Ari Westhaver of the NFU demonstrating on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Nov. 22, 2023. (Jonah Grignon photo)

NFU takes demand for ban on investor ownership to Parliament Hill

Organization's youth caucus concerned amid ‘transition crisis’

Members of the National Farmers Union (NFU) gathered on Parliament Hill Wednesday to demand a ban on investor ownership of farmland. The demonstration was organized by the NFU Youth Caucus and Farm Workers’ Working Group. The goal was to demand protection of food sovereignty and help farmers, especially young ones, gain more access to farmland. […] Read more

High schoolers from Iowa got hands-on journalism experience interviewing producers at Canadian Western Agribition. Pictured: Jake VanderHeiden, Hannah Grantz, and Katlin Truelsen, with Lexie Girodat of Rocking G Land and Cattle out of Gull Lake, Sask. (Becky Zimmer photo)

At Agribition: Iowa school group looks in on Prairie ag

Media program students, alumni gather participants' stories

Fresh faces and new blood were injected into the usual cadre of journalism veterans this week at Canadian Western Agribition. Students from Iowa’s CAC Media Group ventured to Regina for hands-on agricultural journalism experience. Hannah Grantz, Jake VanderHeiden and Katlin Truelsen, students from high schools across Clinton County in eastern Iowa, interviewed, photographed and videotaped […] Read more


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Feds plan to ease Underused Housing Tax reporting load

New exemption also proposed for employee housing outside cities

Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s latest Fall Economic Statement offers to take some of the reporting burden off certain farmers and other Canadians when filing for exemptions from the national Underused Housing Tax (UHT). The federal finance department on Nov. 16 posted its legislative and regulatory proposals for changes to the UHT online and has […] 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


(Glacier FarmMedia staff photo)

Legislation allows Quebec’s UPA to rework funding formula

Bill 28 passes Quebec assembly

Quebec’s legislative assembly has passed a bill allowing the province’s overarching general farm organization, the Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA), to start the process toward a new funding model. Provincial Agriculture Minister Andre Lamontagne on Thursday announced the passage of Bill 28, which amends legislation governing organization of farming activities and the accreditation of UPA. […] Read more

beans, lentils, peas

Alberta Pulse Growers seeks advisors

Reading Time: < 1 minute Pulse producers who want to grow the province’s pulse industry while developing their own leadership skills are invited to let their names stand for election as an Alberta Pulse Growers advisor at zone meetings this fall. “I strongly encourage any interested pulse farmers to join the APG team,” said chair Shane Strydhorst. “I started out […] Read more


ABP delegate nominations open for 2024

Nomination forms must be submitted by Nov. 15

Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Beef Producers’ delegate nominations are now open, with two-year positions available in all five zones and one-year positions available in central, northwest, and southeast zones. Delegates represent the needs and ideas of producers in their local area and keep them informed on the latest from ABP. Nominees should be passionate about Alberta’s beef industry, […] Read more

“The country … doesn’t think enough about protecting its water in terms of food management and production,” the report says.

New report proposes national agri-food water strategy

The Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute says farmers have been let down by the lack of a national plan

Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Canada should use its enormous water resources to become a sustainable food powerhouse and a global water research superpower, says a new paper from the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute. The country’s water policies, management and research efforts are underdeveloped and uncoordinated, it said, which leaves water resources and challenges largely unaddressed. That’s […] Read more


Keith Currie, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Jennifer Babcock, government and public affairs for the Canadian Cattle Association, Jan VanderHout, president of the Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada, Rick White, president of the Canadian Canola Growers Association and Kyle Larking, executive director of Grain Growers of Canada, listen as Kody Blois, chair of the House of Commons agriculture committee (centre), talks about his new private member’s bill Oct.19.

Private member’s bill looks for quicker ag product approval

Seed, feed and pest control legislation would be amended to allow faster approval of products already registered in ‘trusted’ jurisdictions

Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Kody Blois, Liberal MP and chair of the House of Commons agriculture committee, has introduced a bill to make it easier for seed, feed and crop protection products to move into Canada. Private member’s Bill C-359 would amend the Seeds Act, Feeds Act and Pest Control Products Act to provide a 90-day […] Read more

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Canada to boost carbon tax rebate for rural areas

Will also pause carbon tax on home heating oil for three years

Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday announced a three-year carbon tax exemption for home heating oil and higher carbon tax rebates for people in rural areas, measures he said were intended to bring relief amid soaring costs of living. Trudeau’s Liberal government has implemented a price on carbon to combat […] Read more