(Dave Bedard file photo)

Manitoba’s education tax phase-out begins

Budget pledges a 25 per cent rebate cheque in 2021; existing farmland school tax rebate to be reduced

Reading Time: 3 minutes Manitoba’s latest budget follows through on a move the government telegraphed in last fall’s throne speech, by starting a phased removal of education tax on farm and residential properties. Finance Minister Scott Fielding’s budget, released Wednesday, calls for about $248 million in education tax rebates in 2021 alone for about 658,000 property owners. Owners of […] Read more

Illustration of the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons, a key stage of development of Parkinson’s disease. (Dr_Microbe/iStock/Getty Images)

Quebec to reduce onus for farm workers seeking workers’ comp for Parkinson’s

Amended rule would grant 'presumption' for pesticide exposure

Reading Time: 2 minutes Some Quebec farmers and farm workers with Parkinson’s disease may soon have an easier path to seek workers’ compensation — if they can show at least a certain amount of exposure to pesticides. Provincial Labour Minister Jean Boulet on Tuesday tabled an amendment to bill 59, draft legislation that includes updates to Quebec’s workplace health […] Read more


(Strickke/E+/Getty Images)

Top court upholds federal carbon pricing policy

Farm groups, fearing unsustainable costs, press for next steps

Reading Time: 3 minutes Calgary/Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s Supreme Court ruled in favour of the federal government’s carbon pricing policy on Thursday, upholding a central pillar of Prime Minister Justin’s Trudeau’s climate plan and infuriating some provinces that opposed it. The country’s top court said climate change is a threat to Canada as a whole and upheld the […] Read more

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is sworn in at the White House on March 18, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Tom Brenner)

New U.S. trade chief Tai focused on CUSMA, China ties in calls

New trade deals on hold for now, White House says

Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — New U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai mapped out her priorities and Washington’s desire to rebuild alliances in initial calls on Monday with her counterparts from Canada, Britain and the European Union. Tai, sworn in Thursday as President Joe Biden’s top trade negotiator, emphasized climate change, racial equity and the need to […] Read more


File photo of a pea crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

New federal program to help develop on-farm carbon sinks

Plan to build out AAFC's 'Living Labs' concept across country

Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal government plans to put up $185 million over the next 10 years for farmers to work with scientists and others on new ways to pull carbon out of the air. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson on Thursday announced the Agricultural Climate Solutions (ACS) program, which the government said is […] Read more

For silage, breeders want as much total plant with a moist kernel and which stays green as long as possible.

Choosing corn hybrids specifically for silage

Leafy floury hybrids are more digestible in the silo and in the rumen

Reading Time: 5 minutes Producers know that feeding high-quality silage can improve weight gain in beef cattle and increase milk production in dairy cows. So it makes sense to consider growing a corn hybrid bred specifically for silage rather than grain. Francis Glenn, a corn breeder and president of Glenn Seed in Ontario, saw the opportunity for silage-specific corn […] Read more


(LIVINUS/iStock/Getty Images)

New quarantine rules lined up for temporary foreign workers

Private transport would allow workers to skip immediate hotel stay

Reading Time: 2 minutes Temporary foreign workers coming to Canada for work in the farming or food processing sectors might not have to immediately check into government-approved hotels for COVID-19 quarantines along with other arriving travellers. The federal government on Tuesday announced new rules for TFWs taking effect starting Sunday (March 21). Like other arrivals, TFWs will still be […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Farmland appreciation continues through pandemic year

FCC report puts Canada's average land value increase at 5.4 per cent

Reading Time: 3 minutes Economic churn across Canada from the global COVID-19 pandemic didn’t faze the country’s real estate market — nor its farmland market in particular — in 2020, according to the latest review from the federal farm lending agency. Farm Credit Canada on Monday released its 2020 Farmland Values report, showing an average increase of 5.4 per […] Read more


A Western blot analysis, used to detect specific proteins in tissue samples, is used to confirm BSE in cattle. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Canada clears step toward ‘negligible risk’ BSE status

OIE delegates to vote in late May, CFIA says

Reading Time: 3 minutes The international committee that reviews countries’ requests for animal health status on specific diseases has called for Canada to level up on its status for BSE. The Scientific Commission of the OIE (World Organization for Animal Health), which last met virtually over Feb. 1-12, has recommended to OIE delegates that Canada’s application seeking “negligible risk” […] Read more

Workers prepare foodstuffs at a food distribution centre supported by the World Food Program at Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, on June 3, 2020. File photo: Reuters/Khaled Abdullah

U.N. counts cost of ‘man-made’ famines

US$400 for a plate of rice and beans?

Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — Nearly 30 years ago a malnourished two-year-old girl died in front of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield at a refugee camp in northern Uganda. Two days ago U.N. food chief David Beasley met a starving five-month-old girl at a hospital in Yemen — she died on Thursday. […] Read more