Reading Time: 3 minutes The federal government has enlisted farm groups on the ground floor of consultations toward development of a long-term strategy to “amplify” the adoption and use of sustainable practices in agriculture over the next year. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Dec. 12 announced the launch of public consultations on strategy development, running from now through March […] Read more
Feds open up consultations for sustainable ag strategy
Producer groups to have reps on advisory committee
Regenerative agriculture demo starts a conversation
Farmers and customers meet to view intercrop combinations and to talk about a common definition of sustainability
Reading Time: 3 minutes On a sunny day in early August, farmers, industry members and researchers gathered at Avena Foods’ pulse and oat facility in Rowat, Sask., to talk about the benefits of regenerative agricultural practices. They toured experimental intercropping plots, visited varietal test plots and heard about innovations adopted by farmers in the area to boost sustainability on […] Read more
U.N.-backed investors set fresh targets in sustainable food shift
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters – A U.N.-backed group of global financial institutions including Dutch lender Rabobank on Thursday set out a series of company specific environmental and social targets aimed at helping drive a shift to a more sustainable food system. Set by a group of 11 firms in the Good Food Finance Network, including Nuveen Natural Capital […] Read more
Sustainability must be farmer-driven
Others talk about sustainability but do precious little about it. Farmers actually get it done
Reading Time: 6 minutes It seems I cannot pick up a farm paper, click on an ag website, listen to a newscast about food, or attend a workshop without hearing about the need for farm sustainability. For 106 years my family has farmed the same land. That’s a lot longer than most of the local businesses that we purchase […] Read more
Walmart stakes big claim on Canadian sustainable beef
Retailer pledges to take over 680 tonnes in 2022
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Canadian arm of the world’s biggest retailer has put a number to its previous commitment to source certified-sustainable beef for its grocery business. Walmart Canada on Thursday announced it has committed to buy 1.5 million pounds of beef sourced from farms and ranches certified to Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) standards over the […] Read more
EU countries approve deal to overhaul farming subsidies
Subsidies to focus on sustainability, 'eco-schemes'
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — European Union countries on Monday gave the green light to reforms of the bloc’s huge farming subsidy program, after a three-year battle over rules to make it greener and support smaller farms. Negotiators representing the EU’s 27 countries and European Parliament struck the deal on Friday to reform the Common Agricultural […] Read more
Feather sector’s on-farm upgrade program underway
Applications now being accepted for funding
Reading Time: 3 minutes The federal free trade compensation program to help Canada’s poultry and egg producers pay for on-farm upgrades, renovations and improvements is now taking applications. The $646.8 million, 10-year Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program (PEFIP) is now formally underway, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced Monday. Each eligible Canadian producer is entitled to an amount proportional […] Read more
Walmart locks in CRSB claim for in-store beef brand
Chain to be first retailer in Canada with certified-sustainable label on pack
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Canadian arm of Walmart has locked in enough of a supply of certified-sustainable beef to label its entire Your Fresh Market burger patty line accordingly. The retail giant announced Monday it’s now sourcing beef from “certified sustainable” farms and ranches according to standards set by the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB). The company […] Read more
Control, and revenue too
The co-op aims to put farmers in total control of their data, and the income it earns
Reading Time: 8 minutes A generation ago, farmers first got introduced to GPS yield monitors and the way they could document everything that passed through their combines. From that very first exposure, it seemed inevitable the technology would prove a stepping stone to enhanced on-farm management of crops, inputs and soil health. It didn’t happen overnight, of course, but […] Read more
Putting a value on a shelterbelt
Yields drop immediately adjacent, but start to increase after 10 to 20 metres beyond
Reading Time: 4 minutes Areas such as road allowances, wetlands and shelterbelts take up land that could otherwise be used to produce grain. But does that mean that if you remove them, you’ll have more grain production? Maybe not. You might even get less, says Shathi Akhter, an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research scientist at Indian Head, Sask. She’s […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
