December 2022
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How Manitoba is feeding the world
The following is a Manitoba perspective on the agricultural and food processing industry in our province. Blaine Pedersen
T
The season of joy!
The Holiday classic returns!
A spotlight on Wawanesa
How a little technology could have saved the fish!
he next time you sit down to a meal or even a snack, make sure you thank a farmer or fisher for the food you are about to enjoy because that is where it all
starts. Food and food security is top of mind for many people today, but have you ever considered where that food originated? In the past Manitoba (and to a large extent Saskatchewan and Alberta) grew crops and raised livestock which were in turn exported out of province and country for further processing. Wheat continues to be Manitoba’s most important crop. Farming practices and the food processing industry have radically changed the landscape in Manitoba, and this is more while reducing their carbon footprint. having a positive impact on our province and the world. Our new and expanded food processing industry in Today’s agricultural industry continues to adapt to chang- Manitoba is due to several critical factors. Our reliable ing climate conditions with precision agriculture for both and abundant water resources are critical for the food procrops and livestock. Improved genetics, nutrient planning, cessing industry. The Manitoba government’s recently anautomation, GPS and biodiesel mean farms are producing u 9 ‘Manitoba feeds the world’
We cannot afford NOT to build a second port on Hudson Bay Dorothy Dobbie
A
ll three prairie provinces have a critical need to develop better access to the world through a second northern port on Hudson Bay. From Europe to South America to the Far East, there is a demand for the prairie products we can send them if only we can reach them. Given the federal government’s determination to block interprovincial trade for gas pipelines using its ally, Quebec, in the East and supporting the hereditary chiefs (al-
Bunkhouses and warehouses at Port Nelson, 1918, with the train bridge in the background leading out to the port terminus. though often not the communities at large) in B.C., there is but one answer: Hudson Bay. The serendipitous thing about
this is that transportation through the Bay also opens opportunity to allow disadvantaged and isolated northern First Nations to further build their own economy. A brief history of the Arctic Gateway deal to Churchill This was started when Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, AGT Food and Ingredients Inc., and Missinippi Rail Limited Partnership (a consortium a partnership of 41 First Nations and Bayline communities), formed Arctic Gateway Group and acquired ownership of the railway from the Pas to Churchill and the Port itself, from OmniTRAX. In u 3 ‘Second port’
Technology can help you make sure your fish stay warm and cozy!
Joe Borges
I
have a neighbour who is a snowbird. Every December, he and his wife head down south for the winter months and don’t return until spring. And like most snowbirds, he has extra keys to the house that he hands over to the neighbours to check on his place from time to time and feed their fish while they are away. On several occasions, I suggested that he install some smart technology to monitor his home himself, but he would shrug it off by saying it was a waste of money and that he didn’t think he could learn how to use it. One winter, during a very brutal cold spell, I headed over to his house and immediately noticed that it was unusually cold inside. He normally turns down the heat while he is away, but it seemed a little extreme when I realized a thin layer of ice had formed along the top of the aquarium. I checked the thermostat and noticed that it was below freezing inside his home. I quickly called him, and he began to make arrangements to get a furnace technician out to his house as soon as possible. Fortunately, my neighbour has family in the u 6 ‘Technology saves the day’