Reading Time: < 1 minute The weather models have been remarkably accurate for this time of the year. The big weather picture remains the same. There is a large, persistent ridge of high pressure over far Western Canada with an equally persistent trough of low pressure over Eastern Canada. This means western regions will continue to see sunny, dry and […] Read more
Prairie Forecast Update: Forecast on track
Forecast issued May 14, 2023, covering the half-week stretch from May 14 to 17, 2023
The scent of a place
Healthy vacations have never been more essential for you, the family and the farm. But where to go? Here’s a great idea: let your sense of smell and a favourite aroma guide you on a trip worth sniffing at!
Reading Time: 7 minutes The woman who sat down across the aisle from me on my train trip from Florence, Italy, to Milan could have been Gina Lollobrigida’s younger sister. But it wasn’t the striking resemblance or her drop-dead elegance that intrigued me, it was the intoxicating fragrance of flowers and spices that wafted from her carry-on bag on […] Read more
Fire and floods across Western Canada force evacuations
Western Alberta towns of Edson, Drayton Valley ordered to evacuate
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — A week of record-hot weather in Western Canada has forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes, as wildfires rage in parts of Alberta and rapid snow melt triggers flooding across interior British Columbia. By Friday, more than 13,000 people were under evacuation orders in Alberta. As of late Friday afternoon, 91 fires […] Read more
Buy or rent? Land rent-to-price ratio can help farmers decide
FCC sees current ratios on farmland as (roughly) stable
Reading Time: 4 minutes Higher interest rates don’t seem to be affecting the ratio between land values and land rental costs — at least, not yet. Farm Credit Canada’s latest analysis of farmland rental prices says they’re roughly maintaining their traditional linkage, says J.P Gervais, the organization’s chief economist. “We were curious to see whether that would bring up […] Read more
Thompson returns as P.E.I. ag minister
Ag and land ministry split; Compton not returning to cabinet
Reading Time: 2 minutes Prince Edward Island’s former agriculture minister is again its current ag minister, in a post-election cabinet shuffle by returning Premier Dennis King. Bloyce Thompson, MLA for the district of Stanhope-Marshfield since 2019 and ag minister from 2019 until last summer, was again appointed April 14 as King’s minister of agriculture, justice and public safety and […] Read more
And even more on the way
Farmers have a valuable story to tell, but tourism pro Celes Davar says they rarely know what that value is
Reading Time: 5 minutes They’ve never thought about it from the visitor’s perspective,” says Wolfville, N.S. sustainable tourism operator, Celes Davar, who helps launch new experiential on-farm businesses across the country. “But when I turn it around and say, ‘If you were going to Costa Rica tomorrow, would you want to meet someone who grows the cacao bean?’ Well, […] Read more
Editor’s Note: It’s here. We can’t go back
Reading Time: 2 minutes Actually, it’s more than that. It isn’t just that we can’t go back. It’s that we can’t even want to do it. The past is gone. It’s over. And while the future is full of challenge, it’s popping with excitement and opportunity too. It sounds so trite to say that the future is here. What […] Read more
Finding your farm’s niche
In today’s farm economy, business advisors are hunting new investment opportunities for their farm clients. Here’s how one plans to find them
Reading Time: 5 minutes Let’s say you’re pretty content with the way things are. You feel reasonably successful and you’re at a stage in your farming life where you don’t feel any great need to expand the operation. The value of your assets — especially your land — has been increasing pretty impressively and your balance sheet is a […] Read more
Farm managers take to the field (2)
Professional farm managers control huge acres south of the border. Are they coming to Canada too?
Reading Time: 3 minutes Across the U.S., the title “Accredited Farm Manager” is among the country’s fastest growing professional designations, driven by the surge not just in rental acres but also in absentee landowners and in non-ag investors. The question is, are we going to see more farms run by professional managers in Canada too? In fact, the farm-manager […] Read more
The new farmers
Is it possible for a non-farmer without big capital to become a farmer in today’s Canada? The Young Agrarians have an answer the entire industry is watching
Reading Time: 9 minutes Krystyna Delahaye didn’t always see herself as a farmer. Back in 2012, she wasn’t one. Originally from Quebec, Delahaye had simply moved to B.C. to work front of house in a restaurant and she met Jason Stashko, who was working as a cook in another restaurant. It’s a story similar in its way to the […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
