Sunflower frustration
Heritage brewing
So far the sunflower crop is holding its own » PG 21
Farmery brewer showcases older malt varieties » PG 19
SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | Vol. 74, No. 34 | $1.75
August 25, 2016
Another record for insured plantings of soybeans in Manitoba A prediction that soybeans could challenge canola for top spot doesn’t look so far fetched now
manitobacooperator.ca
Bringing a community together for a cause In its eighth year, the Killarney Grow Project has seen tremendous community support for its Canadian Foodgrains Bank efforts
BY ALLAN DAWSON Co-operator staff
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n 2013, grain market analyst Bruce Burnett predicted in five years Manitoba farmers would be planting just as many soybeans as canola. Back then just over a million acres of soybeans were planted, while canola acres were around three million acres, making it Manitoba’s highest-acreage crop. The intentionally provocative forecast was made to underscore how the combination of a warmer climate, improved soybean varieties and favourable returns can influence farmers’ planting decisions. But new soybean-planting records have been set every year since, including 2016, making Burnett’s prognostication less rhetorical and perhaps even possible. The Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation’s (MASC) latest data — part of an annual report of variety and crop market share issued in late summer every year
Local resident, Brian Archibald, captured a number of drone images of the Killarney Grow Project’s harvest day action. Photo: Brian Archibald
BY JENNIFER PAIGE See SOYBEANS on page 6 »
Co-operator staff / Brandon
Publication Mail Agreement 40069240
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Killarney charity project has resulted in a show of neighbourliness that will stretch around the globe. The occasion was the harvest of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) Killarney Grow Project, and it wound up being a display that impressed even the organizers. “It is amazing how the community came together. For the three swather operators to work until 10 p.m. to get their job done and then 20 combines to show up the following day, and have 200 people come to witness it, it was just overwhelming. We couldn’t do it without their support,” said Betty Turner, project board member and Killarney-area producer.
Fo r t h e p a s t e i g h t y e a r s t h e Killarney Grow Project has rented a piece of land, grown and harvested a crop all through volunteer labour and donation, and then donated the proceeds to the CFGB. “This will be year No. 8 that we have been involved in this and it kind of started off on my father’s land,” said Myron Peters, project field manager. “ We had a quarter section and he had retired from far ming and wanted to get this project up and running again. So, a small committee was formed. The first year we had maybe five combines out there and it has just grown every year.” This year, the CFGB Killarney Grow Project held its harvest event on Aug. 6 and saw a record number of participants. “This project is just a great way to
help people in need and bring the community together, because there are so many aspects of putting the crop in that different people can be involved in,” Peters said. At the event, 20 modern combines and one vintage 1957 model 35 Massey Harris, harvested 140 acres of Emerson winter wheat. With four grain carts and five semi trucks, the wheat quickly made its way to a neighbouring storage bin where it will rest until sale. “There were a ton of volunteers involved from start to finish. You could never do a project this size by yourself,” Turner said. “It was really fun and at the same time really moving.” The greater community of Killarney and area also played a See GROW PROJECT on page 7 »
Rolling soybeans: A source of both compaction and erosion » PG 18