Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s an area steeped in history and culture that is also a breadbasket of diverse agriculture. The United Kingdom is home to 214,000 farms, which nearly mirrors Canada’s 205,000 farms, although the average size is 142 hectares (or about half the size of the average Canadian operation). And though the farms may be the same […] Read more
The U.K. packs a lot of agriculture into a small space
British farmers need to get along with neighbouring communities, cut greenhouse emissions, and fend off cheap foreign competition
China represents opportunity for Canadian beef producers
Beef is increasingly on the menu for China’s growing middle class and the country can’t keep up with demand
Reading Time: 3 minutes The numbers are staggering — 854 million people in China are expected to be regular beef eaters by the year 2030. Despite their large land base, cattle numbers cannot keep up with the demand for beef that has been increasing by 15 per cent per year. What has happened? Where does the beef come from? […] Read more
Enterprising young farmers are the hope of a new Africa
The beleaguered continent has the potential to feed the world — if it can rise above the divisions created by its troubled past
Reading Time: 3 minutes The concept of a united Africa feeding the world is often considered. With a massive land base, Africa has an estimated 632 million hectares of arable land of which only 179 million hectares are currently being utilized. More than 40 per cent of these lands are in Nigeria, DR of Congo, and North and South […] Read more
Prairie grain growers have a big stake in NAFTA talks
Trade deal has produced great benefits and can be made even better
Reading Time: 3 minutes The North American Free Trade Agreement has been a boon for Canadian agricultural producers, facilitating cross-border trade and commerce, and fuelling the economic performance and growth of this highly export-driven sector. It has achieved this mainly through the continued reduction of tariffs on agricultural goods, but also through measures addressing non-tariff trade barriers, sanitary and […] Read more
Eating with our eyes — our perception of food isn’t a simple thing
What consumers perceive as tasty and nutritious is proving to be a lot more complicated than we ever thought
Reading Time: 3 minutes There are many food and consumer trends that keep farmers grappling with providing the right product. Buying food is based on many things: health consciousness, price, flavour and taste, smell, and presentation. From packaging to ‘gastrophysics,’ there are some basics to understand about our ever-challenging task of producing and selling food. I listened to a […] Read more
Put a skip in your step — it will make life better in many ways
You may think you’re too old or feel silly skipping about the farm, but it will fill you with energy — and joy
Reading Time: 3 minutes Gripping the skipping rope in my hands for the first time in five decades, I quietly wondered if it was possible. Under the gaze of four sapphire-eyed girls I knew I had to try. Two hundred and sixteen skips later I rested to the chorus of, “How did you do that?” How indeed? What makes […] Read more
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 moreInnovation with the most unlikely material shows all is possible
Human waste has always been a problem, but it is increasingly seen as a resource and that’s spurring the creation of new technologies
Reading Time: 3 minutes I still spend a lot of time in airports and love to use that time to read interesting stories on people, places, politics, science, and technology. It brings to light all that is possible in our world. A little writeup caught my eye in regards to human waste which is a growing problem. In many […] Read more
In the quest for ever-more production, have we lost our way?
Farmers in the developing world are impoverished while producers here are taking on ever-higher levels of debt
Reading Time: 3 minutes I strongly believe that our focus in the future should be on the nutrient density of plants and biodiversity. Pushing our soils to produce more is terminal because there is burnout of the soil and the plant, along with financial harm to the farmer. Instead, we should look at soil health, seed health with nutrient […] Read more
A letter to a mother from a very grateful daughter
In ways great and small, we learn to live, laugh, and persevere through the example of those who inspire us
Reading Time: 3 minutes Dear Mom, I am so proud to say that my strength of character comes from you. It must have been so overwhelming to lose your own mother at an early age. I know you worked hard at university, only to leave your profession once you married a farmer. From the city you moved to rural […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
