“Collectively, we need to do better,” says friendship expert Shasta Nelson. “Friendship is a human need.”

I get by with a little help from my friends

We can get better at connecting with other people and developing friendships, and it will add immeasurably to our lives

Reading Time: 5 minutes Do you find yourself craving connection? Wishing you had more friends? Or that you could spend more time with the friends you do have? Do you long to be able to share more of your worries and concerns with your friends? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are in the majority. […] Read more

(LIVINUS/iStock/Getty Images)

Businesses, U.S. legislators fume as Canada extends travel ban

Trudeau stands firm on ban's extension

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada is extending a ban on nonessential travel with the United States and the rest of the world until July 21, officials said on Friday, prompting frustration from businesses and U.S. legislators. Canada is under pressure from companies and the tourism industry to ease the ban, which was imposed in March […] Read more


hanson acres

Hanson Acres: “Remember the guy who was out here Monday morning?”

In a heartbeat, the Hansons’ year takes an unhealthy turn

Reading Time: 4 minutes After they spent the first few days of the spring seeding season working out the kinks, the Hansons had things well underway by the beginning of the second week. Until late Friday morning when Jeff’s cell phone rang. Jeff was in the tractor seeding canola, just about to break into his lunch cooler.  “Hey,” Jeff […] Read more

Storage tanks at a PBF Energy refinery at Delaware City, Delaware on Aug. 21, 2015. (File photo: Reuters/Charles Mostoller)

U.S. refiners amass biofuel liability as Biden mulls relief

Open RIN positions could hit refiners' earnings

Reading Time: 3 minutes New York | Reuters — U.S. merchant refiners have amassed up to a US$1.6 billion shortfall in the credits they will need to comply with U.S. biofuel laws, according to a Reuters review of corporate disclosures, an apparent bet that the Biden administration could let them off the hook or that credit prices will fall. […] Read more


A DOT (now OmniPower) autonomous unit at work on the Olds College Smart Farm. (Olds College video screengrab via YouTube)

College farms, GFM Discovery Farm to get smarter together

Two Alberta colleges sign on for new CAAIN-backed network

Reading Time: 3 minutes A pair of Alberta college farms and Glacier FarmMedia’s Saskatchewan farm are the first to plug into a national network of “smart farms” to improve the ag sector’s smart technology experience. The Olds College Smart Farm will lead the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network, which will also include Glacier FarmMedia Discovery Farm at Langham, Sask. and […] Read more

(RecipeFranchising.com)

Second Cup owner to buy Milestones dining chain

Foodtastic plans to expand brand to Quebec

Reading Time: 2 minutes Future growth of the Milestones chain of grill-and-bar restaurants across Canada will take place under different ownership. Vaughan, Ont.-based Recipe Unlimited, owner of fast-casual and dining chains such as Swiss Chalet, The Keg, Harvey’s, St-Hubert and Montana’s, announced Monday it will sell the Milestones chain to Foodtastic, owner of the Second Cup and Nickels Deli […] Read more


British Columbia’s 17,528 farms generated an estimated $3.8 billion in farm cash receipts in 2019.

A better Canada

Guide Canada: Should this B.C. study become a template for other provinces, showing that farming paves the way for better days to come for the entire economy?

Reading Time: 5 minutes It’s tempting to talk about Canada’s pandemic recovery, but is it premature? Cases of COVID-19 keep making headlines, and the “new normal” Canadians so desperately want still seems remote and uncertain.  One thing is absolutely clear, though. Agriculture and the agri-food sector have gotten back to to near normal operations, and they did so with […] Read more

Inhaled medication has long been used to treat a variety of lung conditions.

Guide Health: All inhalers are not equal

Inhalers are great tools for delivering your medication just where it’s needed, but they must be used correctly, which too few people do

Reading Time: 2 minutes It makes sense that inhalers are used to control the symptoms of asthma, bronchitis and emphysema because inhalers deliver their medication right into the lungs where the breathing problems occur. Inhaled medication has long been used to alleviate various lung conditions, but the first actual inhaler was introduced in 1982. It was the familiar blue […] Read more


Map from the Canadian Drought Monitor as of May 31, 2021. (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

Drought conditions improve in May for some of Prairies, not all

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Significant precipitation through May relieved drought conditions across parts of the Prairies, while other areas remained significantly dry, according to the latest assessment from the Canadian Drought Monitor as of May 31. This precipitation improved soil moisture conditions for the short-term, decreasing the area of moderate (D1) and severe drought (D2) in central […] Read more

Bulletproof your Farm

Bulletproof your Farm

Guide Books Review: “If a family doesn’t take time to talk about — and agree on — a precise end destination, its members will always end up miserable.”

Reading Time: 3 minutes Bulletproof your FarmBy Andy Junkin 128 pages / Published independently If you find yourself in a situation where the family farm business must rapidly change in order to survive, but every partner is fighting for control and not listening to each other, what can you do to motivate everyone to make necessary, life-saving changes? Andy […] Read more