DUCKS LINGER WHILE HUNTERS WAIT
JUNE 7, 2012
WHEN HAIL HITS GOOD DEEDS Heading south later » PAGE 36
Insured projects are covered » PAGE 9
SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | VOL. 70, NO. 23
Fungicide season has begun
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$1.75
MANITOBACOOPERATOR.CA
Province bulldozes Agro Woodlot Program
Flag leaf stage applications provide the best protection
Manitoba Woodlot Association “disappointed” that the one-of-a-kind program assisting small-scale forestry has been cancelled
By Allan Dawson CO-OPERATOR STAFF
Winter wheat is at, or near the stage, for applying fungicides to protect it from various leaf diseases and spring wheat isn’t far behind, says Holly Derksen, a plant pathologist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives (MAFRI). Some winter wheat fields were at the flag-leaf stage last week and more will be this week, she said. Farmers trying to protect both winter and spring wheat should apply fungicides at the flag-leaf stage to get the best protection against leaf rust. Spraying to prevent stem rust should begin at the first sign of disease until the end of the flowering, according to MAFRI’s 2012 Guide to Field Crop Protection. “Rusts across the West have been showing up two weeks earlier than in a normal year, but crops are also two weeks ahead of where they are in a normal year,” Derksen said. “I’ve had one report of rust near the Dauphin area... It’s unknown if it came in on a wind event or if it overwintered.”
By Daniel Winters CO-OPERATOR STAFF
M
a n i t o b a’s A g r o Wo o d l o t Program has fallen to the provincial budget axe. Short-term contracts for four forestry technicians based in communities in the southern part of the province were allowed to expire in March, and grants for logging based on beneficial management practices will no longer be offered. A provincial spokesperson con-
firmed the Manitoba Agro Woodlot Program is now being delivered by GO teams across the province. The long-term costs will be much higher than the short-term savings, said Allan Webb, secretary treasurer of the Manitoba Woodlot Association, because the program helped farmers and landowners capitalize on the formerly overlooked economic value of well-managed forests. “I was very disappointed, but I wasn’t terribly surprised because natural resource management isn’t
a priority in this province,” said Webb. The Agro Woodlot Program staff were doing “really good stuff that nobody else was,” he said. That included training people how to operate chainsaws safely, how to estimate the value of standing timber, and providing advice and sample contracts for landowners dealing with private loggers, he said. It’s doubtful that GO team staff, See WOODLOT on page 6 »
See FUNGICIDE on page 6 »
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Trees are already undervalued in agriculture. Now that the Agro Woodlot Program has been axed, some fear the situation will only worsen. PHOTO: LAURA RANCE
CLARIFIED: WHO CONTROLS THE CHECKOFF? » PAGE 7