Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadians don’t think that food and agriculture will be a significant issue in the current federal election. A survey conducted Sept. 9 and released Tuesday by Angus Reid Global with the support of Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab shows 31 per cent of Canadians believe food and agriculture will be a prime electoral issue during […] Read more

Food, farming not expected to be big election issues

Dairy farmers to get direct cash payment as trade compensation
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian dairy farmers will be getting direct cash compensation after the government gave up dairy market access to other countries in recent trade deals. The compensation follows promises by the Trudeau government — and the Harper government before it — that dairy farmers would be compensated in some form for the loss of market. Why […] Read more

Agriculture foreign workers get new path to residency
Reading Time: 3 minutes Updated, July 15 — The federal government has announced a pilot program that will make it easier for farms and food companies to maintain workers they recruit from around the world. Ahmed Hussen, minister for immigration, refugees and citizenship, announced the program Friday at Maple Leaf Foods in Mississauga. Why it matters: There’s a labour […] Read more

Ontario beef checkoff to rise by $1.50
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario beef farmers have approved an increase of $1.50 in checkoff per animal to fund an ambitious industry-wide marketing effort for Ontario beef. Producers at the Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO) annual meeting in Mississauga on Wednesday voted 87 per cent in favour of the plan. A similar plan was rejected at last year’s annual […] Read more

Greig: Why IBV is such a tough bug
Reading Time: 3 minutes Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) continues to find ways to keep itself relevant to poultry farmers, researchers and veterinarians across North America — much to their dismay. Why it matters: Despite lots of research and efforts to find ways to manage it, the virus continues to mutate and show up in flocks with different symptoms in […] Read more

Ontario organic grain buyer Homestead closing
Reading Time: 2 minutes One of the province’s leading organic retailers and buyers of organic grains will shut its doors Friday. Homestead Organics, founded and still run by organic driving force Tom Manley, will be sold off, likely in parts. The company said its Shakespeare, Ont. mill is in the process of being sold and will continue as an […] Read more

The ‘insight’ bonus
More brothers and sisters: Knowing each other’s characters so well means this family is ready for almost any challenge
Reading Time: 5 minutes Brothers and sisters are working together on more farms all the time. More and more too, there are multiple siblings on these farms, not just one of each. To outsiders, it can seem like so many more chances for family to get in the way, and so many chances for old rivalries to flare up. […] Read more

Honest to goodness
More brothers and sisters: For the Noble family, success means learning how to change open communication from a threat into a strength
Reading Time: 4 minutes Brothers and sisters are working together on more farms all the time. More and more too, there are multiple siblings on these farms, not just one of each. To outsiders, it can seem like so many more chances for family to get in the way, and so many chances for old rivalries to flare up. […] Read more

Industry still looking for new NH3 tank rule break
Reading Time: 2 minutes Fertilizer Canada and the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers (CAAR) say there will be enough anhydrous ammonia nurse tanks available to supply the fertilizer to farmers during this growing season. New Transport Canada regulations came into force Jan. 12, which affect the frequency of hydrostatic testing and visual inspection of ammonia nurse and applicator tanks and […] Read more

Far-away farming
Do your research, get good help, and maybe farming overseas will work as well for you as it does for these two Canadian families
Reading Time: 7 minutes When Canadian farmers set up farms in distant places around the world, one of the consequences is exactly what you’d think. They learn about those countries. In fact, there’s nothing like farming overseas to learn about a region inside and out. The surprise, though, is how much they also learn about farming back in Canada. […] Read more