Patricia Bishop and Josh Oulton are building a business plan to bring linen flax back to their farm, and to the country.

From flax in the field to shirt sleeves

Meet a Nuffield Canada farmer scholar with a vision for a value chain for Canadian-grown linen

Reading Time: 10 minutes [UPDATED: Jan. 11, 2021] Josh Oulton and his partner Patricia Bishop have grown flax on their Nova Scotia farm for nearly a decade, but not with an eye to the market that most Canadian flax growers are after. Instead, Oulton and Bishop grow varieties of flax that produce the plant-based fibre used to make linen, […] Read more

(Graphic courtesy Environment and Climate Change Canada)

Longer-range forecast points to warmer-than-normal winter

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Warmer-than-normal temperatures are in the long-range forecast across all of Canada for the next three months, according to the latest outlook from Environment Canada. The latest seasonal forecast from the government agency, released Thursday, calls for a 40 to 70 per cent chance of above-normal temperatures from January through March for the western […] Read more


Tracing your family history

Tracing your family history

This winter will be ideal for exploring your family’s roots

Reading Time: 5 minutes With travel plans interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, new hobbies are needed to occupy our time, especially during a long Canadian winter. If you’re curious about your family history, there has never been a better time to take up genealogy as a hobby. Every week, more and more records are being scanned and made […] Read more

Farmers attend a protest during a nationwide strike against newly passed farm bills at the Singhu border near Delhi on Dec. 8, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Anushree Fadnavis)

Indian opposition demands repeal of farm laws after protests

Reading Time: < 1 minute New Delhi | Reuters – India’s main opposition party pressed the government on Thursday to call a special parliamentary session to withdraw new agricultural laws that farmers say will leave them at the mercy of big corporations. Rahul Gandhi, a senior leader from the opposition Congress party, handed the president a copy of a petition […] Read more


Morris’ Quantum Air Drill had its first public appearance at Canada’s Farm Progress Show and its formal launch at Ag in Motion in 2018. (Grainews photo by Scott Garvey)

Court approves Morris Industries’ sale to Rite Way

Yorkton plant, not included in deal, to close

Reading Time: 3 minutes Seeding equipment manufacturer Morris Industries has been approved for sale to another Saskatchewan manufacturer — minus its Yorkton manufacturing plant, which is not part of the sale and is now expected to close by year’s end. Judge Shawn Smith of Court of Queen’s Bench in Saskatoon on Friday approved the sale of Morris to a […] Read more

hanson acres

Hanson Acres: Making more room at the Christmas table

With or without COVID-19, the big thing is to maintain the connection!

Reading Time: 4 minutes For the 2020 Christmas dinner there were seven places around Jeff and Elaine Hanson’s table. The two of them, their two kids, Jeff’s parents, Dale and Donna, and Elaine’s laptop. “I think we’re spending more time with extended family this year than ever,” Donna said. Before and during Christmas dinner the Hansons had caught up, […] Read more


“About 80 per cent of farmers fall into two categories,” says one Australian agronomist.

What type of person are you?

Across the business world, personality testing is growing exponentially. Now, it’s coming to the farm

Reading Time: 3 minutes We’ve met them all before. In fact, many Canadian farmers don’t even have to drive down the lane to meet them all. Australian agronomist Cam Nicholson says farmers can be divided into four basic types: Dependables are the reliable types who defend the status quo. Doers work fast but don’t always finish every job. Pioneers […] Read more

It’s a good idea to periodically check expiration dates on the medications in your home and safely dispose of them if they’ve expired.

Guide Health: Prescription drugs and expiration dates

Hmmm… you’ve got a headache, but your only bottle of acetaminophen is expired

Reading Time: 2 minutes An expiry date is the date after which you should no longer use a product, whether that product is a drug, a grocery store item or anything else. The product can no longer be guaranteed as fresh, stable, safe or, very importantly, 100 per cent potent.  Drug expiry dates are carefully calculated by drug manufacturers […] Read more


Resilient farmers vs. COVID-19: Producing good outcomes

Resilient farmers vs. COVID-19: Producing good outcomes

It takes self-sacrifice, persistence and loyalty to each other, but farm families are creating good outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic, and they’re emerging stronger than ever

Reading Time: 5 minutes As we researched this series on resiliency during the COVID-19 pandemic, did families ever shine! During some of the biggest challenges of our generation, we saw the agriculture community step up, and we saw the theme of family resiliency appear time and again. Our clients were eager to tell us the good, and yes, the […] Read more

Minks at a farm near Soroe in Denmark on Nov. 5, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen)

Minks, staff positive for COVID-19 at B.C. mink farm

Coronavirus found in eight workers, five mink so far

Reading Time: 4 minutes A mink farm in southwestern British Columbia’s Fraser Valley is now under provincial veterinary quarantine and its staff self-isolating after several animals and workers tested positive for COVID-19. Fraser Valley Health, the regional health authority for the area, on Sunday declared an outbreak at the farm after eight workers tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus […] Read more