Reading Time: 7 minutes Since 2012, U.S. grain prices have trended down significantly. Canadian farmers have been somewhat shielded from the price drop by a corresponding slump in the Canadian dollar. However, current prices combined with last year’s weather-related yield and quality losses are resulting in negative margins for many producers. Coffee shop analysts are quick to assign blame […] Read more
Is Hawaii the canary in the cornfield?
There is a lesson for us to learn from the island paradise, so get ready for some uncomfortable reading
Farmer Barbie?
Is Farmer Barbie just another way to keep our daughters out of the business of farming, or is something more serious going on?
Reading Time: 6 minutes Next time you check out the toy aisle you might be surprised to find a Farmer Barbie doll on the shelves. She comes ready to farm dressed in a plaid shirt, denim overalls and rubber boots, with a red tractor, pink trailer, and an assortment of farm animals. Farmer Barbie is one of a line […] Read more
Use science to be a better agvocate
To capture someone’s interest you need to find a way to connect on an emotional level
Reading Time: 3 minutes As a farmer, you use science every day. On a day like today you might even use it to calculate how much snow load your barn can withstand, or to improve the success of your agvocacy efforts. Research shows that to build successful farmer-consumer relationships, we need to connect with people emotionally by telling our […] Read more
Growth markets
Sales at farmers markets across Canada are rushing toward $1.5 billion, and their farmers have plans for much, much more
Reading Time: 9 minutes Situated on the south edge of Winnipeg, the farmers market at Le marché St. Norbert was bustling on the chilly Saturday morning in late October when I visited. A fiddler entertained inside the market’s new 11,700 square-foot canvas canopy, and vendors with a range of local products for sale were busy engaging with the crowd. […] Read more
Get the story right
Why it’s so hard to debunk myths (and the secret to doing it)
Reading Time: 3 minutes The expression “mud sticks” doesn’t just refer to the aggravation you experience during spring planting. It also means that misinformation seems to have an uncanny knack for settling in and never letting go. Take, for instance, these gems that persist despite (or perhaps because of) an online world of information at our fingertips: bovine flatulence […] Read more
Blockchain essentials
At last, here’s a clear explanation of what the blockchain fuss is all about, and why it may be such a winner for agriculture
Reading Time: 4 minutes Traceability, food safety and fighting food fraud are issues of significant importance to food producers around the world. In fact, with supply chains getting more complex and ever-more global, and with consumers becoming increasingly both more curious and more wary about how and from where food gets to their plate, these issues may never have […] Read more
Filling in the knowledge gaps for consumers
Understanding the science of why consumers get so much wrong about agriculture can help us put them right
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s not an earth-shattering revelation to those working in agriculture that there is a farm-to-plate knowledge gap. We know that most consumers are generations removed from the farm and have misconceptions or a lack of accurate information about agriculture. The Knowledge Gap theory is that information has traditionally been more accessible to those with higher […] Read more
Is the class half full or half empty?
Just under half of Canada’s farmers are committed to lifelong learning. Here’s how it makes a difference
Reading Time: 5 minutes “When the human mind is stretched, it never returns to its original size — similar to most new underpants.” That’s a quote from the International Farm Management Congress in Scotland last year, and it’s one that Farm Management Canada (FMC) executive director Heather Watson uses to stress the enduring impact of continuous lifelong learning. “The […] Read more
What’s this about blockchains?
The opportunities for agriculture and farming are amazing. It’s time to get learning
Reading Time: 10 minutes For over a decade, farmers have been told that a systems approach will bring greater efficiency to their farms. Quality assurance, nutrient management plans, environmental farm plans, big data, precision ag — they’ll all help increase efficiency and might even improve profitability. In the past six months, a new phrase has exploded into the business […] Read more
How we market today
Smart young Millennials are bringing an incredible new level of intelligence and energy to commodity marketing on a growing number of Canada’s farms. But not on all
Reading Time: 5 minutes It’s obvious that today’s farmers have upped their financial management game, working with professionals including accountants and lawyers to build on and execute plans that are miles more sophisticated than ever before. But when it comes to marketing, are our farmers as good at roping in top advice? It depends on the farm, of course, […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
