Reading Time: 2 minutes One comment Steven Adema often hears is that his company’s building designs are getting heavier. But the engineer with Tacoma Engineers in Guelph, Ontario argues that heaviness is not the culprit — the buildings are simply getting bigger in order to accommodate producer needs and government regulations. “For comparison’s sake we pulled an old Beaver […] Read more
Farm buildings getting bigger, but also stronger
Diaphragm bracing has been key as farm buildings become larger and larger
Province taking wait-and-see approach to new farm building code
Farm buildings are generally exempt from the provincial building code, but that’s likely to change in a few years
Reading Time: 2 minutes The growing complexity of farm buildings — not to mention the ongoing threat of fire — has attracted regulatory attention. However, Alberta does not have a specific farm building code nor has it adopted the federal National Farm Building Code. The provincial government is waiting on the results of a new, planned federal code currently […] Read more
Farm buildings are complex and costly, but built to last
Old-fashioned barn raisings are pretty much gone – today you need a team of experts when building an equipment shed or barn
Reading Time: 5 minutes Building a barn used to be relatively simple. Often, family members, and maybe a few neighbours, simply went out and did it. Today, however, construction of a new farm building is an extremely complex — not to mention expensive — process. Regulations, more sophisticated building techniques, and advanced technology have upped the cost and complexity, […] Read more
U.S. forecaster sees El Nino unlikely through fall
Reuters — A U.S. government weather forecaster on Thursday said there are no active El Nino or La Nina patterns and that neutral conditions are likely in the Northern Hemisphere during fall 2017. However, chances for El Nino remain elevated, between 35 and 50 per cent, relative to the long-term average into the fall, the […] Read more
Federal food policy consultations underway
The long-discussed-and-debated notion of a public pan-Canadian food policy has taken a move forward with a new online survey from the federal government. Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay on Monday announced an initial round of consultations and called on the public to “share their input to help shape a food policy that will cover the entire […] Read more
Deere to buy German road construction firm
Reuters — Deere + Co. said on Thursday it would buy privately held German company Wirtgen Group for about US$4.88 billion to expand its road construction operations as it looks to cut down its dependence on its slowing farm business. Deere’s share rose 3.1 per cent to US$126.29 in premarket trading, and were set to […] Read more
Nova Scotia ag minister, critic keep seats in election
Nova Scotia’s incumbent agriculture minister and lead ag critic have both hung onto their seats in an election which saw the governing Liberals return to power with a slightly slimmer majority. Preliminary results from Tuesday’s election show Premier Stephen McNeil’s Liberals elected in 27 ridings — down from 34 at the government’s dissolution — followed […] Read more
Trust in agriculture increases with farm visits: survey
Residents of the Greater Toronto Area who have worked in agriculture or have recently visited a working farm are more likely to be optimistic about job prospects in the agriculture sector. That’s according to a recent survey of 676 residents of the GTA by Grassroots Public Affairs and Delphi Polling and Consulting. The survey highlighted […] Read more
Trump administration triggers launch of NAFTA renegotiations
Washington | Reuters — The Trump administration on Thursday formally launched its effort to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico to try to win better terms for U.S. workers and manufacturers. With a letter to U.S. lawmakers, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said he triggered a 90-day consultation period with […] Read more
Horse euthanasia: When is the ‘right time’ to end suffering
Horse Health: The strong bond most horse owners develop with their equine companions makes this a very difficult choice
Reading Time: 3 minutes Sometimes the decision to euthanize a horse and end suffering is clearly obvious. This can occur when a horse has a severe injury or an unrelenting and non-responsive illness such as laminitis or colic. However, all circumstances are not so straightforward and many times horse owners are confronted with situations of illness, injury or aging […] Read more