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
Farming in a troubled economy
It looks like a weak dollar isn’t so good for agriculture after all
Foreign worker break for seafood sector a ‘one-time’ deal
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters –– Canada’s move to loosen restrictions on hiring foreign workers for East Coast seafood plants was a one-time decision, and the government is not convinced other sectors need similar measures, the country’s employment minister said Thursday. The Liberal government eased restrictions under its foreign worker program recently for Atlantic seafood processors, allowing […] Read more
Is it time to drop the term ‘commercial farmer?’
When you call yourself a commercial farmer, consumers may hear ‘factory farm’
Reading Time: 6 minutes Labels are a tricky business, especially in an agriculture where there is a dictionary full of words you can use to describe other farmers, or that you can use to call yourself. Are you a farmer, or a producer? Or are you a grower, or a rancher? More to the point, what do you call […] Read more
Big data in Canadian agriculture? Not yet
Precision agriculture proponents are convinced that the technology will pay off, but that data collection needs to be standardized and not require farmers’ time during the busy seasons
Reading Time: 6 minutes Watching over the fencerow to see how the neighbour is growing that nice crop is a long tradition in farming. Are we heading into an era where you can look over the digital fencerow to look at the neighbour’s data on nutrient placement, seeding rates, variety selection and combine speed? Increasingly each piece of equipment […] Read more
A million women farmers
To get big numbers of women farmers, the U.S. looks to small farms
Reading Time: 6 minutes According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, the number of female-operated farms in the U.S. more than doubled between 1982 and 2012. On top of that, if you add in the number of women who participate on male-led or jointly led farms as primary and secondary operators, the U.S. now has nearly one million female […] Read more
Editor’s Desk: That hard as nails truth
Reading Time: 2 minutes Every neighbourhood has its own stories of farmers who had to be hard as nails to survive, but who turned out to also be fired by a vital spark that could not be extinguished even by the heaviest, most wearying toil. It’s this combination — the toughness and the humanity — that makes them such […] Read more
Rookie MP named Bloc’s agriculture critic
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Bloc Quebecois has tapped a rookie Montreal-area MP from its expanded 10-member caucus to serve as its new critic for agriculture and agri-food. Simon Marcil won the newly created riding of Mirabel in last month’s election by a spread of 837 votes over Mylene Freeman, the incumbent NDP MP for Argenteuil-Papineau-Mirabel and the party’s […] Read more
Alta. names new deputy ag minister
Reading Time: < 1 minute A former assistant deputy minister in municipal affairs is now Alberta’s chief agricultural bureaucrat. Beverly Yee was named Thursday as the new deputy minister for agriculture and forestry, replacing Jason Krips. Yee, who has worked for the province since 1994, has held several executive management positions, the province said. Her most recent posting was as […] Read more
Most of farm file’s handlers to return to Commons
Reading Time: 4 minutes Most federal parliamentarians with experience in the agriculture and agri-food portfolio will be back in the House of Commons under a new majority Liberal government. As of Tuesday morning, prime minister-elect Justin Trudeau’s Liberals were elected or leading in 184 of 338 seats, for a decisive majority following Monday’s federal election. Stephen Harper’s Conservatives return […] Read more
Editor’s Desk: It’s all about values
Reading Time: 2 minutes “It isn’t what a person says that counts. It’s what they do.” Everyone on the farm learned this from the cradle, and over the years they’ve come to know exactly how sage this advice really is. Being in business puts your values into action. It proves, every day, exactly what your beliefs are, and what […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
