Monday’s storm hit an estimated 37.7 million acres in U.S. Midwest

Chicago | Reuters — A storm packing hurricane-force winds on Monday impacted 37.7 million acres of farmland across the Midwest, including 14 million in Iowa, the Iowa Soybean Association said on Friday, citing estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The toll from the derecho storm has worsened as farmers and grain handlers have spent […] Read more

(Conservative Party of Canada video screengrab via YouTube)

CPC leadership hopefuls list ending carbon tax as priority for agriculture

Party leadership candidates also look to strengthen trade relationships

Removing the carbon tax is the main priority for the two top Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) leadership candidates, according to a recent survey. Peter MacKay and Erin O’Toole, considered the front-runners in a small field of leadership hopefuls, listed eliminating the environmental policy in response to a series of questions posed to them by […] Read more


The first year of a three-year study of grain-drying systems found “a high degree of efficiency variability,” says Lorne Grieger of the Prairie Agricultural Research Institute.

What’s the best bang for your grain-drying buck?

No one really knows for sure but a Team Alberta project is looking for answers

Reading Time: 3 minutes As Alberta producers know all too well from the last two years, grain drying can be very expensive. But what isn’t known is which grain conditioning system offers the most bang for the buck. “There’s a real gap in the understanding of the efficiency of — for example — natural air-drying (NAD) systems with supplemental […] Read more

Firefighters training for a grain rescue. (Casa-acsa.ca)

Donation offers up more equipment for grain emergencies

Fire departments first must complete CASA training course

Corteva AgriScience Canada is donating equipment that’s expected to help fire departments across the country save farmers’ lives. The company’s funding will purchase GSI RES-Q-TUBE and Haul-ALL pencil augers for eligible fire departments that have taken part in BeGrainSafe training put on by the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA). The GSI RES-Q-TUBE is a rescue […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Co-op Refinery, union reach tentative labour deal

Proposal now goes to ratification vote

The operators of one of Western Canada’s biggest fuel refineries have reached a tentative deal with the union representing workers locked out since December. The deal, if ratified in an employee vote, would end the lockout at Federated Co-operatives’ (FCL) Co-op Refinery Complex (CRC), a major bulk fuel supplier to farmers and rural co-ops across […] Read more

File photo of a river container terminal facility at Liverpool, England. (DavidCPhotography/iStock/Getty Images)

U.K. aims to join Trans-Pacific Partnership

London | Reuters –– The United Kingdom announced on Wednesday it would pursue accession to a revamped version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. “Today we’re announcing our intent to pursue accession to CPTPP, one of the world’s largest free trading areas,” Trade Secretary Liz Truss said. The British government said joining CPTPP would help the U.K. […] Read more


The grain trains just keep getting bigger

The grain trains just keep getting bigger

Reading Time: < 1 minute Less than a year after loading the province’s largest-ever grain train, Paterson Grain’s Foothills terminal at Bowden has upped the record by a wide margin. The terminal recently loaded 16,313 tonnes of grain on 167 new high-capacity hopper cars — 10 per cent more grain than on a 147-car train last summer. The train was […] Read more

“It’s not a matter of if your grain dryer catches on fire — it’s a matter of when,” says Richard Hoppins, Trochu’s fire chief and a producer himself.

Don’t let your grain dryer become a grain fryer

A few quick, simple measures can prevent your dryer — and your grain — from going up in smoke

Reading Time: 5 minutes Every harvest — and especially in recent years — grain dryers across Alberta are put into action. But the busy season doesn’t leave time for the care and maintenance to reduce the risk of fire when these units are working flat out. Although it’s impossible to completely eliminate fire risk with anything that creates heat, […] Read more



A video screengrab from the ‘It’s Good, Canada’ campaign. (ItsGoodCanada.ca)

Two national campaigns launched for food supply chains

It's good, one campaign says, but could the sector have done better, another asks

Ottawa — The Canadian Centre for Food Integrity is launching a new campaign to inform consumers on how the food system works. “It’s Good, Canada” will share personal stories of Canadians working across the food supply chain and provide information about farming, transportation, processing, retail and production on its website. “It’s natural for Canadians to […] Read more