Reading Time: 4 minutes A new technology that turns air, renewable energy and water into nitrogen fertilizer could reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and provide farmers with consistent local access to a nutrient that’s proving to be better for crops. “We use the same fundamental process as a lightning storm,” says Nicolas Pinkowski, co-founder and CEO of Nitricity […] Read more
Out of thin air
This new company is promising to revolutionize the fertilizer industry. Just how would you do that?
‘Field of Dreams’ diversification
Got a diversification project in mind? Get ready for some serious negotiating — not with the bank but with the planning staff in local government
Reading Time: 7 minutes When they decided to start their own distillery in their hometown of Ayr, Ont., Cameron Formica and the brothers Jordan and Nolan van der Heyden decided to test the truth of the movie line “if you build it, they will come.” “Farming on farmland is good in theory,” Formica recalls thinking. He knows the “in […] Read more
Missing the market
Farmers like the Thatchers are succeeding, but what happened to the promise that industry would make us a world leader value-adding?
Reading Time: 11 minutes Five years ago, the spotlight was shining bright on a report from the federal government’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth. Few federal reports get much attention, but this report, named after council chair Dominic Barton, generated headlines as it predicted that a new era of value-adding would not only transform the country’s ag and food […] Read more
Value adding, with a flourish
What does it take to thrive with a farm that value adds? The answer surprised Dana Thatcher, and it will likely surprise you too
Reading Time: 6 minutes When Dana Thatcher started getting compliments from the other teachers at school about the food she was bringing for lunch, little did she know it would lead to a thriving farm, food and agri-tourism business. “People were interested in what I was eating, and the fact that we had grown it,” Thatcher recalls. “That’s what […] Read more
Social financing
Here’s a financing model that is pumping real dollars into strengthening the farms and businesses that supply Canada’s sustainable local food
Reading Time: 5 minutes Climate change and the pandemic are turning more investors’ minds — and their money too — toward building resilient food supply chains across Canada, according to two experts in social financing. “There are more and more people who recognize that local, social financing is a bit of a vaccination against what’s happening with the global […] Read more
Time to hit ‘Print’ for that machinery part?
How about using your 3D printer to reproduce broken machinery parts? That capability is already here, and it’s getting better all the time
Reading Time: 4 minutes First, let’s get the name right. Until now, we’ve been calling it 3D printing. It’s a name that will probably stick around for a while, but those in the know are already calling it by its newer name, “additive manufacturing.” “The technology is far, far more user friendly and there are really good desktop printers […] Read more
Taking care of business on a hybrid farm
When James Morin went into farming, the family chose to go regenerative, and they haven’t been able to keep up with consumer demand ever since
Reading Time: 10 minutes When James and Josée Morin decided to move from the city of Sudbury to the country in 2012, little did they know that by 2021, they’d be committed to the farm as a thriving business. It wasn’t in the plan. “We were just looking to get out of the city, get some land and put […] Read more
Looking for the green
The inventor of Hydrogreen technology has advice for anyone looking to bring a disruptive invention to market. “Go for it,” he says. “It’s a lot of work and many sleepless nights, but there are huge rewards.”
Reading Time: 7 minutes A new indoor hydroponic technology that raises live, green fodder from seed to feed in six days is starting to disrupt the way livestock is fed on farms around the world. Bill Vanderkooi has been testing the Hydrogreen system on his Abbotsford, B.C. farm for the past two years with his 250 head of grass-finished […] Read more
The agricultural market awaits
Got a great idea and want to bring it to the market? Here’s how veteran Tim Nelson launched Farm Health Guardian when he spotted a pressing need for faster, more advanced disease tracking in Canadian livestock operations
Reading Time: 6 minutes Getting an innovative agricultural product or service to market — and having it sell — is neither an easy nor an inexpensive way to make your mark, so Tim Nelson has some advice if you think you have hit on the next big thing. “Make sure it is of use and relevant to farmers,” says […] Read more
A food hub that grows
Regional food hubs are tackling the shortcomings of direct-to-consumer farming
Reading Time: 5 minutes A proposed $36 million food hub in eastern Ontario may be the model for a more regionalized Canadian food system that will benefit farmers and consumers as they emerge from the disruption of COVID-19. “We know that food sovereignty is on the mind of everyone,” says Carole Lavigne, director of economic development and tourism in […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
