Canola industry ready to move forward
The Canola Council of Canada celebrated a return to normalcy at its annual meeting at the Canadian Crops Convention in Ottawa. “Our theme this year is ‘from adversity to opportunity’ and I think that’s very fitting,” said Jim Everson, the group’s president. Production has rebounded following the drought of 2021, meaning there’s opportunity to develop […] Read more
As globalization fades new strategies needed
Don’t expect a return to normal geopolitical conditions — at least not if you think the past several decades were normal. That was Janice Gross Stein’s message March 8, in an opening address to the Canadian Crops Convention. The noted political scientist and founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy […] Read more
Charting Canada’s agricultural path forward
John Stackhouse is a senior vice-president of Royal Bank of Canada and author of the Farmer 4.0 report that delves into the transformation of agriculture. Stackhouse was a participant in a panel discussion on innovation and resilience in agriculture at the Canadian Federation of Agriculture annual meeting in Ottawa on March 7. He sat down […] Read more
Farmers hear from national political leaders
For the first time since at least 1980, according to a long-time member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery, a sitting Prime Minister has spoken to the annual meeting of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA). Liberal leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was a last minute addition to the agenda, joining Conservative Party leader Pierre […] Read more
The path to attracting workers
[UPDATED: Mar. 6, 2023] Farm labour was a hot topic at the annual meeting of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture in Ottawa March 6 and 7. Jennifer Wright, executive director of the Canadian Agricultural Human Resources Council, led a panel discussion that delved into the size and scope of the issue and some of the […] Read more
Farmers Edge launches IPO
Digital ag firm makes first public share offering to big demand
Manitoba’s best-known digital agriculture firm is now a publicly-traded company. Farmers Edge, founded in 2005 in Pilot Mound, Man. by agronomists Wade Barnes and Curtis MacKinnon, has carved out a niche using field-centric data, artificial intelligence and its FarmCommand data management platform. CEO Wade Barnes called it an exciting day during an online press conference […] Read more
Canada’s mink farms brace for COVID
Producers have had time to increase biosecurity efforts at the farm level
Canada’s 40 mink farms are operating under heightened biosecurity requirements after reports of COVID-19 jumping from humans to mink in Europe. Alan Herscovici, an industry spokesperson who operates the website Truthaboutfur.com, said early reports out of Denmark and other European countries gave Canadian producers some time to prepare. “These farms have always had a certain […] Read more
The rise of iFarmer
Three generations ago Canadian farmers got their market information from the local elevator and their weekly farm paper. A generation on, they shushed the kids and strained to hear the markets on the CBC’s noon-hour farm report. Just a generation ago, a handful took the electronic plunge and bought a DTN system that gave them […] Read more
Editor’s pick: Manitoba Tory MLA calls for Manitoba TB strategy
The Winnipeg Free Press newspaper is reporting that opposition MLA Len Derkach is calling on the province to increase its support to cattle ranchers battling to prevent infected deer and elk from transmitting the disease to their herds. Derkach says ranchers in the area surrounding Riding Mountain National Park have been battling this problem for […] Read more
Higher grain prices not source of higher food prices: report
Food prices in Canada are up but directly linking this trend to higher grain prices is an over-simplification according to a new report by the George Morris Centre. The independent agriculture think tank, based in Guelph, Ont., says drawing a straight line between the four per cent increase in food prices over last year and […] Read more