“Any investments that we make in equipment, land, what we put on our crops, what we put in our soil, whatever the case may be, need to provide a positive return. If they don’t, you need to question why you are doing it.” – Darren Bond.

Making a profit in 2024 could be challenging for farmers

High costs and low commodity prices lead to return of tight margins

Reading Time: 4 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Farmers can expect tighter margins for the foreseeable future, according to one farm management specialist. “This is not 2022 or even the early parts of 2023; this is a return to historic-type margins,” says Darren Bond, a farm management specialist with the Manitoba government. “I think that profit is still attainable for […] Read more


Check your grain bins for spoilage

Check your grain bins for spoilage

Reading Time: < 1 minute Several cases of spoiling crops showed up in February, says provincial crops market analyst Neil Blue. “Perhaps the mostly warm temperatures this winter and the January period of record cold temperatures have been a factor,” said Blue. After being placed into storage, crops respire for a month or more, and this can release moisture. Dense […] Read more




Tool Shed Brewing Company founder Graham Sherman.

From backyard beer to big time brewing

How Tool Shed Brewing fought Alberta’s liquor laws and won

Reading Time: 6 minutes When Calgary beer maker Graham Sherman was told in 2012 that his plan to start a craft brewery didn’t conform to Alberta’s liquor laws, he got the law changed.  Before 2013, Alberta wouldn’t provide a licence to a prospective brew house unless it could demonstrate the ability to produce 500,000 litres of beer a year.  […] Read more





Grain bins in a Saskatchewan field. (MysticEnergy/iStock/Getty Images)

Less Canadian wheat, more canola on hand to end 2023: StatCan

Some had anticipated even larger on-farm canola stocks, given slower export pace

Canadian wheat stocks at the end of 2023 were considerably tighter compared to the previous year, with oats, corn and pulse crops also seeing supply reductions, according to the latest stocks report from Statistics Canada, released Feb. 8, 2024. However, canola, barley and soybean stocks as of Dec. 31, 2023, were higher compared to the previous year.