Jeff Melchior

Edmonton

Contributor at Freelance

Award-winning reporter with #glacierfarmmedia. Opinions expressed are my own.

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Articles

Bovine Tuberculosis Hits Manitoba Dairy Herd

2 days ago | producer.com | Jeff Melchior

Glacier FarmMedia – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is investigating a bovine tuberculosis infection in a dairy cow from a farm in the Pembina Valley region of south-central Manitoba. Due to CFIA privacy laws, that’s about as much as Manitoba Beef Producers president Matthew Atkinson knows about the case.
High Cattle Prices, Cautious Spending by Canadian Farmers

3 days ago | producer.com | Jeff Melchior

Glacier FarmMedia – Canada’s sky-high cattle prices have been the talk of the industry for months. In 2024, farmers could get 13 per cent more for animals they brought to auction compared to the previous year, according to Statistics Canada. Those prices have stayed afloat in 2025, despite worries earlier this year that tariffs would end the party early. It’s a welcome shift for cow-calf producers, whose market has sunk into signficant price valleys several times in the last 25 years.
First Manitoba hay harvest short

5 days ago | manitobacooperator.ca | Jeff Melchior

An initial look at Manitoba’s first hay cut suggests normal to below normal yields, although not everyone has hit the swather yet. Dairy producers are mostly done their first cuts, while many beef growers are just getting started, said Cindy Jack, livestock and forage extension specialist with Manitoba Agriculture on June 17. Alfalfa has so far weathered Manitoba’s dry spring better than the grass, she noted, something she credited to the legume’s root structure.
Manitoba cattle sector dismayed by bovine tuberculosis case

5 days ago | manitobacooperator.ca | Jeff Melchior

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is investigating a bovine tuberculosis (TB) infection in a dairy cow from a farm in the Pembina Valley region of south-central Manitoba. Due to CFIA privacy laws, that’s about as much as Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) president Matthew Atkinson knows about the case.
High cattle prices fail to budge cautious beef farmer spending

1 week ago | manitobacooperator.ca | Jeff Melchior

Canada’s sky-high cattle prices have been the talk of the industry for months. In 2024, farmers could get 13 per cent more for animals they brought to auction compared to the previous year, according to Statistics Canada. Those prices have stayed afloat into 2025, despite worries earlier this year that tariffs would end the party early. It’s a welcome shift for cow-calf producers, whose market has sunk into signficant price valleys several times in the last 25 years.
New Crop Insurance Policy Enables Easier Fababean Startup

1 week ago | producer.com | Jeff Melchior

For Alberta producers thinking about adding fababeans to their rotation, 2026 may be the year to start doing so, at least from a crop insurance perspective. The Agriculture Financial Services Corp. (AFSC) has updated its normals — yield expectations in a given risk area that help determine insurance coverage — to reflect provincial fababean production reported from 2000-24. As a result, producers who insure fababeans for less than five years will see an increase in their coverage.
Farmers Miss Food Price Gains Due to System Imbalance

1 week ago | producer.com | Jeff Melchior

Glacier FarmMedia – Farmers have side-eyed grocery prices long before surging food inflation began to hit headlines during the pandemic. “Who’s that going to?” they might have grumbled, looking at the price tags on products that could have been made with components off their farm. “It sure wasn’t me.” Read Also Firm hopes to fill generic input void Farmers Business Network Canada says it can help fill the void left by AgraCity in the generic crop protection product business.
High tunnels extend vegetable growing season

2 weeks ago | producer.com | Jeff Melchior

Glacier FarmMedia – At first glance, they may look like greenhouses, but aside from growing fruit and vegetables, the similarities between high tunnels and greenhouses pretty much end there. Popular in produce-growing areas of the northern United States such as Minnesota, high tunnels are slowly making their way onto Manitoba fruit and vegetable operations.
Tighter antibiotic rules changed little for beef sector: research

2 weeks ago | manitobacooperator.ca | Jeff Melchior

Requiring a prescription for antibiotics hasn’t shaken up the beef sector much. Canada is now several years past the federal regulation change that tightened up how producers could source certain products. According to recent research, cattle producers then and now are using roughly the same amount of antibiotics: very little. WHY IT MATTERS Read Also Fertilizer to fight leafy spurge Leafy spurge is a tenacious, invasive pasture weed in Western Canada.
Farmers snubbed on rising grocery prices, say advocates

3 weeks ago | manitobacooperator.ca | Jeff Melchior

Canadian farmers aren’t being paid their fair share of rising grocery prices, according to a national farm advocacy organization,A National Farmers Union (NFU) webinar May 22 argued that overall net returns for farmers are shrinking or remaining inert. “We conclude that Canadian farmers have not been able to pass on increasing input costs, nor have they seen any benefit from increased retail grocery prices,” said James Hannay, NFU policy analyst.