DIGGING IN FOR A FIGHT
U.S. lobbyist defends sow crates » Page 13
APRIL 18, 2013
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Canola a calculated risk » Page 5
SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | VOL. 71, NO. 16
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MANITOBACOOPERATOR.CA
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Suffering from a sheepshearing shortfall The Manitoba Sheep Association wants to increase the number of shearers, but shearers say they need more sheep
By Daniel Winters CO-OPERATOR STAFF
T
he Manitoba Sheep Association wants government help to train new sheep shearers — but shearers already in the business say they can’t get enough work. There are only about 3,000 breeding ewes and rams per shearer, said Heinz Krauskopf, one of nine shearers listed on the association’s website. “That’s maybe 30 days’ work,” said Krauskopf, who lives near Austin and runs a 35-head flock. “There’s guys who go shearing abroad and in Western Canada who can’t get enough work here.” Shearers charge about $3 to $4 per ewe for flocks of 100 or more, and a bit more for rams. That means they not only need other jobs, but also ones which allow them to get time off during the three-month-long spring shearing season, he said. But many producers find
PHOTO SHANNON VANRAES
See SHEARING on page 6 »
Flooding potential threatens fertilizer movement Flood forecasters say major flooding in Manitoba and Saskatchewan is likely By Rod Nickel WINNIPEG / REUTERS
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Ivan Bugera shears a sheep
ertilizer makers may be hard pressed this spring t o m ov e t h e i r y i e l d boosting products to western Canadian farmers during a shortened planting season, as the potential for major flooding grows. Cold weather has delayed the melt of heavy snowpack in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, raising the risk that floods in late
April and May will keep farmers off their land. Once their fields dry out, farmers are expected to have a tight window for planting crops such as canola and wheat, and applying fertilizer. “There’s a lot of (farmers) staring out the window and pondering what the spring is going to look like when they get on the field,” said Kevin Helash, a vicepresident with Agrium Inc., which produces fertilizer and sells it at the retail level under the name Crop Production Services (CPS).
“What we’re getting ready for is everyone getting on the field at more or less the same time, and being very, very rushed.” Western Canada’s planting season usually starts in late April and extends into early June. Helash sees planting across the Prairies, except for southern Alberta, beginning two to four weeks behind schedule. The biggest challenge will be moving popular nitrogen fertilizers during a shortened season from Western Canada plants owned by Yara International
ASA, CF Industries Holdings Inc. and Agrium to hundreds of retail outlets, said David Dow, who owns two stores and is chairman of the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers. Retail suppliers normally have a seven-week spring season to move fertilizer from the plants to the farmer, but that period looks to be as short as three weeks this year, making it a challenge to find enough trucks to do the job, said Dow, who has See FLOODING on page 7 »
MERGER: PROVINCE PUSHES, MUNICIPALITIES BALK » PAGE 3