I've been hearing a lot about sustainability lately. It's been showing up in headlines more and more, and it has almost become one of those buzzwords that everyone uses: "Our farm is sustainable." But what does that really mean? A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to speak at the Canadian Young Speakers... Read More
Category: Health & Wellness
If you were going to build a new dairy barn, would you choose a parlour or robots? What about Jerseys vs. Holsteins? Ethan Wallace, of Seaforth, Ont., switched to robots for milking his Jersey herd seven years ago, and he wouldn't have it any other way. On this edition of RealAg LIVE!, Wallace joins occasional... Read More
Almost everyone who lives in a rural area is well aware of the challenges with infrastructure and services — from keeping schools open, to attracting and retaining doctors, to building roads and fixing bridges. Fewer though are likely fully aware of just how far behind their local town or municipality has fallen in keeping up... Read More
John Kowalchuk is just a #regularfarmer from Rumsey, Alberta. He's also a regular guest on RealAg Radio's Farmer Rapid Fire segment, because John loves to farm and loves to talk about farming. That makes John a great guest for RealAg LIVE! In this episode, Shaun Haney asks John about what crops he's trialing, what crop... Read More
As a country, we've likely never been so focused on our collective health as we have been since March. Oddly, however, one of the side effects of the economic shutdown has been the closure of gyms and fitness facilities and the cancellation of most sports. How do we best take care of our physical health... Read More
The federal government has stepped in to top up provincial funding for workplace health and safety measures on-farm in Ontario. Agriculture and Agri-Food minister Marie-Claude Bibeau previously announced $35 million for a federally-administered program, and this week, announced $11.6 million for the Ontario version — the Enhanced Agri-food Workplace Protection Program (EAWPP). Originally announced in... Read More
The national rural mental health training program, presented by the Do More Agriculture Foundation (DMA) and Farm Credit Canada, is entering its third year. Applications are now open for the next year of training. The education program is focused on mental health in the ag sector and is aimed at developing the capacity for mental... Read More
The federal government has opened applications for the Emergency On-Farm Support Fund, a $35 million fund to cover the added cost of personal protective equipment, updates to worker housing, and sanitization stations, as examples. The fund was originally announced in late July as part of a $58.6 million commitment by the government. Money can be... Read More
Hi, my name is Kara, and my go-to conversation topic, if it's not agriculture, is music. I live and breathe music. I believe it's something that can bring people together in ways that other things simply can't. Recently, I took to Twitter asking our readers and listeners to send me their favourite tunes as many... Read More
You can't pour from an empty cup. Put another way, if you can't take care of you, you can't take care of others, including livestock. The connection between farmers' own mental wellness and livestock care is a direct link; in many cases of animal welfare complaints, the root cause is a stressed and/or mentally ill... Read More