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Manitoba’s sheep numbers are growing quickly » PG 15 Don’t miss it! July 18-20, 2017 www.aginmotion.ca

SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | Vol. 75, No. 25 | $1.75

June 22, 2017

Pork sector calls for washing station changes

manitobacooperator.ca

Newdale sign tells the story of Manitoba’s official soil

Manitoba Pork argues a return to domestic wash stations will allow greater control over variables that might contribute to the spread of PEDv BY ALEXIS STOCKFORD Co-operator staff

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anitoba Pork wants to see the return of Canadian-based wash stations for hog transport trailers coming back from the United States. If implemented, it would be an echo of a 2014 pilot project, one of several emergency measures by the pork sector following the first Canadian outbreaks. News of the virus’s spread to Canada in 2014 was met with a flurry of activity as the industry rushed to avoid the devastating losses seen in the United States. In 2013 and 2014, PEDv had killed millions of pigs in the U.S. and was said to increase pork prices as U.S. supply ran thin. By the time the virus had spread across the border, Canada’s pork industry had clamped down on biosecurity and expanded re-

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See Manitoba Pork on page 6 »

A committee in the village worked alongside soil scientists and others to see signs developed and placed in and around the southwestern Manitoba village. They tell the story of the province’s official soil and the farm community it’s named after BY LORRAINE STEVENSON Co-operator staff / Newdale

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ewdale’s name is officially a “dirt-y” word and those living and farming here are proud of it. This past weekend local farm families and townsfolk unveiled a large sign on its Main Street showing how their community shares its name with the province’s official soil. The celebration comes precisely seven years to the day since Manitoba gave royal assent and declared Newdale Clay Loam its provincial soil on June 17, 2010. Three large signs, including one on the village’s Main Street, depict Newdale soil’s colourful layers, explain how this soil formed over thousands of years, and describe the soil type’s characteristics. The signs also tell some of the story of Newdale itself, with a yesteryear photo of its Main Street and historical information about its settlement and ties to that soil. “This recognition is about community as much as it is about the soil itself,” said provincial Minister of Agriculture Ralph Eichler who congratulated the community for its work to raise the profile of both a rural community and the provincial soil. “You take great pride in this. I would like to commend the community of Newdale for its support and excitement in promoting the importance of our provincial soil.” Talk in Newdale began almost immediately after 2010 that their town should find a way to link their name to the provincial soil and use it as a way to educate the public about soil, said local farmer Bruce Dalgarno.

Minister of Agriculture Ralph Eichler, (r) and Minister of Growth, Trade and Enterprise Cliff Cullen unveil the new Newdale Soils sign on Main Street in Newdale June 17.   PHOTOs: LORRAINE STEVENSON

“ We wanted something that people driving by could look at, and could easi l y u n d e r s t a n d h ow t h i s soil was formed over the last 10,000 years and could relate to why this is the official soil,” said Dalgarno, who began to champion the idea in earnest in 2015, which the United Nations declared International Year of the Soil. A local committee was formed and worked with provincial soil scientists, about $12,500 funds were raised and the signs made, culminating in a celebration here this past Saturday. Among the numerous soil scientists and visiting dignitaries in Newdale last weekend was Elaine Gauer, land

use specialist with Manitoba Agriculture and a past president of the Manitoba Soil Scientists Society (MSSS). She’s widely credited among colleagues for getting the ball rolling years ago towards declaring a provincial soil declaration. Gauer said she was delighted to see Newdale do this. They found a way to tell both their own story while teaching more people about importance of soil, she said. “Soils in general are important to the Manitoba Soil Science Society, of course, but to actually have the whole community behind it and to acknowledge it is just wonderful,” she said. It was the ear of Cliff Cullen

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(PC-Spruce Woods), now minister of growth enterprise and trade, that Gauer first bent about declaring a provincial soil some years back. Cullen was also in Newdale last weekend and described some of the political machinations his private member’s bill had to go through before the province would agree to go forward. “We had to work at it but we did get it done,” he said, noting the bill even died on the order paper in 2008. Two years and much more discussion later, it was given royal assent. Newdale Clay Loam was chosen after sifting through a huge selection of hundreds of types of soils in Manitoba, See Newdale on page 6 »

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