Agriculture – The Carillon

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Scott Kehler, meteorologist, president and chief scientist of Weatherlogics.

El Niño, La Niña, and the 2025 Forecast: what farmers can expect this season

Lori Penner 6 minute read Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025

Every farmer wishes they had a crystal ball to predict what Manitoba’s growing season will bring. Will it be another dry year, or will mud-slicked fields make seeding a challenge? While no one can see the future, there is one global weather phenomenon that offers valuable clues for long-range forecasting - and it’s shaping predictions for the 2025 crop season.

Scott Kehler, meteorologist, president and chief scientist of Weatherlogics, has spent years analyzing weather patterns and developing forecasting tools to help farmers and industry professionals prepare for whatever Mother Nature has in store.

With a bachelor’s and master’s degree in meteorology from the University of Manitoba, Kehler specializes in weather research, improving prediction methods, and analyzing past climate events. Despite his focus on research, he remains passionate about day-to-day forecasting, particularly for high-impact weather events.

During his presentation at St Jean Farm Days in January, Kehler shed light on two significant climate patterns - El Niño and La Niña - and how they consistently shape winter weather trends across North America.

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Battling the bugs: Manitoba’s top 10 insect concerns of 2024

Lori Penner 5 minute read Preview

Battling the bugs: Manitoba’s top 10 insect concerns of 2024

Lori Penner 5 minute read Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025

Insects troubling to farmers haven’t changed much since 2024, but at St Jean Farm Days, Manitoba Agriculture entomologist John Gavloski shared which critters to watch for, which have made it back on the annual top 10 list and which one is no longer considered a top threat.

As someone who has monitored agricultural pests for decades, Gavloski provides invaluable insights to farmers, agronomists, and those working in agriculture.

“It’s a similar list to last year’s,” Gavloski noted. “The main difference is that Bertha armyworm made it back on the list, replacing diamondback moths, which weren’t as much of an issue this year.”

While some insect populations have declined, others have surged, demanding vigilance from Manitoba’s producers. Here’s a breakdown of the most concerning pests of 2024.

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Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025

LORI PENNER THE CARILLON

John Gavloski, an entomologist with Manitoba Agriculture, recently shared his annual list of the top 10 insect concerns affecting Manitoba’s crops in 2024.

Annual ag show draws hundreds to St. Jean

Lori Penner 5 minute read Preview

Annual ag show draws hundreds to St. Jean

Lori Penner 5 minute read Monday, Feb. 24, 2025

For nearly four decades, the community of St Jean-Baptiste has been the place for “Canada’s Biggest Little Farm Show.” Now in its 38th year, St Jean Farm Days is still going strong.

The annual event drew hundreds of local producers and exhibitors to the Centennial Hall on Jan. 8 and 9, to connect with other farmers, ag specialists, and dealers from across the region.

Once again, visitors enjoyed the same great food that Farm Days is known for, including a continental breakfast and homemade cuisine featuring the region’s signature pea soup and open-faced sandwiches. This year, however, marked a significant change as the Knights of Columbus, who have prepared and served the food at Farm Days for 37 years, stepped down.

Gilbert Sabourin, who heads up the organizing committee along with Brunel Sabourin, Jennifer Sabourin, and Wayne Klassen, explained the transition. “Our parents were a part of the original Farm Days, and we’ve stepped up over the last few years. The average age of the Knights was getting up there. A lot of them moved away from town, so they disbanded the group last summer. This was their main fundraiser all those years. Anything they made went right back into the community, so it’s kind of the end of an era.”

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Monday, Feb. 24, 2025

LORI PENNER THE CARILLON

Farm Days gave producers and ag specialists a chance to share information about everything from equipment and chemicals, to seed and crop insurance.

Harry Siemens: A voice for farmers, a legacy of integrity

Lori Penner 6 minute read Preview

Harry Siemens: A voice for farmers, a legacy of integrity

Lori Penner 6 minute read Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025

For more than five decades, veteran broadcaster and agricultural journalist Harry Siemens has been a voice for farmers, ensuring their stories are told with fairness, accuracy, and integrity.

His dedication to journalism and advocacy was recently recognized with the King Charles III Coronation Medal, an honour presented through the office of Senator Don Plett.

The award acknowledges Siemens’ lifetime of contributions to agricultural journalism and his tireless efforts to bring news and information to the farming community.

The Winkler based Siemens, who began his broadcasting career in 1971, was both surprised and humbled by the recognition. “I got this letter from Senator Don Plett’s office, saying I was given this award for my dedication and service.”

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Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025

LORI PENNER THE CARILLON

Relaxing after leading the invocation at Farm Days in St. Jean.

Sundown farmer wins watershed district award for rotational grazing, cover crops

Svjetlana Mlinarevic 4 minute read Preview

Sundown farmer wins watershed district award for rotational grazing, cover crops

Svjetlana Mlinarevic 4 minute read Friday, Feb. 21, 2025

Sundown area farmers Randy and Joyska Tkachyk have been practicing regenerative agriculture sporadically for 15 years and intensively for the past four years. Because of their passion for responsible farming and eagerness to protect the environment, they have won the Manitoba Watershed Association’s Seine Rat Roseau Watershed District Award for regenerative agricultural practices on their beef farm.

“(They’re) really big into regenerative agriculture and Randy is also open and willing to have people come to his farm to see what he is doing and showing them exactly what it looks like and what you can do in your (farm),” said SRRWD district manager Joey Pankiw.

Tkachyk has a YouTube channel called Life on a Manitoba Farm where he shares his farming experiences.

Tkachyk said he was honoured by the award and that it is only a recognition, but that it’s more rewarding to see the results on the farm and what the outcomes are for the future.

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Friday, Feb. 21, 2025

SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC THE CARILLON
Randy and Joyska Tkachyk hold their award for the Seine Rat Roseau Watershed District Award from the Manitoba Association of Watersheds. The Tkachyks grow grass and ground cover for their cattle and practice rotational grazing in paddocks on their farm.

Seminar on regenerative agriculture held for local farmers

Svjetlana Mlinarevic 5 minute read Preview

Seminar on regenerative agriculture held for local farmers

Svjetlana Mlinarevic 5 minute read Friday, Feb. 21, 2025

The Seine Rat Roseau Watershed District held a regenerative agriculture seminar on Feb. 6 where farmers were informed about the benefits of this form of food production.

“We’re using agriculture practices that are working with nature,” said Virginia Janzen, regenerative agriculture program coordinator with the SRRWD. “So, we’ve seen that improved soil health: so the structure of the soil, what’s living in the soil, the different cycles of the soil.

“As the watershed (district) we’re really interested in observing and learning about how regenerative agriculture practices helps with water infiltration. So, keeping the water going down the soil profile rather than running off and then carrying nutrients and soil with it into our streams and rivers.”

The keynote speaker was Garry Richards who runs a cattle farm in Bangor, Saskatchewan. He’s been farming since 2000 and practicing regenerative agriculture since 2003.

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Friday, Feb. 21, 2025

SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC THE CARILLON
Garry Richards, from Bangor, Saskatchewan, talks about his regenrative agricultural practices during the third annual ReGen Ag Day by the Siene Rat Roseau Watershed District and ALUS Canada at the Friedensfeld Hall on Feb. 6, 2025. Richards has been practicing regenerative agriculture for 20 years.

Kismet Creek Farm to close after almost eight years

Svjetlana Mlinarevic 3 minute read Preview

Kismet Creek Farm to close after almost eight years

Svjetlana Mlinarevic 3 minute read Friday, Feb. 21, 2025

Kismet Creek Farm is closing its doors after almost eight years in operation. The farm located south of Friedensfeld and east of Highway 12 is closing its doors due to the lingering financial effects of COVID, from which it was not able to recover.

“Ever since COVID – and we weren’t allowed to be open in the summers during the highest point (of the pandemic) – it’s been a struggle just to try and get back to those numbers of people…I’m still feeling the pain of (those) times, and even with the last lovely fall that we had, with nice mild temperatures, not that many people showed up,” said owner Karl Schoenrock.

“We tried different things to draw people’s attention…If people don’t come I can’t keep going. I’ve never drawn a wage from the farm. Everything here has been just for the animals, for people to come and enjoy, and for families to enjoy, and sadly I can’t keep going if people aren’t coming.”

The 80-acre property has been in the Schoenrock family for decades and has been operating as a farm for more than a century. Prior to becoming a farm sanctuary, the property was used as a dairy farm and later for free-range beef cattle. When Schoenrock’s father told him he was looking to sell the farm, Karl decided to buy it.

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Friday, Feb. 21, 2025

SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC CARILLON ARCHIVES
Kismet Creek Farm owner Karl Schoenrock holds Faith the baby goat on June 24, 2023. The petting zoo and sanctuary held its first fundraiser to raise money to operate. It's takes about $30,000 annually to run the farm.

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How Manitoba farmers can navigate profit challenges in 2025

Lori Penner 5 minute read Preview

How Manitoba farmers can navigate profit challenges in 2025

Lori Penner 5 minute read Friday, Feb. 21, 2025

As Manitoba farmers gear up for the 2025 growing season, economic pressures remain a significant concern. Darren Bond, a Farm Management Specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, recently shared insights and strategies to help producers manage costs, navigate market challenges, and turn a profit despite an ongoing cost-price squeeze.

Bond, who specializes in crop production costs, risk management, and farmland rental, emphasizes that every agronomic decision must also account for economic costs and benefits.

“At the end of the day, farming is a business,” he says. “Making informed decisions based on accurate cost and revenue projections is crucial for success.”

The cost-price squeeze in 2025

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Friday, Feb. 21, 2025

LORI PENNER THE CARILLON

Farm Management Specialist Darren Bond at the recent Farm Days event in St Jean Baptiste, where he shared tips on how to make informed decisions that will lead to profits on the farm.

Cultivating success: mentorship program nurtures new generation of farmers

Lori Penner 5 minute read Preview

Cultivating success: mentorship program nurtures new generation of farmers

Lori Penner 5 minute read Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024

Since 2015, the Young Agrarians Business Mentorship Network (BMN) has been a cornerstone in supporting new and young farmers. The program helps them develop the skills, knowledge, and confidence needed to manage their farm businesses by pairing them with experienced farm owners in their sector.

BMN began in British Columbia 11 years ago.

“The original idea started when we were seeing new farmers with a passion for the production and lifestyle. They were excited about contributing to the food security in their communities, but there was a gap in their business knowledge, particularly in British Columbia, where there wasn’t the same family farm generational model, and there were a lot of new people coming into farming,” says Melanie Buffel, Business Mentorship Network Manager for the Young Agrarians Foundation.

BMN expanded in 2022 to include Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. To date, the program has worked with 163 farmers on 118 farms, pairing them with 75 mentors. During their mentorship year, mentees reported impressive results: an average increase in revenues of 87 percent, a 65 percent increase in the volume of food produced, and a 42 percent increase in land production.

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Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024

YOUNG AGRARIANS BUSINESS MENTORSHIP NETWORK
Promotional campaigns featuring those who benefitted from the program are helping draw others.

COLUMN: Carillon Flashback February 24, 1993 – Bovine beauties featured on newest collector cards

Wes Keating 4 minute read Preview

COLUMN: Carillon Flashback February 24, 1993 – Bovine beauties featured on newest collector cards

Wes Keating 4 minute read Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024

Collecting celebrity sports cards has spanned generations and amassed more than a few fortunes for owners who had long-forgotten the cardboard ducats they hoarded as youngsters.

The fad of collecting cards has by no means been restricted to sports, but enjoys considerable popularity by comic book and automobile enthusiasts, movie buffs and country music fans as well. All in all, card collecting is serious business.

So why is it when talk turns to a new series of dairy cards, the temptation is to ask whether the set will include Moo-reese Richard, Tee-Moo Selanne, Randy Cow-lyle or Mario La-Moo?

Cattle-Lyne is the brainchild of Friedensfeld-area milk producer Wayne Fuchs, who expects the cards to be a hit with both the dairy farmers of the future and their classmates at school.

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Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024

CARILLON ARCHIVES

The idea of bovine trading cards has sparked national interest and a CBC television camera was on hand to film the first run of Cattle Lyne cards coming off the press at Derksen Printers.

Career opportunities focus of Amazing Ag Adventure

Wes Keating 7 minute read Preview

Career opportunities focus of Amazing Ag Adventure

Wes Keating 7 minute read Monday, Nov. 18, 2024

Dozens of high school students, at Agriculture in the Classroom’s Amazing Agriculture Adventure for the first time, learned that whatever their career choice for the future, they are likely to find it in some way connected to agriculture.

This year’s Amazing Agriculture Adventure again featured 10 interactive stations, giving elementary students a close-up view of different phases of agriculture from honey bees to beef, but added to the event for the first time, was a high school component.

High school students also toured the five stations at the Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre and then moved on to the Manitoba Dairy Farmers dairy barn and outdoor stations, including one featuring beef. For the older students, volunteer presenters concentrated on the various agriculture careers involved, as well as providing details about raising livestock, protecting the environment and caring for animals.

The veterinary, dairy, beef and watershed stations helped students gain an understanding of how animals are cared for, how agriculture plays a role in their daily life, and how they could one day be part of an exciting career in agriculture.

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Monday, Nov. 18, 2024

WES KEATING THE CARILLON

Katharine Cherewyk, Executive Director of AITC-M and Carson Callum, General Manager of Manitoba Beef Producers and AITC-M Board Member, with Clover the life-sized beef calving model at this year’s Amazing Agriculture Adventure.

Trout fishing great on Ridgeland Colony

Wes Keating 7 minute read Preview

Trout fishing great on Ridgeland Colony

Wes Keating 7 minute read Monday, Nov. 18, 2024

Peter Waldner goes fishing every Tuesday, and if you make arrangements ahead of time, you will be able to get a taste of the freshest trout you will ever put in the frying pan. That is, of course, unless you catch it yourself.

Waldner, and a staff of five to 10, spend Tuesdays processing the weekly harvest of steelhead trout at the Colony’s “fish farm”, which began in a converted hog barn some 23 years ago, and more recently moved into a new state-of-the-art facility at the Ridgeland Colony, just off Highway 12, six miles north of the Trans-Canada Highway.

Peter Waldner is a willing tour guide for the new aqua-farming facility, but because bio-security comes along with all the bells and whistles, visitors get a birds’ eye view of operation from behind the glass of a second-level viewing room. Aqua-farming is nothing new for the Ridgeland Colony and it was more than two decades ago that fish were added to a long list of agricultural enterprises, which included dairy, pigs, poultry layers and honey bees. There is also Ridgeland Manufacturing, which today uses laser cutting and welding, to create a variety of parts for agricultural equipment.

Innovation and diversity are the order of the day at Ridgeland and the next enterprise being considered, according to Peter Waldner, will be the processing of fish byproducts by composting heads and bones left behind when the steelhead trout are filleted for market.

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Monday, Nov. 18, 2024

RIDGELAND COLONY PHOTO

A maze of pipes supply food and oxygen, as well as remove waste and recycle the water in the advanced rearing tanks at Ridgeland Aqua Farms.

Farming: A bigger learning curve than it used to be

Lori Penner 5 minute read Preview

Farming: A bigger learning curve than it used to be

Lori Penner 5 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024

A hundred years ago, farmers were still using horses to get their work done. It’s hard to imagine that, when you see today’s fields, packed with high-tech machinery and computers doing the navigating instead of the farmer’s seasoned eye.

Over the past century, agriculture has hit some major milestones, from commercial fertilizers and hybrid corn to GMOs. But the real game-changer has been the evolution of tractors and implements.

Nowadays, precision is everything. Each seed is planted at just the right distance and depth, with sensors on every row keeping track and sending updates to the cab. If something’s off, the farmer knows right away. Planters use pneumatic downforce to keep the pressure just right, adjusting on the fly based on how firm the ground is.

Spraying tech has also come a long way. Modern sprayers can shut off row by row to avoid over spraying and can even target just the weeds, leaving the bare ground alone. This means farmers can use less herbicide while still getting the job done.

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Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024

LORI PENNER THE CARILLON

Jeremy Hughes, product manager at Horsch, says while farmers can’t control the weather, they can take advantage of new technology which allows more efficiency.

COLUMN: Carillon Flashback September 14, 1962 – Marchand tobacco may become next new cash crop for Manitoba

Wes Keating 3 minute read Preview

COLUMN: Carillon Flashback September 14, 1962 – Marchand tobacco may become next new cash crop for Manitoba

Wes Keating 3 minute read Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024

After several years of experimental production, tobacco grown at Marchand is beginning to show promise of becoming another new cash crop for Manitoba.

Mars Lipsit, manager of the Marchand project, told The Carillon News that judging by the yield of some of the 33 varieties being grown, a target of 1,500 pounds per acre could be met, not that far into the future. The 1,500 pounds is the production yardstick used to determine when the tobacco crop would become profitable, he said.

The tobacco growing experiment was panned by Winnipeg daily newspapers last year, claiming trying to grow tobacco in Manitoba was a waste of time, as the crop could never be grown profitably in the province.

Lipsit hopes these naysayers will take note of the results of this year’s experiment. Dr. A. C. Ferguson of the plant science department at the University of Manitoba agrees with him.

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Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024

CARILLON ARCHIVES

C.S. Prodan, ag rep and tobacco specialist, with tobacco leaves from the 1955 crop grown on an experimental plot at Davidson Farm at Marchand.

Southeast diversity spells success for Hutlet Seeds

Wes Keating 7 minute read Preview

Southeast diversity spells success for Hutlet Seeds

Wes Keating 7 minute read Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024

After more than four decades at the helm, Marc Hutlet has decided to turn the ever- expanding seed company at Dufresne over to the next generation. But while his daughter Karis and Ben Signer are handling things on a day-to-day basis, Hutlet is not completely out of the picture just yet.

Like the farmers he has been serving for generations, he still isn’t ready to retire, and his dedication drives him to keep a finger on the pulse of the agricultural diversity that has seen southeastern Manitoba grow and flourish.

Many of those farmers, who also have turned their operations over to the next generation, joined Marc at the annual fall crop tour the first week in September. Hutlet was very much present, visiting with customers, while Karis and Ben talked about the soybeans and corn that made up the two test plots on Provincial Road 210, east of Landmark.

While the company agronomists were wrapping up their presentation, Marc was back at the road, firing up the barbecue to serve up smokies to the hungry crowd attending the event. There were probably close to 80 farmers there, some for the soybeans, some for the corn, Hutlet said.

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Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024

WES KEATING THE CARILLON

Mike Weir, area agronomist for Pioneer Hi-Bred, chats with Eric Peters, who has been a Marc Hutlet seeds customer since the 1990s.

‘Fall on the Farm’ more than just one day for Froese family

Wes Keating 8 minute read Preview

‘Fall on the Farm’ more than just one day for Froese family

Wes Keating 8 minute read Monday, Oct. 7, 2024

Members of the Froese family from the Grunthal area have been demonstrating the pioneer skill of hog butchering at the annual Fall on the Farm Day at the Mennonite Heritage Village for much more than a decade.

They cheerfully spend a long day of slicing and cutting, while preparing a whole hog for everything from head cheese, and crackles, to smoked bacon and spare ribs. All the while, members of the family answer questions and show visitors how each part of the pig was used and how things used to be done by pioneers on a farm, that, back then, very much needed to be self-sufficient.

For many older museum visitors, who dropped by the demonstration table, this was the way they remembered it as it used to be, but for the Bill and Sheila Froese family this is very much the way it still is.

Froese Heating and Ventilation has been the family business for 23 years, but the family farm is 140 acres with some cattle, pigs for butchering and chickens, which supply the family with the main ingredient of chicken noodle soup, as well as fresh eggs.

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Monday, Oct. 7, 2024

March 13, 2025

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