(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Fraser: Bibeau buying time, BRM not a federal priority

The federal government is buying time when it comes to making drastic improvements to AgriStability and other business risk management (BRM) programs. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau recently announced minor, cost-free tweaks to AgriStability, during the same week the public was given an updated look at Canada’s fiscal situation. That update shows the Liberal government’s […] Read more


Neil Ellis, shown here speaking in Belleville, Ont. in December 2018, is the new parliamentary secretary to Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. (NEllis.liberal.ca)

Central Ontario MP named parliamentary ag secretary

A former Belleville, Ont. mayor will now play a backup role to the federal agriculture minister in the House of Commons. Neil Ellis, the Liberal MP for the Bay of Quinte constituency in central Ontario since 2015, was named Thursday as parliamentary secretary for the minister of agriculture and agri-food, Marie-Claude Bibeau. Ellis was a […] Read more

Jason Shapiro at Grain World. (MarketsFarm photo by Glen Hallick)

Grain World: Geopolitics is back dominating global relations

Saskatoon | MarketsFarm — Geopolitics is again shaping the international scene, including China, Jason Shapiro explained here Thursday at the Grain World conference. Geopolitics, he said, resulted in catastrophic global wars and generated very little peace for close to a century. Shapiro, director of analysis for Geopolitical Futures — an Austin, Tex.-based international risk analysis […] Read more


What keeps you awake at night? A recent survey of farmers found things such as marketing and working capital rank up there with production concerns.

Modern farming produces a bumper crop of worries

More than 1,300 farmers were asked about their top concerns — and it’s a long list

Reading Time: 2 minutes What’s your biggest worry? Weather? Yield? Disease or pests? It’s actually selling what you produce, according to a recent Farm Credit Canada survey. The survey asked 1,363 producers about their major concerns and 67 per cent had marketing on their worry list — topping both production (60 per cent) and financial (53 per cent) risks. […] Read more

Mentoring of young veterinarians is key to retention at clinics.

What we can do to address the shortage of large-animal vets

More spots in veterinary schools and more support for new grads would go a long way

Reading Time: 4 minutes After talking with large-animal veterinarians, observing the number of ads for large-animal veterinarians, and taking part in a job fair at the University of Calgary’s vet school, it’s clear that there is getting to be a real shortage of veterinarians wanting to do either mixed- or large-animal practice in Western Canada. But strategies are starting […] Read more


Close-up view of a brown and white Hereford cow's eye

Keep your Premises Identification account up to date

Premises ID has proved its worth since being created 11 years ago

Reading Time: < 1 minute The province is urging smaller operations with livestock (such as hobby farms and acreages) to register for the Premises Identification (PID) System and for all operations to keep their account information current. Since it was started 11 years ago, more than 45,500 premises have been registered with the system, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry said in […] Read more

Marie-Claude Bibeau speaks at a Montreal convention on March 7, 2019.  Photo: Allan Dawson/File

Bibeau remains federal agriculture minister in shuffle

Updated, Nov. 21— Quebec MP Marie-Claude Bibeau retains her role as federal minister of agriculture and agri-food in Wednesday’s cabinet shake-up for the Liberals’ minority government. Bibeau will join her colleagues — including returning Transport Minister Marc Garneau and new Labour Minister Filomena Tassi, a Hamilton MP and former minister for seniors — in having […] Read more


The province wants its funding research to boost productivity on Alberta farms and plans to work closely with farmer-led research organizations to determine priorities. But it also plans to cut ag research spending by $34.1 million over the next four years.

Are you prepared to do more with less agricultural research?

That’s the question farm and research groups are facing as government and industry funding falls

Reading Time: 4 minutes There will be less government money and a renewed focus on boosting productivity on the farm, but the details of the province’s new plan for ag research are still up in the air. “We’d like to get to a point where we have a long-term vision for agricultural research — one that’s designed to be […] Read more