From grain farms to chicken barns, natural gas helps farmers thrive Natural gas is a critical resource for Canadian farmers. Canada’s colder climate makes the fuel indispensable for heating poultry, hog and dairy facilities like barns, outbuildings, shops and greenhouses. Natural gas is also critical for grain drying and manufacturing nitrogen fertilizer. Chris Allam of…
Did you know that the largest farmland owner in the country is not even a farmer? We all know what’s happening to real estate these days. Everything got more expensive in a hurry, fueled by rock-bottom interest rates. But farming has also been impacted by lower interest rates and investors looking for safety and better…
Dairy farmer Jerry Huigen’s milk dumping video is representative of the dark side of our supply management system A video of an exasperated Canadian dairy farmer, Jerry Huigen, went viral last week. For probably the first time in Canadian history, a Canadian dairy farmer was filmed while discarding milk on his own farm. Almost three…
New research could help cattle — and beef producers — cope with more extreme ups and downs in temperature year-round Some cows are naturally more efficient at converting the food they eat into weight gain: does that ability mean they might also be better at weathering climate change? It’s a question University of Alberta beef…
The building trades, transportation, agriculture, energy, and manufacturing will all be affected A newly public federal document reveals that more than 2.7 million jobs across Canada can expect a “significant disruption” as a result of Ottawa’s Just Transition plan to reduce emissions. Ironically, it comes at the same time as new analysis showing that world…
This is what happens when a government is driven by urban politics Ottawa recently announced that tariff revenues received from Canadian farmers who bought Russian/Belarusian fertilizers this year are being sent to Ukraine to rebuild infrastructure. Canada was the only G7 country to put tariffs on Russian and/or Belarusian fertilizer after Russia invaded Ukraine back…
The last thing they need is another regulatory slap in the face To say small businesses in Canada have had a rough few years would be an understatement. Nearly one in five are currently at risk of closure. If regulators tack on extra costs from ESG (environmental, social, and governance) reporting criteria, it may be…
If you plan to host a dinner with a turkey, it’s better to buy it now Avian flu certainly deserves more media attention. The avian flu currently impacting our poultry sector has become a real problem. Unlike previous strains, the current bird flu has spread across Canada, raising fears that it could become endemic in…
Do we have the capacity to feed them all? On November 15 of this year, the world population will reach a symbolic number: eight billion people. The planet took about 11 short years to add one billion more humans to its population. By 2058, it’s estimated that the planetary population will reach 10 billion. That’s…
People who own, operate or work on a farm have higher suicide rates compared to most other occupations The life of a Canadian farmer might sound peaceful – living in the countryside, working outdoors, growing our food. But scratch that bucolic surface and the reality is much different, with high rates of depression and stress…