“One of the keys for us was making sure we found a partner that was committed to preserving the Versatile and Farm King brands,” said Adam Reid, VP of sales and marketing at Versatile. “We wanted to make sure the viability of the plant here in Winnipeg and our staff was secure. And taking care of all of our stakeholders, the suppliers, shareholders.”
Başak Traktör of Turkey looks to move Versatile brand forward
Buhler Industries announced the Turkish firm had bought its majority stake
Bourgault becomes third shortliner acquired by Linamar since 2017
Leadership say they want to double the business of the maker of Highline equipment and Freeform Plastics
In 2017 Linamar, a company best known as an auto parts manufacturer, purchased Winnipeg-based header and swather manufacturer MacDon. It followed that up by bringing implement brand Salford into its fold in 2022. In late December the company announced it is now adding Saskatchewan-based air drill manufacturer Bourgault into its family of shortline ag equipment brands.
Civilian cars and ancient farm machinery
Ukraine’s history of making do pays off in wartime as farmers support the war
Reading Time: 5 minutes Ukraine’s agriculture is diverse and so is the equipment on Ukrainian farms. Near my town, a German-made NEXAT transformer unit is working in the fields and is one of few in the world. It’s a massive all-in-one machine that handles every step in crop production: spring cultivation, seeding, crop protection and harvesting. While this is […] Read more
Agriculture’s labour challenges continue
Survey finds increasing number of foreign workers not enough to fill gap
Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – The latest agricultural labour market information shows shortages cost the sector billions and the problem is likely to grow. The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council’s (CAHRC) most recent survey, conducted by the Conference Board of Canada between March and September, found 28,200 jobs were unfilled during peak season in 2022. That resulted in […] Read more
A bird’s eyeview of orphan wells
Process can be long and complex for farmers and other landowners
Reading Time: 5 minutes Alberta’s beautiful landscape is dotted with a lot of oil and gas wells. A current list of them from the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) runs to more than 16,000 pages, and there’s an estimated 620,000 of them in total. They’re collectively a major contributor to Alberta’s economy, and the energy needs of North America and […] Read more
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
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
New executive director brings city thinking to rural commission
Alberta Grains executive lacks farm knowledge but offsets it with core skills
Reading Time: 4 minutes He’s experienced. He’s motivated. And he’s the first to admit he doesn’t know a lick about farming. His name is Mike Flynn and he’s the first executive director of the new Alberta Grains. A non-aggie might seem like an odd choice for commission leadership, but he sports a unique CV: a professional executive director good […] Read more
Global temperature records shattered
The data demonstrates a clear and undeniable climate trend line
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s time to talk about record-breaking temperatures. Not daily records, not records for a city or a country, but global temperature records. You may have read an article or two about how September shattered the global record for warmest month. August was also the warmest on record, globally speaking. It looks like 2023 will be […] Read more
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
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
