Forget white rice or even brown rice. Try red rice tonight

Automation reaches new heights on farm

LANGHAM, Sask. — The thousands of farmers from across the Prairies who flock to the annual Ag in Motion show every July seem oblivious to the possibility the technology on display could one day replace many of them.

Families with children in tow, Hutterite colony workers, grandparents and young couples just starting out roamed through the 600 or more exhibitor displays, amazed at how everything about farming just keeps getting bigger, more efficient and increasingly more automated.

It’s now possible to seed using a 100-foot-wide drill — a 12-foot jump over the widest available a few years ago — provided the farmer can afford a tractor with enough horsepower to pull it. Those sell for around $850,000 and up.

Granted, the number of farms with enough acres to justify that kind of width and drawing power is still relatively small, but farms continue to grow. And it’s no secret the number of people who have the interest, skills and financial wherewithal to run them continues to shrink.

Manitoba Innovates seeks to pump up in-person networking as artificial intelligence-created resumés become norm

The average job seeker has a resumé ghost writer: artificial intelligence.

Many Manitoba businesses are flooded by AI-generated resumés and, in turn, use AI to filter the tide. In response, Manitoba Innovates — a startup incubator — is launching an initiative to lead more in-person networking.

“We’re still looking for authenticity in people,” said Ron Cantiveros, manager of the incubator’s new career catalyst program.

“We’re looking for innovative ways to … attract talent, but also verify and qualify talent.”

An eroding Winnipeg neighbourhood looks to new foundations

The lot Jesse Bettcher lives on in Winnipeg's North End used to be a pile of burnt rubble. Same with the one next door. And the one across the street. But he's now the proud owner of a two-storey house with blue-grey siding and white trim.

Bombers search for an offensive identity after Week 8 tailspin

Tommy Condell has been around long enough to know that criticism is part of the job, so you can understand why there were moments when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive co-ordinator sounded a tad defensive when speaking to the media on Monday afternoon.

The Bombers were coming off a disappointing 52-30 loss to the Calgary Stampeders that dropped them to 4-3 on the season.

In many instances, a 30-point outburst would have been cause for celebration. But when you look under the hood of Friday’s outing — which included four interceptions for Bombers pivot Dru Brown — the picture wasn’t quite as rosy.

Compounding matters, star tailback Brady Oliveira went from making the longest touchdown run of his CFL career — a 45-yard scamper late in the third quarter — to being a mostly forgotten player in the fourth as the club mostly abandoned the run in an effort to rally from nine and eventually 12-point deficits.

Landlord asks city to work with him over homeless camp after appeal option turfed

A West Broadway landlord says the City of Winnipeg has rejected his attempt to appeal an order that requires him to clear a homeless encampment from his riverfront property.

Marvin Sharp, CEO of Astroid Management Ltd., which operates the Pen-Eve Apartments at 35 Balmoral St., said Monday the decision is absurd since his firm was given almost no time to respond to the order.

The city denied his request for an appeal hearing because he failed to respond before the July 18 compliance deadline.

Sharp contends that was impossible because the compliance order, dated July 10, did not arrive at his office until July 17, leaving him just one day to file an appeal. The city clerk’s office is closed on weekends.

Flood relief extended to more Manitoba communities as bills mount

The Manitoba government has expanded flood relief to 13 additional communities as the price tag to repair infrastructure and help property owners pay for damage could reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars, one municipal leader says.

On Monday, the province announced the additional coverage under Manitoba’s flood recovery program, raising the number of eligible communities to 29.

“It’s just taken some time for us to do the technical work,” said Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor in an interview with the Free Press. “The spring flood events that we experienced in Manitoba this year are unlike anything we’ve seen and they’re really attributable to what we’re seeing through climate change.”

Naylor said the government introduced the program because people who “never guessed” they’d be hit by flooding are dealing with the aftermath of extreme weather events.