There was a time when it was hard for farmers to access credit — so much so that it spurred the creation of a farm credit corporation, now known as Farm Credit Canada. Those old enough to remember FCC’s creation are also old enough to recount the hardship that was farming in the early 1980s.... Read More
Category: Eastern Canada
The threat of retaliation from Canada and Mexico is forcing American lawmakers and farm groups to weigh whether it's worth maintaining the mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) rules for meat. The American Farm Bureau Federation, which describes itself as the largest general farm organization in the U.S., announced Wednesday it has decided to back... Read More
Yesterday, Ontario's legislature passed Bill 40 — Agriculture Insurance Act, 2015 — which will allow for more types of agricultural products to be covered by the province's production insurance program. Production insurance is part of the business risk management programs (RMP) designed to help farmers manage losses due to events beyond their control, such as... Read More
From frost in Ontario to flea beetles in the West, and just a few things in-between, here’s TWORA for May 28th, 2015: Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS
The Canadian Pork Council has published a study outlining not only what Canadian hog producers stand to gain from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but more significantly, what the Canadian hog sector would lose if Canada isn’t part of the multi-lateral trade deal. While the TPP negotiations currently include 12 countries, for Canadian hog producers, the deal... Read More
Most lentils will have been in the ground for a while now, with farmers now starting to scout for emergence, and staging for potential herbicide and machinery passes. According to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, fields left unrolled prior to planting lentils can be rolled following emergence up to the five to seven-node stage, with... Read More
There’s no shortage of heartache or questions stemming from last week’s extreme frost event across much of Ontario’s growing region. Temps dropped as low as -8 degrees C, if you can believe it, and it wasn’t just corn and soybean crops hit hard by the cold weather — tender fruit, horticulture and vegetable crops have... Read More
Wheat futures have dropped sharply this week after spiking earlier this month, as the rising U.S. dollar is once again weighing on American commodities. The currency effect is also being noticed in the oilseed complex, as Canadian canola futures have climbed while soybean values in Chicago have fallen over the last few weeks. As part... Read More
The Senate's Standing Committee on Agriculture released its much-anticipated report on bee health today. Entitled The Importance of Bee Health to Sustainable Food Production in Canada, the document highlights the complexity of bee health, and the many factors influencing it, while providing a list of recommendations the committee believes are necessary for improving bee health.... Read More
It's not often that I can't find the answers I need. After all, growing crops and sharing information about growing crops is the part of this job I love the most (hello, total agronomy geek up in here!). I'm always willing to dig deep to get the answers farmers need. So it's difficult for me... Read More