In the day-to-day operation of a farm it can be a challenge to set aside time to chat about what the next generation expects in taking over the business. “Hey Mom/Dad/Uncle… I want you to know this is important…” sort of discussions are important because they help establish expectations, which are needed to begin a... Read More
Category: Western Canada
As the Bill 6 debate continues in Alberta, Real Agriculture is taking a look at how other provinces regulate farm labour, health and safety. Are there lessons to be learned from how other provincial legislation was developed and how it’s constructed? Let’s take a look at Ontario. In June 2006, Ontario agriculture was brought under... Read More
I’m not surprised that Alberta farmers railed against Bill 6. Usually, the status quo is easier to live with than change, particularly imposed change. And in the case of Bill 6, change would occur in everything from farm culture to the bottom line. It still might. But hopefully, not to the same extent. In response... Read More
It’s the time of year for holiday traditions, which for some families means heading out to pick a Christmas tree. Today is recognized as “Christmas Tree Day.” The occasion is official in Ontario, as Bill 16, which was passed by the province earlier this year, bestows the title of on the first Saturday of December.... Read More
While grains ended the month of November with little fanfare, the first trading week of December proved to have some push to the upside despite a number of reports that didn’t really change any fundamentals. Soyoil led the complex with a 10.5% gain for the week, which helped support canola prices (+2.25% for the week)... Read More
Haven’t we seen this before? Traders and analysts were expecting Statistics Canada to peg the 2015 canola crop at around 15.6 million tonnes in the agency’s latest production report released Friday morning. Pre-report guesses ranged between 14.5 and 16.4 million. Most farmers reported better than expected canola yields at harvest, so everybody was expecting the... Read More
The Alberta government’s omnibus Bill 6 would impact farms and ranches by making Workers Compensation Board coverage mandatory, providing Occupational Health & Safety regulation in agriculture, implementing new labor laws and giving farm workers the ability to unionize. While the bill would affect agriculture, some of the complications in the communication of Bill 6 details... Read More
Imagine if robots could both identify and destroy weeds. Well, Bosch Deepfield Robotics is well on its way to making that dream a reality. The company, only one year old, has developed a four wheel multi-purpose robotic platform called BoniRob. It navigates along plant rows, running on batteries or connected to a generator, logging data,... Read More
Is your farm secure? That’s a question farmers need to ask themselves says security specialist Larry Wallace. As traditional rural farm communities become more urban, farms become larger and valuable equipment fills yards and drive sheds. That means farmers need to be more diligent in their security practices, says Wallace, who founded Wallace Risk Management... Read More
Lynn Jacobson, president of the Alberta Federation of Agriculture, joins us on this week's TWORA to discuss his views on Bill 6, as we also cover some other noteworthy news stories from the past week: Listen to the TWORA podcast every Thursday!