Government/Producer Talk Warms Up To Climate Change

Jul 30, 2015

With the climate getting warmer, talk of coping with the weather is getting louder.

Tuesday was the last of eight public discussions for the Manitoba Agriculture Risk Management Review Task Force. Morris hosted the final meeting, and before that the task force visited areas like Portage la Prairie, Dauphin, and Arborg.

Each meeting included an overview of how a changing climate has affected agriculture in Manitoba and what programs and strategies the government already has in place to deal with risk management. Then the meeting broke up into groups to discuss current programming, suggestions for future programming, and responsibilities of government and producers when it comes to adapting to climate change.

While many different farmers from many different areas voiced their concerns at the meetings, there were some commons threads in discussions.

"One of the most prominent reactions that farmers have told us, is that we have to be able to come up with a long-term strategy to plan for either the retention or the infrastructure dealing with the amount of water Manitoba is facing across the borders, both south, east, and west," says Bill Uruski, chair of the task force. "The other one is inability of the current AgStability program to meet the needs of farmers, as far as income protection."

At the very beginning of Tuesday's meeting, task force representatives said the point of the discussions was not to debate whether or not climate change is happening, but rather to listen to producer concerns regarding risk management policies.

Source : PortageOnline

Video: A chain harrow is a game changer

Utilizing a rotational grazing method on our farmstead with our sheep helps to let the pasture/paddocks rest. We also just invested in a chain harrow to allow us to drag the paddocks our sheep just left to break up and spread their manure around, dethatch thicker grass areas, and to rough up bare dirt areas to all for a better seed to soil contact if we overseed that paddock. This was our first time really using the chain harrow besides initially testing it out. We are very impressed with the work it did and how and area that was majority dirt, could be roughed up before reseeding.

Did you know we also operate a small business on the homestead. We make homemade, handcrafted soaps, shampoo bars, hair and beard products in addition to offering our pasture raised pork, lamb, and 100% raw honey. You can find out more about our products and ingredients by visiting our website at www.mimiandpoppysplace.com. There you can shop our products and sign up for our monthly newsletter that highlights a soap or ingredient, gives monthly updates about the homestead, and also lists the markets, festivals, and events we’ll be attending that month.