Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The global climate crisis is interlinked with the financial crisis on Canadian farms, according to a new discussion paper from the National Farmers Union (NFU). The paper proposes changes to agriculture practices that could help the sector become part of the solution to both major issues. Compiled by Darrin Qualman in collaboration with […] Read more

NFU paper lays out solutions for climate, farming challenges

Maple Leaf lands ‘sustainability-linked’ credit
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian food processor Maple Leaf Foods is taking its recently-established sustainability cred to the bank. The Toronto food firm announced Wednesday it’s the first Canadian company to secure “sustainability-linked terms” for its credit facilities. Specifically, the company has picked up an unsecured committed revolving line of credit and two unsecured committed term facilities for a […] Read more

Angry farmers cause Dutch police to close off parliament square
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Hague | Reuters — Police in the Dutch city of The Hague closed its central parliament square on Wednesday to keep out farmers protesting over what they see as attempts to blame them for nitrogen pollution. Thousands of irate farmers had driven tractors to The Hague hours earlier in their third large protest in […] Read more

Chemical firm sees strong demand for methane-reducing feed additive
Reading Time: 2 minutes Amsterdam | Reuters — Dutch specialty chemicals company DSM is expecting strong demand for a feed additive which limits the amount of methane burped into the air by cows, its contribution to the global fight against climate change. Methane has a much larger effect on global warming than carbon dioxide (CO2) and reducing methane emissions […] Read more

Beef sector sees place in UN report’s lower-emission vision
Reading Time: 3 minutes While a new United Nations report on climate change and land calls for “rebalancing diets,” the policy paths it seeks are a good fit for beef cattle ranching as Canadians know it, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association says. Responding Thursday to the report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the CCA said Canada’s […] Read more

UN flags need to reduce meat consumption to curb land use impact on global warming
Reading Time: 3 minutes London/Geneva | Reuters — Global meat consumption must fall to curb global warming, reduce growing strains on land and water and improve food security, health and biodiversity, a United Nations report on the effects of climate change concluded. Although the report stopped short of explicitly advocating going meat-free, it called for big changes to farming […] Read more

U.S. government report says climate change will batter economy
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Climate change will cost the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the century, hitting everything from health to infrastructure, according to a government report issued on Friday that the White House called inaccurate. The congressionally mandated report, written with the help of more than a dozen U.S. government […] Read more

McDonald’s sets greenhouse gas reduction targets
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — McDonald’s Corp. on Tuesday announced what it describes as an approved, science-based target to cut greenhouse gas emissions and battle climate change, saying it is the first restaurant company to do so. Under a plan several years in the making, the fast-food company — along with its franchisees and suppliers — aims to […] Read more

Ford to launch diesel truck to grab fuel economy edge
Reading Time: 2 minutes Detroit | Reuters — Ford Motor Co. plans this spring to offer a diesel engine version of its best-selling F-150 pickup truck, looking to gain a marketing edge as its main rivals ramp up more efficient pickups of their own. Ford executives said they expect the F-150 diesel model with a 10-speed transmission to achieve […] Read more

Farm fuel to be exempt from Manitoba carbon tax
Reading Time: 3 minutes Farm fuel will be exempt from a carbon tax, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister said in an interview Thursday on the eve of announcing his government’s Made-in-Manitoba Climate and Green Plan. “It does exempt some farm costs — farm fuel, for example,” he said. “I know we’ll get pushback from some industry groups that are not […] Read more