The Problem with Pigs – Part I

I have been reading the stories about wild pigs in Manitoba with some interest over the past year. More specifically, I have been wondering how these furless omnivores survive Manitoba’s winters.

Perplexed, I did some research about wild pigs, particularly about their native range. I thought it might be useful to put these agricultural and ecological pests into perspective by looking at their origins, their ecological needs, and how they are able to make Manitoba home.

To begin with, whether you call them wild pigs, European boars, or wild Texas boars, they are all the same species, as are our domestic pigs. They all share the same Latin name, Sus scrofa. All these pigs derive from the Eurasian wild boar, domesticated somewhere in eastern Europe or western Asia.

This also means that you can “reverse-evolve” tame pigs to look and act like wild boars over a few generations. When I was a kid on the farm, our pig herd consisted of a mix of Yorkshire, Landrace, and Duroc breeds. And while the piglets all looked like the cute babies you would expect, the older they were, the uglier and more brutish they appeared, with some of our largest boars pretty much indistinguishable from their wild cousins.

Gushue faces strong field at Brier

Until he’s dethroned, Newfoundland’s Brad Gushue will be the favourite every time he slides out of the hack at the Canadian men’s curling championship.

Gushue has a record six Canadian titles in his distinguished career, and he’s going for No. 7 this week in Kelowna at the Montana’s Brier. A victory would give him and his rink of third Mark Nichols, second Brendan Bottcher and lead Geoff Walker an unprecedented four consecutive championships.

Since winning his first Brier in front of home fans in St. John’s in 2017, Gushue has guided his rink to Brier titles in 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Last year, in Regina, the 2017 world champion and 2006 Olympic gold medallist defeated Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen in the final for his third consecutive win.

Despite Gushue’s stellar record in recent Briers, he and his rink are far from a sure thing this week in Kelowna. Among the 18 competitors are at least three or four who could easily dethrone him and recent mediocre Grand Slam results indicate that Gushue and his rink could be ripe for the taking.

DUC celebrates leaders in their fields

Ducks Unlimited Canada recognized five farms in Westman for planting forage on their properties through the 2024 season program in a bid to improve farm sustainability and contribute to environmental health.

The conservation charity Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) in February recognized farms in Rapid City, Hartney, Rossburn, Baldur, and Carroll. The farms were announced as winners after the charity found them to have been most successful at establishing forage plots on their properties, which add to the sustainability of rural Manitoba and support wildlife.

The winning farms were judged by DUC for the best density, biodiversity, height and lack of weeds in the newly planted forage area. The forage plots mostly consisted of grass and legumes.

A total of 47 farms, spanning 5,200 acres participated in the program in 2024. The five winning farms chosen were Bridgeman Land & Livestock; Bill and Nina Cowan; Ekford Ranch; Blaine, Hilary and Van Damme family; and Greg and Pam Wesley.

Faced with U.S. tariffs, Manitoba’s ag sector promotes Canadian goods

A Winnipeg woman hopes to bring attention to Canadian food companies while the country negotiates with the United States and boycotts its products over tariffs, and a local food producer has echoed that call.

Winnipeg resident Marnie Scott created the website, Canadian Cool Foods, which lists Canadian food companies across the country and shows their products. In an interview with the Sun in February, Scott said she created the site after she thought it was a problem for Canada that the country didn’t produce its own food supply.

“We shouldn’t be exporting everything and then importing it back,” said Scott on a phone call. “We should be producing it for ourselves. And the more we are self-sufficient, the more secure we are, and the more of a handle we have on the quality of the foods that are coming in.”

Now that Canada has come under threat of tariffs from the United States, Scott said the push for local food supply has become paramount. She told the Sun she has updated her website, which she created in 2017, where people can perform searches, such as food companies by province.

MINNEDOSA

A local curling tournament that fundraises for cancer surpassed the $100,000 mark in its sixth year. The Curling for a Cure tournament in Minnedosa raised $40,060 this year after competition on Feb. 14-16.

The fundraising this year drove the grand total to $134,611 since the curling tournament began.

Money from this year will go to the Candlelighters Childhood Cancer program and the Neepawa Community Cancer Program.

Bison forage in the snow in the bison enclosure in Minnedosa on a cold Tuesday. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Former Hutterite dreams of life as a lawyer

Richard Waldner was 16 when he stole a car to help his sister abandon a Hutterite colony near Winnipeg. The brother and sister took a vehicle from the property and drove to Portage la Prairie on a Sunday, because everyone would be napping at that time.

Waldner told the Sun his sister practically commanded him to be her accomplice. But during the car ride, the young man decided he would join his sister and leave the colony. He phoned the colony on arriving in Portage, to tell them their car was at a mall and the keys were in the gas cap.

Waldner spent the next 15 years learning skills to live in the outside world. It all culminated in 2024 when he was accepted to the University of Manitoba’s law program, arranging for him a future he is excited about.

Talking about the connection between studying law and being raised Hutterite, Waldner said he’d like to bring his experience into his work. There’s a gap in knowledge he said, and because of his background he’d be able to offer rare and valuable experience that connects the Hutterites with Canada’s body of legal knowledge.

The most important date in the Toronto Blue Jays 2025 season might already be over. Feb. 18 was the day Vladimir Guerrero Jr., set as his deadline for contract negotiations and the team’s future may hinge on what happened that day.

Without Guerrero signing an extension prior to the start of spring training, the Montreal-born slugger said he will not negotiate during the season and will play out his contract, which expires at the end of the 2025 season. That would make him a free agent, and front-office rivals in New York and Boston were salivating at the thought of having Guerrero sign a long-term free-agent contract with their franchise.

If he hasn’t signed a long-term deal with the Jays by his self-imposed deadline of Feb. 18, then Guerrero will likely be traded to a contender seeking a big bat for this season’s stretch drive. Toronto would fetch some talented prospects, and likely a regular or two, but most Toronto fans would rather have Guerrero playing for the Jays into the 2030s.

Since Juan Soto signed a 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets, and is one year older than 25-year-old Guerrero, it’s hard to envision the Blue Jays star not demanding somewhere in the $600 million range for 12 to 15 years. He might even want Soto money, although his stats aren’t quite as good as the former Padre, National and Yankee.

Contest win good for mental health

A project for mental health has been launched to bring counsellors to four rural Westman communities in an effort to provide services that people might not otherwise have access to.

The project, called the Rural Counselling Program, opened offices this year in Carberry, Souris, Glenboro and Hartney. The project was organized by Cathy Williams, Dave Williams and Dennis Lonsdale with a goal to bring mental health services to rural areas.

“I’m just hoping we can help people who felt there was no other option, didn’t have insurance, couldn’t afford it, whatever,” said Cathy, whose son passed away from suicide. “Just try to help people get through life.”

Cathy and her husband Dave are co-founders of Westman Mental Wellness and Suicide Prevention. They have worked to add services to Westman since 2014, and the latest addition is the Rural Counselling Program in 2025.

Wild hog captures up thanks to Squeal on Pigs

A population-control group caught hundreds of wild pigs in Manitoba last year in its attempt to eradicate the pest animal.

Squeal on Pigs Manitoba coordinator Wayne Lees said that 204 pigs were caught and removed from Manitoba last year using traps, thermal drones and collaboration with property owners. The number of captures increased significantly year-over-year as the group improved its understanding of the wild animal.

“We’re starting to zero in,” Lees said in a phone call with the Sun. “We’ve been able to increase the number of pigs trapped every year, and I think that’s a testament to a couple things.”

Lees said members have learned about where pigs reproduce, how they behave and what patterns work best to intercept them. The group caught roughly 40 per cent more pigs last year, equal to an additional 77 pigs, over the year before.

Rural Roundup — Feb. 20, 2025

Russell

The Russell Inn will soon become a brand name venue as the manager has narrowed down his options down to two, but says he’s not yet signed a contract.

“They’re both iconic, well known brands so whichever one we choose, I know that people will be very happy,” said manager Daymon Guillas. “We’ll free up space at the inn and then we’ll build up three or four stories and a third lobby, a common area and a games area.”

Guillas said he can’t share details until it is finalized, but he said he would like to add another 75 rooms and a well-known restaurant chain attached to the site.

Producers to vote on cattle tracking system

A program that would inspect cattle with an eye to cut down on theft is the focus of a vote at today’s (Feb. 20) annual general meeting of the Manitoba Beef Producers.

Details on the program are not yet firm, but it is currently planned to be modeled after one in Saskatchewan. Jason Pollock, CEO of Livestock Services of Saskatchewan, said inspections ensure that business is conducted honestly.

“We’re the boots on the ground for the paper contract, whatever that paper contract is,” said Pollock.

He said inspections lead to an account of the cattle’s history, such as if there are agreements that need to be upheld. When cattle are delivered for sale, a common result is that staff discover there are multiple people entitled to the proceeds, and action may be needed to “redirect” payments.

NHL stars excited for best-on-best ‘Face Off’

If Connor McDavid is any indication, National Hockey League players from the four countries involved in the Four Nations Face Off are excited for a chance to show their skills in a best-on-best event, with national pride and bragging rights on the line.

Coaches and general managers around the league, meanwhile, are watching with a touch of anxiety as their players risk injury in an exhibition setting with the all-important Stanley Cup playoffs just around the corner.

McDavid, who was the NHL’s No. 1 draft pick in 2015, has played in neither an Olympics nor a World Cup as a member of a Canadian team, although he was a member of Team North America (a 23-and-under squad) in the 2016 World Cup. With Canada committed to taking part in the 2026 and 2030 Olympic Games, McDavid will experience more than his share of top-level international hockey and says the Four Nations event, running Feb. 12-20, is a “good teaser.”

Played in Montreal and Boston, the tournament is a straightforward single round-robin, with the top two teams meeting in the championship game in Boston on Feb. 20. The four nations taking part are Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland, which offers fans a stellar group of stars but leaves out many of today’s best players — no Germans like Leon Draisaitl or Tim Stutzle, no Russians like Nikita Kucherov or Kirill Kaprizov, no Czechs like David Pastrnak or Martin Necas, no Swiss like Roman Josi and no Danes like Nikolaj Ehlers.