Reading Time: 3 minutes Members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) are in the middle of a strike vote. The vote comes after three collective agreements, covering CN and CPKC engineers and conductors as well as rail traffic controllers at CPCK, expired December 31.
Rail strike looms as CN, CPKC workers take action to a vote
Any labour disruption could be weeks away, but the grain sector is still wary
Renting land better than buying for cash flow: FCC
Each farm needs to make the decision themselves, but a bit of analysis can help when choosing
Reading Time: 3 minutes Rising farmland values and higher interest rates have swung the affordability pendulum in favour of renting, not buying, farmland.
National school food program announced
Federal government says program aims to start with 2024/25 school year
Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal government plans to spend over $1 billion over five years on a national school food program that will feed an additional 400,000 school-aged children a year.
Canadian Meat Council decries TFW changes
Industry group says ending special measures for sector is 'premature'
Reading Time: 2 minutes Incoming changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program will add to the sector's already significant labour challenges, the Canadian Meat Council says.
New farm income record set in 2023, estimates suggest
Despite challenges like drought and war, Canadian farms proved resilient
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian farm income may have set a new record in 2023. That's according to the official 2023 and 2024
estimates released February 16 by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
Carbon exemption amendments costly to farmers: PBO
Financial analysis finds carbon tax relief will be significantly lower after changes
Reading Time: < 1 minute Amendments to Bill C-234 will cost Canadian farmers nearly $90 million a year, according to a report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) released February 13.
Canadian food inflation to slow through 2024, report says
More certainty has brought an uptick in grocer promotions, but consumers are struggling
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canadian food prices are expected to rise between 2.5 and 4.5 per cent in 2024, according to a new report.
“It is probable that Canadians will continue to experience the strain of food inflation compounded by increasing costs of housing, energy and various other expenditures,” according to Canada’s Food Price Report 2024.
Prairie soil moisture picture growing clearer
Alberta driest; Saskatchewan variable; Manitoba mostly OK
Reading Time: 6 minutes It’s a variable soil moisture picture on the Prairies as seeding season draws nearer. The east has enough moisture — and in some cases too much. And it gets progressively drier toward the west, with portions of Alberta nearing critical condition, according to one weather watcher. Bruce Burnett, weather and markets director for the MarketsFarm […] Read more
Building bridges to Indigenous communities
Reading Time: < 1 minute Western Canadian society has a wall running straight down its middle, dividing the world into Indigenous and non-Indigenous spheres. Breaking that wall down is in everyone’s interest, according to Kendal Netmaker. The Saskatoon-based Indigenous entrepreneur, author and consultant told the Canadian Crops Convention his priority is removing that wall. “We need to knock it down […] Read more
Canola industry ready to move forward
Reading Time: < 1 minute 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
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
