Shared challenges
Commodity cycle
Young farmers of all types have some similar hurdles to clear » PG 3
AGT says the cyclical nature of the business means some ups and downs » PG 18
SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | Vol. 76, No. 6 | $1.75
February 8, 2018
Not farming? Pay up Researcher wants to track land tenure throughout the Prairies
manitobacooperator.ca
Erosion lessons learned... and forgotten The dust-covered snow of this winter suggests there’s a soil erosion problem brewing, MSSS speaker says
BY LORRAINE STEVENSON Co-operator staff / Winnipeg
T
o keep more farmland in the hands of farmers, put a levy on sales of it to those who buy land but don’t plan farming it themselves. That’s a proposal put forward as a resolution at Keystone Agricultural Producers’ annual general meeting and supported by delegates last month. This would be a support to younger farmers who find land prices rising beyond what they can afford and find themselves outbid by outside investors with See LANDOWNERS on page 7 »
A combination of snow covered in dirt is colloquially known as “snirt” and it’s a common sight around Manitoba this year, including here, east of Winkler. PHOTO: LORRAINE STEVENSON
BY ALLAN DAWSON
Publication Mail Agreement 40069240
Co-operator staff
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isappearing shelterbelts and blackened fields have some wondering if the soil conservation lessons learned during the ‘Dirty ’30s’ dust bowl are being forgotten. “From the edge of Fargo to the edge of Winnipeg I did not see one flake of white snow on my way up yesterday (Jan. 31),” Daryl Ritchison, interim director of the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network at North Dakota State University told the Manitoba Soil Sci-
ence Society’s 61st annual meeting in Winnipeg Feb. 1. “It was all greyscale.” The little bit of snow in the ditches was covered by soil blown from fields. “There is a risk that we are forgetting some of the lessons of the 1930s,” Jim Tokarchuk, executive director of the Soil Conservation Council of Canada told the meeting. “I think anecdotally we are all seeing changes in how we are treating land. There is less covering. I see that. I drive across the Prairies four or five times a year. There’s more tillage for some reason.” In an interview later Tokarchuk T:10.25” warned against complacency.
“Let’s make sure we use the lessons of the past,” he said. More research is needed on why there’s more tillage and the economic and agronomic impact, he said.
Important challenge With the world’s population projected to double to nine billion by 2050, the demand for food will increase, putting even more pressure on fragile soils. Presumably shelterbelts are being removed because they are dead or dySee EROSION on page 6 »
T:3”
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