacre to announce the investment, an expansion that will add nearly 100 jobs to the facility. “Manitoba delivers in so… Read more »
Manitoba PCs introduce new watershed legislation
Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative government introduced new legislation on Thursday aimed at protecting wetlands, while simplifying minor drainage maintenance. The Sustainable Watersheds Act also lays the foundation for an ecological goods and services program that would see farmers receive incentives for implementing best management practices that are in the public good, such as grassland and wetland… Read more »
Manitoba ag minister on carbon tax: “If we say no, we’ll get Trudeau”
Despite major concerns from the farm community, Manitoba’s agriculture minister says the provincial government was left with no choice but to move forward with implementing a carbon tax. “If we say no, then we’ll get Trudeau,” says Ralph Eichler in the interview below, referring to the Prime Minister’s national carbon price mandate. Eichler joined us… Read more »
U of M dairy research receives $1.4 million in gov’t funding
Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Manitoba Minister of Agriculture Ralph Eichler were at the University of Manitoba’s Glenlea Research Station south of Winnipeg on Wednesday to announce more than $1.4 million in funding for dairy research. The investment will go towards animal nutrition, health, and welfare research, as well as well as to aid… Read more »
Manitoba Farm Building Code Changes To Make it Easier to Build New Barns
Manitoba’s new government is planning to remove what it calls “impractical and costly” regulations to make it easier to build barns and farm buildings and bring the province’s farm building code in line with rules in other Western Canadian provinces. Speaking at Keystone Ag Producers’ annual meeting in Winnipeg last week, Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler announced… Read more »
Research Funding Aimed at Making Economic Connections Between Food and Health
The federal and Manitoba governments are committing $1.3 million to purchase equipment and conduct economic research looking at links between food, health, and potential savings in the public healthcare system. Manitoba Ag Minister Ralph Eichler and MP Dan Vandal on Thursday announced $1 million in federal/provincial funding to purchase a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imager… Read more »
Ralph Eichler Becomes Manitoba’s Minister of Agriculture
A former cattle producer and owner of a livestock handling equipment business has been tapped to serve as minister of agriculture in the Manitoba’s new Progressive Conservative government. Ralph Eichler, MLA for the riding of Lakeside in the south Interlake, was sworn in along with his colleagues in Premier Brian Pallister’s cabinet on Tuesday morning… Read more »