Photo: Getty Images

Organic operators down, acreage up: new industry stats

Total organic sales in 2022 was $10.26, billion up from $9.35 billion in 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes The number of Canadian organic producers and processors fell by nearly 300 in 2022 according to the latest industry stats. “There’s people coming in and there’s people going out,” said Tia Loftsgard, executive director of the Canadian Organic Trade Association (COTA). 

A display of civilian vehicles destroyed in the war in Kyiv. Photo: Aleksandr Gusev/SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Reuters

Ukrainian farmers’ history of making do pays off in wartime

First person: over the past 20 months, hundreds of thousands of civillian vehicles have passed through the crucible of war

Reading Time: 5 minutes The technical arsenal of farmers who cultivate small acreages is extremely varied. They have small tillers to which trailers are attached, and tiny, sometimes homemade, tractors. Sometimes you can even see a small field being plowed with the help of horses. We still have horse-drawn carts, although this is rare. In my town, there is only one horse left. My friend keeps him at home as a pet. In his youth, my friend worked at a stable and retained his love for horses.


(Glacier FarmMedia staff photo)

Legislation allows Quebec’s UPA to rework funding formula

Bill 28 passes Quebec assembly

Reading Time: 2 minutes Quebec’s legislative assembly has passed a bill allowing the province’s overarching general farm organization, the Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA), to start the process toward a new funding model. Provincial Agriculture Minister Andre Lamontagne on Thursday announced the passage of Bill 28, which amends legislation governing organization of farming activities and the accreditation of UPA. […] Read more

Sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies for the week centred on Nov. 1, 2023, in degrees Celsius. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

El Nino to continue through Northern Hemisphere spring, U.S. forecaster says

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — El Nino weather conditions will continue through the Northern Hemisphere during April-June 2024 with a 62 per cent chance, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday. “Above-average sea surface temperatures (SST) across the equatorial Pacific Ocean were indicative of a strong El Nino, with anomalies increasing in the central and east-central Pacific […] Read more



File photo of a desk in Canada’s Senate. (Dougall_Photography/iStock/Getty Images)

Senate votes down C-234 amendments

Changes would have pulled barn and greenhouse heating from carbon price exemptions

Reading Time: < 1 minute The Senate voted today to reject amendments that would have seen barn and greenhouse heating removed from Bill C-234. In a sitting on the afternoon of Nov. 7, senators voted no to the adoption of amendments made by the committee for agriculture and forestry. Twenty-eight voted yes, and four abstained. The Senate then voted to […] Read more


A sea otter floats near the Columbia Glacier along Alaska’s southern gulf coast. (Chansak Joe/iStock/Getty Images)

Prairie Forecast: Nice, quiet early-winter weather

Issued Nov. 1, covering Nov. 1 to 8

Reading Time: 3 minutes Interesting weather pattern setting up across the Prairies during this forecast period. Well, maybe “interesting” isn’t the right word; “boring” might be a better one. What I mean by “interesting” is just how quickly we swung from a warm fall pattern to a cool winter pattern. Low temperatures across the Prairies over the last week […] Read more

Long-range outlook points to warmer winter

Long-range outlook points to warmer winter

Odds less likely for Prairies next three months

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Warmer than normal temperatures are expected across nearly all of Canada this winter, with average precipitation for most of the agricultural areas of the Prairies. The latest long-range seasonal forecast from Environment Canada, released Tuesday, calls for a 40 per cent chance of above-normal temperatures from November through January across most of Alberta, […] Read more


(Mysticenergy/iStock/Getty Images)

Prairie Forecast Update: Warmer air not in the cards

Issued Oct. 29, covering Oct. 29 to Nov. 1

Reading Time: < 1 minute The forecast for this period has been playing out pretty close to what the weather models were predicting, but with a few small differences. For Alberta, the forecasted upper ridge does not look like it will get nearly as strong as originally forecasted as a strong northwesterly flow helps to flatten the ridge. This means […] Read more

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Canada to boost carbon tax rebate for rural areas

Will also pause carbon tax on home heating oil for three years

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday announced a three-year carbon tax exemption for home heating oil and higher carbon tax rebates for people in rural areas, measures he said were intended to bring relief amid soaring costs of living. Trudeau’s Liberal government has implemented a price on carbon to combat […] Read more