The farm operation that uses a model of diversity and maintains and integrates natural landscapes may be more resilient in times of weather and financial stress.

Alberta irrigation gets $5.5M boost

Replacing open canals is top priority in irrigation plans for funding

Reading Time: 4 minutes Alberta’s irrigation districts are getting a $5.5 million boost to an annual cost-share program for modernizing and rehabilitating infrastructure. The boost brings the districts’ total 2024 share to $19 million through the irrigation rehabilitation program (IRP), an agreement between the Alberta government, which contributes 75 per cent, and irrigation districts who fund the other 25 […] Read more

One of the primary the issues discussed at the Recognizing Rural Canada event was high-speed internet access for rural communities.

Push continues for rural connectivity at Ottawa event

Labour, internet access among the challenges in rural communities discussed at Recognizing Rural Canada event

Labour, internet access among the challenges in rural communities discussed 
at Recognizing Rural Canada event in Ottawa

Reading Time: 2 minutes The problem of rural connectivity had a moment in the spotlight in Ottawa in late April. Politicians and business leaders highlighted the issue during the Recognizing Rural Communities discussion, led by former MP Candice Bergen. The event featured two panels. Bergen said federal politicians must better understand that Canada has a diversity of rural communities […] Read more


A man is seen outside the house damaged by Russian shelling, Odesa Region, southern Ukraine. (Photo by Nina Liashonok/Ukrinform/Sipa USA)

Ukraine: Our common hive

The people of Ukraine continue to adapt, survive and even thrive

Reading Time: 5 minutes You wake up in the morning and drink coffee before starting the work day. You turn on the TV and listen to a long list of deaths and destruction that happened in your country overnight. The announcer speaks almost without emotion, as if he is talking about everyday, ordinary things. You hear that 10 missiles […] Read more



Phosphate rock mining in the island country of Nauru, 2007. Unlike nitrogen, which can be captured from the air through natural cycles, phosphate is a declining resource which must be mined or captured from waste. Credit: Lorrie Graham/AusAID/Wikimedia Commons

Martison Phosphate Project aims to make Canada self-sufficient in phosphorus

Reading Time: 3 minutes A lot of what determines what Canadian farmers pay for phosphate fertilizer and how readily they can get it happens outside of Canada’s borders. According to Stephen Case, chief executive officer and president of Fox River Resources, Canada has become completely reliant on phosphate sourced from other countries like the U.S., Russia and Morocco. He’s […] Read more

Saying there are no pesticide runoff problems and proving it are two different things. But extensive and independent testing and lab analysis found pesticide residues were well below prescribed limits.

U of M study looks into sources of water nutrient loads

Soil and vegetation may play a larger role in excess nutrient runoff

Reading Time: 3 minutes A new study is giving more insight into where nutrients running off into Prairie waterways are coming from — and pasture manure may not be the biggest culprit. The study, led by soil scientist David Lobb and Marcos Cordeiro of the University of Manitoba’s department of animal science, sought to model nitrogen and phosphorus levels in […] Read more





(file photo)

Grain business consolidation and concentration

A recent study suggests farmer concerns over the Viterra-Bunge merger are well founded

Reading Time: 3 minutes The anti-competitive tentacles of this deal reach much deeper than a consolidation that makes two competitors into one. This is about who will shape the future of grain handling and oilseed processing in Western Canada.

Photo: Canada Beef Inc.

The feedlot solution to food waste

Cattle industry documentary pitches rumination as great food waste upcycler

Reading Time: 3 minutes Food waste takes up space in landfills and its breakdown adds methane to the atmosphere, so there’s value in feeding it to livestock instead.