Reading Time: 2 minutes Trevor Scherman and partner Megan Madden are making it easy for farmers to connect during harvest time to get the best settings for their combines. It’s an idea that Scherman says arose from the same philosophy as the ScherGain Solutions System he previously co-founded with his father. That system involves the use of a drop […] Read more
At Ag in Motion: Combine settings app makes the world your neighbour
'Oh, have you tried this concave?'
Searching for farm improvement? Try online learning
The internet adds more mid-career education choices for your business
Reading Time: 5 minutes One drawback to living on a farm is that unless the farm is within easy driving distance of a major centre — and most aren’t — it can be tough to access post-secondary education and farm at the same time. Over the last few decades, however, the internet has changed everything by bringing educational programs […] Read more
Hay-starved Prairies fertile ground for online scammers
At least $64,000 lost in Alberta alone, RCMP says
Reading Time: 2 minutes High demand, scarce supplies and rising prices for hay and other feeds due to this summer’s drought on the Prairies have made a market for online scammers, RCMP warn. The urgency driving such transactions may cause ranchers, farmers and farm workers to make purchases “without taking time to properly verify or research production sources,” Alberta […] Read more
Federal irrigation pledge seen flowing mainly to Prairies
Infrastructure plan also includes promised broadband support
Reading Time: 2 minutes Prairie provinces will receive the bulk of Ottawa’s $1.5 billion commitment to support irrigation projects, according to federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday launched a three-year, $10 billion infrastructure plan aimed at five different sectors, including agriculture. The $1.5 billion is expected to result in 700,000 acres of irrigated land. […] Read more
Throne speech commits to rural broadband improvement
Rural health care, water management also on deck
Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal minority Liberal government is promising job creation, better rural internet access and a commitment to combating climate change in its newly revealed legislative plans. In an ambitious throne speech delivered Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s party committed itself to implementing universal child care and extending or enhancing many of the economic measures put […] Read more
Pandemic may strain rural community resources, panel warns
Enthusiasm for telecommuting could later benefit rural areas, if 'digital divide' can be bridged
Reading Time: 3 minutes The COVID-19 pandemic, and Canada’s response to it, have highlighted how rural communities need different strategies than their urban counterparts to provide social services on which the public relies. The Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph hosted a virtual panel in May to discuss COVID-19’s social impacts, in which researchers from a variety […] Read more
NYC equity firm to buy Xplornet
New investment expected to speed up rural broadband rollouts
Reading Time: 2 minutes A Manhattan private equity firm deep in “middle-market infrastructure” has committed to buy, and help improve service from, Canada’s single biggest rural broadband provider. New Brunswick-based, privately held Xplornet Communications announced Thursday it has signed a deal to sell majority control itself to Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners. The two companies’ announcement didn’t put a dollar figure […] Read more
Xplornet buys Ontario’s Silo Wireless
Deal includes rural wireless, fibre services
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s biggest rural broadband company has expanded its space in the southwestern Ontario market by buying internet and fibre-to-home provider Silo Wireless. New Brunswick-based Xplornet Communications, whose client list already includes over a million rural customers in all provinces, announced it has closed its deal to buy Silo for an undisclosed sum. The deal gives […] Read more
Federal minister for rural affairs among Tory pledges
Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal Conservatives’ pre-election pledges for Canada’s rural communities include a plan to appoint a federal minister for rural affairs. Tory leader Andrew Scheer included that promise Sept. 7 in announcing a list of “specific measures he will take as prime minister to help rural communities across the country,” in the lead-up to a federal […] Read more
Rural development strategy sought in federal shuffle
Reading Time: 2 minutes Rural economic development has been given a promotion at the federal level in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s latest cabinet shuffle. In the shuffle, following the departure of Treasury Board president Scott Brison from cabinet, Trudeau on Monday called up Bernadette Jordan, MP for the southern Nova Scotia riding of South Shore-St.Margaret’s, to head a newly […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
