STEINBACH, MAN. THE CARILLON n C5
www.thecarillon.com n
THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2026
Agriculture Now
MANITOBA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Manitoba Historical Society’s interactive map shows the location of roughly 111 grain elevators that still stand in Manitoba.
The demolition of the Austin grain eleva- tor in April is a case in point, Municipality of North Norfolk Reeve Ed Heppner said. A noti- cable piece is missing from the community of old, he said — no longer is the community’s name posted in big letters on the side of the highway. “That part, that’s true. You drive down the highway … you’re heading down the highway, and there was ‘Austin,’ but now it’s just a cou- ple of steel bins, which are going to be gone as well. “It is just an emotional loss, that’s all it is,” he said. “As a community, we got to move on and say, ‘Hey, we’ll build other stuff, and keep moving.’” Heppner said that he hopes the communi- ty will get together and fundraise a memorial project about the elevator. That would be one positive way to go forward, he said. “When the elevators were first built, you know, that was big progress. Well, what can we do now to make progress?” he said. “Bemoan- ing the fact, well, history moves on … Life moves on.” Heppner said it would make the most sense to fund a memorial by donation, rather than a government project. When the area comes together, and pays homage to the people and landmarks of its past, that is more commu- nity-building than a government project that goes through council, he said. The Manitoba Historical Society’s website has been updated to reflect the demolition at the Austin elevator, and lists a timeline of agents and buyers at the elevator from 1940 to
1998. A list of damage at the elevator was also documented, and photos were uploaded from the demolition day. The Rural Municipality of St Clements, northeast of Winnipeg, posted on its social media in early May that it is preparing its Li- bau grain elevator for demolition. The area was fenced off, and the public was alerted to stay away from the area. FACEBOOK / JANICE GOLDSBOROUGH Gordon Goldsborough, head researcher of the Manitoba Historical So-ciety. A dozen citizens around the province help him track the “countdown” of grain elevators as they’re demolished. He runs a publicly available map and database that shares that information.
CONNOR MCDOWELL BRANDON SUN The Elkhorn grain elevator is repaired in May after being damaged in a wind storm. Gordon Goldsborough of the Manitoba Historical Society said it’s nice to see repairs to an elevator as he leads a project to track the trend of demolished elevators.
pality of Wallace Woodworth, did not respond to a request for comment about the elevator repairs. Goldsborough said he’ll monitor the story of Manitoba elevators as it unfolds. To find the map of remaining Manitoba grain elevators, go online to mb1870.org/mhs- map-2/map and type “countdown” into the keyword search tool before refreshing the map.
In the community of Elkhorn, however, a break from the pattern took place. A long neck construction crane was brought to the com- munity in May to conduct repairs on the local grain elevator after it was damaged by a wind storm. The damage was repaired the same month, something that Goldsborough said is positive and encouraging to see. Clayton Canart, reeve of the Rural Munici-
26044MM0
FLASHBACK
November 28, 2002
Straw burner slashes barn heating costs by WES KEATING T he owner of a Landmark-area poultry farm expects a new $150,000 heating system will easily be worth the invest-
ment. Ron Penner of Primrose Farm anticipates the Rama Biomass Gasifier, which uses waste straw as heating fuel, to save $60,000 in heating costs annually. A 3-million British Thermal Unit (BTU) per hour heating system developed by Vid- ir Biomass Inc. of Arborg was unveiled in a grand opening ceremony at the farm. On hand for the occasion was Industry and Trade Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk, who pointed out the newly-developed heat- ing system takes advantage of a readily avail- able resource in the form of waste straw. In the process, it eliminates the straw without the need for farmers to burn it in the field. “Vidir is a success story built out of noth- ing but the company’s own creativity. The company’s new energy system will revolu- tionize our energy production.” Effective use of straw to produce energy has been something the province has long been looking toward, Mihychuk addede. Conversion to the system will be eligible for support under the province’s REDI (Ru- ral Economic Development Initiative) pro- gram, Penner noted he will need to use three or four 500-kilogram bales of straw daily, cost- ing $10 to $15 each, to heat his broiler barns. Information provided by the company points out a 500-kilogram straw bale pro- duces about seven million BTUs of heat per hour. A single 1,000-pound straw bale out- puts the heat equivalent of roughly 1,500 pounds of coal. The same amount of energy as produced by one bale would require approximately $124 of fuel oil, $80 of electricity or natural gas, $103 worth of propane or $45 of coal. Penner pointed out his farm will continue to be connected to natural gas. Cheaper heat will be particularly valuable for broiler farmers. Penner noted he sets the barn temperature at 90 degrees when he brings in a new batch of pullets. According to company information, the straw is shredded before being augered into
a primary combustion chamber. Ash is re- moved at that point. Oxygen is mixed into the system prior to the hot gases entering the secondary com- bustion chamber and water is heated for distribution in a third chamber. Temperatures in the secondary chamber reach 2,000 degrees. Water is heated to 180 degrees in the system, Vidir owner Raymond Dueck pointed out. Exhaust from the system is clean, he promised. At three million BTUs, the system installed at the Penner farm is the minimal configura- tion, Dueck noted, adding, however, there is almost no limit on how large they can ulti- mately be made. The system at the Penner farm is equiva- lent to about 25 average residential heating systems. Vidir is well known for its specialty met- al work, including motorized storage and cutting frames used in many carpet stores and bicycle display racks used by retailers throughout North America. I(n 1999, Vidir replaced the coal-fired heating system at their Arborg manufactur- ing plant with a 3-million BTU straw-burn- ing system, reducing heating costs by up to $50,000 annually, compared to the electric hot water heaters they used previously. - with files from Tim Plett CARILLON ARCHIVES Landmark area farmer Ron Penner expects a new straw-burning furnace will drastically reduce heating costs for his poultry barns.
Powered by FlippingBook