StatsCan has released its net farm income report for 2016 and the results may surprise you considering the livestock and commodity market that producers faced. According to the report, revenue held fairly stable while it was declining operating expenses that allowed net farm income to rise. A full breakdown of the report, including provincial comparisons,... Read More
Category: Western Canada
The Alberta government has introduced legislation to overhaul workplace rules across the province, including expanding labour relations rights and employment standards rules to non-family farm workers. Bill 17, named the Fair and Family-friendly Workplaces Act, received its first reading on Wednesday. If passed, most of it would take effect on January 1, 2018. While many... Read More
As corn planting moves along in Ontario, the list of issues to deal with in the field is also progressing, as RealAg agronomist Peter Johnson has a pair of insect alerts on this week's Word. Unfortunately there's also been some frost in parts of the country, and Wheat Pete walks us through how to assess... Read More
"It's not perfect, but it is better than we expected." The new rail legislation introduced by the federal government checks off most of the boxes on the list for grain shippers, says Wade Sobkowich, who represents major grain companies as executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association. Bill C-49 would give shippers the right... Read More
Excuse my ranting, but I am so frustrated with slow rural internet. In fact I am getting to the point of pure outrage on most days in trying to function without reasonably fast internet as we try to run a media company from a rural farm office. The scary thing is that I am not... Read More
The federal government is extending the comment period for its proposal to potentially eliminate the deferred cash ticket option for grain sales. The department of finance, on Tuesday, announced the consultation period that was originally scheduled to end May 24th will remain open beyond seeding season, until July 24. When delivering a listed grain (such... Read More
Farm and grain industry groups are optimistic new freight rail legislation proposed by the federal government will shift the balance of power in the market toward shippers. Some are even saying the bill introduced by Transport Minister Marc Garneau goes further than they expected. If passed, Bill C-49 would give shippers the right to charge... Read More
After surveying nearly 200 weed scientists across Canada and the U.S., the Weed Science Society of America published its top ten list of "most troublesome" weeds in broadleaf crops this week. Fortunately, the most troublesome weed has not been found in Canada (yet), but there are certainly some familiar foes on this list. (Maybe there's... Read More
In a recent Fast Company magazine article there was a feature on the benefits of using technology to produce food. The article praised the efficiency gains made by implementing the latest in what technology could provide. The farm in the article is located in San Francisco. That's right, it's a vertical farm. The company's name... Read More
Global commodity giant Glencore — the majority owner of Regina-based grain company Viterra — is looking to expand its agriculture business, and has approached Bunge about a possible takeover. In a statement on Tuesday, Glencore confirmed it has "made an informal approach to Bunge Limited regarding a possible consensual business combination." Glencore notes "discussions may... Read More