An excerpt from a federal policy discussion paper released in May 2022: “Given the essential role of nitrogen fertilizer in Canadian agriculture, actions to achieve emissions reductions will focus on improving nitrogen management and optimizing fertilizer use, and not on a mandatory reduction in the use of fertilizers.”

Comment: Cutting fertilizer emissions and cutting fertilizer use aren’t the same thing

Critics sow needless concern about federal plans, which are based on policies the industry has been promoting

Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Farmers came away from the recent federal, provincial and territorial ministers meeting in Saskatoon with a few items stroked off their wish list. Farm organizations welcomed a $500-million or 25 per cent increase in cost-shared funding over five years, half of which will help farmers fight climate change and reduce emissions. The […] Read more

“Treat it like you would your grain crop.” – Ken Wall, Federated Co-operatives.

Grain farmers should think about forage

Adding perennial forages to annual crop rotations can pay big dividends in more than just the bank account

Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Grain farmers can harvest a heap of benefits by cycling perennial forages through rotations, says an agronomist with Federated Co-operatives Ltd. Ken Wall said the economics of growing forage as a cash crop have changed significantly in recent years due to market conditions and a sharp increase in the price of fuel. […] Read more



Opinion: A tale of three cheeseburgers and a vision of farming turned upside down

Opinion: A tale of three cheeseburgers and a vision of farming turned upside down

Increasingly, conventional agriculture is viewed as a model that’s due for replacement

Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Farmers are no stranger to new technology and are usually quick to adopt developments that can increase production, or at the very least reduce the risk of losses. Most are well aware that the digital age is likely to bring transformative change to agriculture and food — even if they aren’t quite […] Read more


A scrappy White House administration with no reverence for the hard-fought gains in global rules-based trading over the past three decades has had the entire agricultural sector on edge.

Opinion: The bar has been set lower in this new era of global trade

‘No loss’ is the definition of winning as the new version of NAFTA comes into effect

Reading Time: 3 minutes While many Canadians were enjoying backyard barbecues this summer after months of being isolated from family and friends, the country quietly embarked on a new era of trade with two of its largest trading partners. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA), referred to as the CUSMA in Canadian documents, came into force to replace the North American Free […] Read more

Rance: Sustainability isn’t a burden, but an opportunity

Reading Time: 3 minutes It didn’t take long for a young cattle rancher from Saskatchewan to capture the audience’s attention at the recent Canada 2020 National Forum on Agri-Food in Ottawa. “For me, the word ‘sustainability’ is synonymous with McDonald’s,” said Adrienne Ivey, who is part of a family corporation managing 3,000 beef cattle on a 10,000-acre spread near […] Read more


Tyson Foods launched its ¡Yappah! product with a campaign on crowdfunding platform Indiegogo.

Comment: Increasingly, food must not only taste good, but ‘feel good’

Flavour and price still count, but more people 
want food that appeals to their social conscience

Reading Time: 3 minutes Sometimes deciding what to feed the family after a long, arduous day juggling daycare, jobs, and traffic seems overwhelmingly complicated. If a recent press release from the U.S.-based Tyson Innovation Lab is any indication, deciding what we’re going to put into our mouths next is about to get more cluttered with new products, new language, […] Read more

Ag ministers on NAFTA: ‘If it ain’t broke…’

Ag ministers on NAFTA: ‘If it ain’t broke…’

Donald Trump may not like NAFTA, but his new agriculture secretary doesn’t seem too fussed about it

Reading Time: 3 minutes When Canadian, American and Mexican agriculture ministers got together last month in Savannah, Georgia, they weren’t there to discuss what U.S. President Donald Trump has described as “worst trade deal in the history of the world.” On the contrary, they talked about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as though it was about the […] Read more


SeedMaster’s Norbert Beaujot sees DOT technology as one solution to a shortage of skilled operators.

Not just a driverless tractor, but no tractor at all

A global launch at Ag in Motion could change the way you farm

Reading Time: 4 minutes While farmers have been waiting impatiently for equipment designers to commercialize the driverless tractor, Prairie inventor and entrepreneur Norbert Beaujot has found a way to ditch the tractor altogether. And he’s rolling it out for the first time in July 18 to 20 at Ag in Motion (AIM), Western Canada’s outdoor farm show now in […] Read more

McDonald’s rolls out campaign thanking Canadian farmers

McDonald’s rolls out campaign thanking Canadian farmers

Eighty-five per cent of the food it serves three million Canadian customers 
per day comes from Canadian farmers

Reading Time: 2 minutes McDonald’s Canada wants Canadian farmers to know it couldn’t do it without them. The company has rolled out a new advertising campaign with commercials featuring empty containers for its most popular menu items with the slogan “not without Canadian farmers.” The TV and online campaign emphasizes the whopping big quantities of its farm purchases. “We […] Read more