Reading Time: 2 minutes Farming is evolving faster than any of us realize, with farmers solidly in charge. To see how, just read the stories our latest issue and apply their messages to an entire industry. A few weeks ago, our broader Country Guide team hired a bus and invited the agency people who make the ads, write the […] Read more
Editor’s Note: Deciding you want a better future
The outlook for Canadian agriculture is one of ‘surprising strength’
Crop and livestock prices are off their highs, but demand, supply, and the low dollar are positive factors
Reading Time: 2 minutes Here’s some encouraging news. Farm cash receipts should be relatively stable across all provinces in 2016-17. Each province combines a different mix of crops and livestock products that result in varied provincial receipts, but the overall trends appear steady. There are a number of reasons this is likely to be the case. Commodity prices show […] Read more
The GMO debate is far from over
The labelling issue is more about perceived risk or benefit than it is about science
Reading Time: 4 minutes With the Vermont GMO (genetically modified organism) labelling law now in effect, a number of companies has begun to voluntarily label all of their products sold anywhere in the U.S. rather than end up having to produce different labels for different states. They are, in effect, treating the Vermont law as the national standard for GMO […] Read more
A Canadian farmer in China
Unfortunately for our markets, what I saw convinced me that China’s plan to feed itself has a real chance of succeeding
Reading Time: 7 minutes Every decision we make is influenced by our perception of the world around us. This is especially true in farming. Whether it’s which crops to plant or when to sell, many of our management decisions are based more on our personal perceptions than on hard facts. But what if our perceptions are wrong? This question […] Read more
Editor’s Note: ‘Big’ plans for summer in the city
Swift Current is still a fine place. Brandon is too, and so are London, Kingston, Lethbridge and Prince Albert, along with an atlas full of other small cities across Canada. But…
Reading Time: 2 minutes … they just don’t come up to the mark, at least in this one important way. Even Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Edmonton fall short, partly because you feel too comfortable in them. Nor does even Calgary make the list, although that’s OK because Ottawa doesn’t get on it either. Canadians have built three of the world’s […] Read more
Hopes grow for gene editing
This safe new technology promises to take us far beyond GMOs. But will consumers let us use it?
Reading Time: 5 minutes A new technology called gene editing promises to pick up where GMOs have fallen short. In other words, with gene editing, farmers and consumers may benefit as much as chemical and seed companies. But for that to happen, farmers must become familiar with this new technology, they must understand what it can offer agriculture and […] Read more
Editor’s Note: A season for deciding on new goals for the farm
Farmers stand out in today’s culture for their ability to make actual decisions, not just choices. Now the rewards for choosing which decisions to make are about to multiply
Reading Time: 2 minutes I know I’m a broken record on this subject, and that I’m forever saying that if there’s anything I’d like consumers to really understand about today’s farmers, it’s how they excel at decision making. It’s foreign to consumers, who excel in their own way at making choices, such as which pairs of jeans send which […] Read more
Editor’s Note: A new think for supply management
If you haven’t re-thought your own attitudes about supply management, you’ll find it worth reading “Up for business”
Reading Time: 2 minutes I never agree with everything that’s said in our pages. I don’t expect you to always agree either. The trickier issue is when we decide we don’t agree with a story before we read it. So we never get beyond the first paragraph. In this case I ask you to consider reading associate editor Maggie […] Read more
Farming in a troubled economy
It looks like a weak dollar isn’t so good for agriculture after all
Reading Time: 5 minutes Farmers almost universally accept the premise that a drop in the Canadian dollar is bullish for our agriculture because our commodities are priced off the U.S. This increases our prices domestically and also makes us more competitive both in the U.S. and in regions where commodity transactions are made in American dollars. But is this […] Read more
Editor’s Note: Writing the book on Canada’s farms (2)
Reading Time: 2 minutes Two issues ago, I asked, what would it look like if the business section at Chapters was crammed with books about our farmers? Business books are popular for a reason. It’s easy to mock them, I know, especially the ego strokers that get written so breathlessly by ghost writers who understand there is only one […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
