St. Jean Farm Days Reaches 35-Year Milestone

St Jean Farm Days is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year.

 

The event takes place January 8th and 9th at the St. Jean Centennial Hall.

 

Organizer Brunel Sabourin said his parents were part of the original organizing committee 35 years ago. The event was started in conjunction with Manitoba Agriculture. He says they are now seeing a third generation of volunteers helping to run the show.

 

St. Jean Farm Days is known as being the unofficial start of the farm show season.

 

"This year we're going to be talking a lot about the late season/wet fall that we had and what it's going to look like for next spring because not a lot of fertilizer went down last fall, so it's going to potentially cause some logistics issue come spring time and there's a lot of fields that got rutted up with the high rainfall that we got," said Sabourin. "We're going to be dealing with compaction issues and cleaning up those ruts, putting fertilizer down."

 

As always, the speaker list also includes weather and market outlooks.

 

Sabourin says they're maxed out at about 60 exhibitor booths with attendance usually ranging anywhere from a low of 80 people to as high as 130, which they saw recently. Close to 20 volunteers help to make the event a success every year.

 

He notes admission prices have gone up this year.

 

"This year will be the first year that we've raised our price since the beginning. All 35 years so far it was $6 entry at the door or $10 for couples. For this year we've raised the price to $10 for everyone just to make things easier. We're hoping to be able to make a donation to STARS Ambulance with the proceeds."

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.