The sunflower’s deep tap roots allow it to pull moisture from deep within the soil, even during times of drought.

Sunflowers help cover crops thrive during drought

As cover cropping gains interest, producers are looking at different types of plants that might work well to produce a diverse crop for grazing. Because nature doesn’t favour monocrops, cover crops and intercrops are more resistant to drought-like conditions, cover cropping proponent say. With a drought that persisted through 2020, 2021, and into 2022 in […] Read more

File photo of federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on a tour of one of the original ‘Living Lab’ sites in Quebec that led up to the launch of the national ACS program in 2021. (Photo courtesy Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

Living Labs offer different approach to research and innovation, says foundation head

Living Labs may be the start of a better understanding of soil health, carbon sequestration and a “solid” offset system for farmers and ranchers, says one of the people involved with the federally funded project. On July 14, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced nine new Living Labs while at the Calgary Stampede. Kimberly Cornish, the […] Read more


Peepeekisis Cree Nation hosted Crown–Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller on Aug. 3, 2022. (@MarcMillerVM photo via Twitter)

Feds apologize for Saskatchewan farming colony scheme

Apology comes year after settlement with Peepeekisis Cree Nation

Just under a year after Peepeekisis Cree Nation’s settlement with the Canadian government over the File Hills Colony forced farming scheme, the federal government has made a formal apology. Operating from 1898 to 1954, the File Hills Colony scheme involved what the government today describes as the “involuntary relocation” of graduates from residential schools and […] Read more



Federal Ag Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau (r) visits the Ag in Motion outdoor farm show near Langham, Sask. on July 20, 2022. (Greg Berg photo)

Ag ministers lock in next policy funding framework

AgriStability compensation rate to rise; new EGS program planned; some agmins decry feds' approach on fertilizer emission cuts

The new federal-provincial ag policy funding framework due to take effect next April 1 will include a new ecological goods and services plan and a sweetened compensation rate for AgriStability. Following meetings this week in Saskatoon, federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and her provincial and territorial counterparts on Friday mapped out the bones of their […] Read more

(Lightguard/iStock/Getty Images)

Saskatchewan crops advancing quickly

MarketsFarm — Hot and humid conditions saw crops in Saskatchewan advance quickly during the week ended Monday, according to the latest provincial crop report — although the humidity has slowed haying. When humidity is high, cutting hay becomes more challenging and hay that is cut does not dry down as quickly, which can result in […] Read more


File photo of federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on a tour of one of the original ‘Living Lab’ sites in Quebec that led up to the launch of the national ACS program in 2021. (Photo courtesy Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

Feds boost Living Labs’ reach to all provinces

Nine projects, including first-Indigenous led lab, share $54M

The first crop of federally-funded “Living Labs” backed by the Agricultural Climate Solutions (ACS) program, set up to prove carbon-sequestering on-farm processes, takes the concept to the six provinces where such farm-level labs weren’t yet in place. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, speaking Thursday in Calgary, announced $54 million from the $185 million, 10-year ACS program […] Read more



Smoke billows during a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, Amazonas State, Brazil on Aug. 14, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino)

Market value alone is selling nature short, governments told

Economic valuations needed but 'not sufficient,' co-chair says

Reuters — What is the value of a river? Is it for the nutritional content of the fish it sustains? The economic benefit of the local livelihoods it supports? Or does the river have its own value which humans cannot measure? Such questions may seem removed from the issues the world faces, from deepening climate […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Satellite forage insurance posed as potential risk-management solution for cattle producers

When the federal and provincial governments asked Global Ag Risk Solutions if they had any forage insurance products for cattle producers, they said no, but that they would try to develop one. From there, they started looking into satellite-based forage insurance for cattle producers. “We saw an opportunity that forage insurance is not sufficient for […] Read more