Reading Time: 2 minutes “Light farm and yard work” are deemed appropriate for workers at ages 14 and 15 under new employment standards taking effect in British Columbia this fall. The province on Wednesday announced changes to its Employment Standards Act, which have been through the development and consultation stages since 2019, have now been finalized and will take […] Read more
New B.C. youth work rules: Heavy lifting, ag chem handling out
New standards also lift province's 'general working age' to 16
U.S. FTC votes to make ‘right to repair’ a priority
Commission also drops 1995 merger policy
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — The U.S Federal Trade Commission voted Wednesday to make it a priority to address the issue of manufacturers pushing consumers to use licensed dealers to repair items ranging from smartphones to farm equipment, a practice that critics call anti-competitive. The five commissioners, three Democrats and two Republicans, voted unanimously to approve […] Read more
Telus, Rabobank ag arms buy into farm data aggregator
Companies join in on deal for Minneapolis-based Conservis
Reading Time: 2 minutes The agriculture arms of one of Canada’s major telecoms providers and a major Dutch bank and financial services firm are taking a stake in a tech firm in the business of gathering on-farm data into a single window. Telus Agriculture and Rabo AgriFinance, which is headquartered in St. Louis and serves U.S. farm customers, announced […] Read more
Biden seeks to lift limits on U.S. farmer dealings with tractor makers, packers
Executive order to address corporate 'abuses of power'
Reading Time: 3 minutes Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Joe Biden wants to give that country’s farmers more power in negotiating the sale of livestock to big processors and in deciding who repairs their tractors, the White House said on Tuesday. The executive order, expected within days, will also address such competitive issues as delayed airline baggage, cellphone […] Read more
CNH to buy Raven Industries
Heavy equipment maker to pay US$2.1 billion for precision ag firm
Reading Time: 2 minutes The parent company behind Case IH, New Holland, Flexi-Coil and Steyr farm equipment is set to absorb a significant U.S. supplier of precision ag tech to its product lines and others. CNH Industrial on Monday announced a friendly all-cash agreement to buy up all shares in Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Raven Industries for about US$2.1 […] Read more
Cervus expects chip shortages may continue into fall
Deere dealer chain books increased Q1 profit
Reading Time: 2 minutes The semiconductor chip shortage plaguing automotive and equipment manufacturers may last into the second and even third quarters of the year, farm equipment retailer Cervus Group says. Calgary-based Cervus — which operates 64 dealerships in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, including 38 devoted mainly to Deere farm equipment — expects increased demand to run up […] Read more
On-farm cybersecurity campaign gets backing
Glacier FarmMedia to link up with federally-funded project
Reading Time: 2 minutes A campaign to assess, reinforce and promote cybersecurity across Canada’s ag sector — partly through this website and its sister publications and events — has been tapped to receive multi-year federal funding. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair on March 25 announced over $500,000 over four years through the federal Cyber Security Co-operation Program for the […] Read more
No credit expected for farmers’ past work in new carbon market
Work on protocols for specific projects to begin this spring, department says
Reading Time: 3 minutes Draft regulations for Canada’s new carbon market show Canadian farmers won’t receive credit for removing any greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from the atmosphere prior to 2017. Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson on Friday announced the offset market, to be known as the Federal Greenhouse Gas Offset System. A 60-day public consultation period on draft regulations […] Read more
Canada hails new WTO chief
Trade body names first African, and first female, DG
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada is lending its support to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) choice for its new director general. Ngorzi Okonjo-Iweala was chosen Feb. 15 by WTO members as the international trade body’s new head, making her the first woman and the first African to serve in the role. Mary Ng, Canada’s minister of small business, export […] Read more
Steps you can take now to prevent combine fires later
Prevention and preparation are key to protect your equipment from burning
Reading Time: 7 minutes Can anything instil more fear in farmers than the smell or sight of smoke while combining. The potential for loss in terms of equipment, crop and even life because of a fire during harvest operations is huge. Unfortunately, fires while harvesting are not uncommon. This past fall, the fire departments in the County of Forty […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
