It is going to be tough to hire folks when an offer of a living wage is not on the table.

Schoepp: Times have changed, and so must the way you treat employees

A living wage is important but there are other things that today’s workers expect from employers

Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s crunch time as the harvest begins and farmers scramble for the help they need. A lot has changed on farms in the last decade as the baby boomers retire and are replaced by millennials and Gen Z. These generations have nurtured a different set of values and ethics. There has never been such a […] Read more

File photo of a BNSF grain train crossing the Gassman Coulee trestle near Minot, North Dakota. (Photo courtesy BNSF Railway)

U.S. railroad strike averted

Biden calls deal a 'win for America;' strike's impact would have reached up into Canada

Updated | Washington | Reuters — Major U.S. railroads and unions secured a tentative deal on Thursday after 20 hours of intense talks brokered by President Joe Biden’s administration to avert a rail shutdown that could have hit food and fuel supplies across the country and beyond. Biden called the deal a “big win for […] Read more



(Dave Bedard photo)

Ontario minimum wage increases concern farmers

Changes to the way labour is regulated and paid for in Ontario will have detrimental effects on farm profitability, say farm organizations. Premier Kathleen Wynne and Labour Minister Kevin Flynn announced the changes this week, outlining the proposed legislation after a review of the acts that govern labour in Ontario was completed. The largest impact […] Read more



(Government of Alberta via Flickr)

Proposed labour rules for Alberta farms go public

The Alberta public will get about a month to speak its mind on proposed changes to provincial labour laws, with the goal of applying those changes to farms and ranches. The province on Monday released a pair of reports from technical working groups (TWGs) reviewing farm and ranch operations’ status under the Employment Standards Code […] Read more


Farmer walking toward combine.

Farm groups plan to lead the way on workplace safety

With Bill 6 consultations drawing to a close, AgCoalition aims to ‘show the world’ how to make farms safer

Reading Time: 2 minutes Now that the province’s Bill 6 consultation process is nearing an end, what’s next for the unprecedented coalition of Alberta farm groups? “The AgCoalition was initially set up to advance a safety culture, and yet it got embroiled in a consultation process that it didn’t really have a lot of time or purchase for,” said […] Read more

(Assembly.ab.ca)

Alta. farm bill applies to paid workers only, minister says

UPDATED, Nov. 28, 2015 — New legislation applying Alberta’s rules on workplace standards and workers’ compensation to farm workers is meant for farms’ paid employees — not for family members or neighbours helping out on family farms. The province’s labour minister has said as much after stormy early going in the government’s consultations on Bill […] Read more