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



Bill C-208 amended the federal Income Tax Act to exclude the intergenerational transfer of farms and other small businesses from current anti-avoidance rules.

You can pay less tax on farm succession

Bill C-208 called a game-changer for farm transition, if you know how to use it

Reading Time: 5 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Taking advantage of the revamped Bill C-208 can offer farmers significant tax savings when it comes to succession. Bill C-208 was initially introduced as a private member’s bill by Manitoba MP Larry McGuire in 2021. The bill sought to amend the federal Income Tax Act to exclude the intergenerational transfer of farms […] Read more



“We are going to see some more blood in the water as we go through the Brazilian crop, unless something happens with weather — and if I knew what the weather was going to be like, I would be a very rich man.” – Brad Magnusson, CEO of Magnusson Consulting Group (inset).

Canola market hasn’t hit bottom yet

With low demand, the oilseed is expected to continue its downward trajectory

Reading Time: 2 minutes Canola prices have been falling steadily since reaching record highs in 2022, and according to agriculture markets analyst Brad Magnusson, they haven’t hit bottom yet. The CEO of Magnusson Consulting Group spoke to farmers at St. Jean Farm Days Jan. 10 in St. Jean Baptiste, Manitoba. “Demand is low,” he said, pointing to a graph […] Read more

Vertical farming could mean year-round fresh produce for even the most remote places in northern Canada. Photo: Johnny  Greig/iStock/Getty Images

The rise of vertical farming

The development and future of vertical 'plant factories'

Reading Time: 7 minutes Broadly speaking, commercial vertical farming operations are humankind’s attempt to grow food under conditions more controllable than Mother Nature allows and with a minimum of wasted space. Many seem like sci-fi greenhouses: hydroponics, plants growing in stacks or up walls and high-tech sensor setups that seem straight out of the mind of Gene Roddenberry. And, […] Read more


An artist's rendering of the Dairy Innovation West facility being built in Blackfalds, Alta.

Milk concentration project back on track

First of its kind dairy facility had to overcome regulatory challenges

Reading Time: 3 minutes After breaking ground last August, construction on the Western Milk Pool’s $70-million Dairy Innovation West facility is gaining momentum. “We have shovels in the ground as of now, pilings in and we’re getting ready as winter approaches,” CEO Nolan Berg said at a December dairy conference in Winnipeg. “We’re getting that all set up so […] Read more

Canadian Agriculture and Agrifood Minister, Lawrence McCauley (right) and CCC vice president, crop production and innovation, Curtis Rempel at the funding announcement at the Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre at Glenlea, Man.
 Photo: Don Norman

Canola sector gets research boost

The federal government is putting up $9 million to drive the sustainable growth of Canada’s canola sector. The funding comes from the AgriScience Program—Clusters Component, an initiative under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership and was announced today (Nov. 14) in Winnipeg by Lawrence MacAulay, the federal agriculture minister. “This new Canola Cluster will build on […] Read more


Rolling prairie landscape. Central Alberta, Canada.

Alberta farmland price growth lags national average

While prices continue to rise, the rate is slowing and other province have faster growth

Reading Time: 5 minutes Average Alberta farmland prices were up three per cent in the first half of 2023, significantly below the Canadian average increase of 7.9 per cent. The data, released in a Farm Credit Canada report on Oct. 3, shows the province is following a national trend. “It’s not unexpected, given where we were at the end […] Read more

“If there are still the bacteria present in the hive, other bees can come and rob that colony and potentially bring that bacteria back to their hive.” – Samantha Muirhead.

American foulbrood vaccine gets green light for Canadian beekeepers

Producers will be able to get the vaccine in spring 2024

Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Canadian beekeepers are about to have the first vaccine for their stock. “It’s very exciting,” said Canadian Honey Council hive health specialist Osee Podolsky. The new vaccine targets American foulbrood, a spore-producing bacterial disease that gets its name from the unpleasant smell in infected hives. The disease is serious enough that standard […] Read more