Reading Time: 2 minutes You’re richer than you think — and you owe more, too. That could be the theme of StatsCan’s latest snapshot of farm equity, the number you get when subtracting farm debts from the value of assets. If you had put all of the assets of every farm in Canada on the auction block at the […] Read more
The value of Alberta farms shoots up again
Rising land prices – fuelled by higher crop prices – up by $8 billion but debt also rose in 2020
World Food Programme starts distributing food in Venezuela
Reuters — The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) said Wednesday it had begun distributing school meals to children in Venezuela, where some seven million people require humanitarian assistance after years of economic collapse in the once-prosperous OPEC nation. The WFP’s first take-home rations were distributed for children under six years old at some 277 schools […] Read more
Co-op, Blair’s joint venture to sell one crop input centre
Regulator sees overlap between Co-op, Blair's at Lipton
A new joint venture formed to run seven existing crop input retail centres in central and southeastern Saskatchewan will settle for six. The federal Competition Bureau on Wednesday announced an agreement with Federated Co-operatives (FCL) and the ag retail arm of the Saskatchewan-based Blair’s Family of Companies toward approval of their proposed joint venture. Blair’s […] Read more
Water monitoring project funded
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta’s new research funding agency is putting $750,000 over three years into a “novel water monitoring project.” The project aims to develop best practices “to protect water habitats from crop protection product use,” Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR) said in a release. The research will be done by the Crop Sector Working Group, composed of […] Read more
Province funds watershed protection
Reading Time: < 1 minute In the midst of the outcry over coal mining and its impact on water, the provincial government is giving $1 million to Cows and Fish for “projects and initiatives that protect creeks and streams along Alberta’s Eastern Slopes.” The organization, formally called the Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society, will work with other groups on specific […] Read more
A crystal ball to predict drought
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ag Canada says its new Drought Outlook tool can predict likely drought conditions one month into the future. The tool uses Drought Monitor assessments along with precipitation and temperature forecasts from Environment Canada. It features two side-by-side maps — one showing drought conditions as of a particular date and a linked one predicting the ‘drought […] Read more
Western Canada lightning strikes up tenfold, stoking fires
Vancouver | Reuters — Lightning strikes in Western Canada over the past two days soared nearly tenfold from the same time a year ago, triggered in part by a record-breaking heat wave, meteorologists said, warning of more strikes over the weekend that could further stoke forest fires fanned by high winds. Over 710,000 lightning events […] Read more
They’re more creepy than cuddly — but bats need your help
The insect-gobbling critters can eat their own weight in bugs each night, including farm pests
Reading Time: 3 minutes Bats aren’t pretty and their reputation isn’t either. But the insect-gobbling critters are friends of farmers — and they need help from producers, says the co-ordinator of the Alberta Community Bat Program. “In Canada, all of our bats are eating bugs — insects and spiders,” said biologist Cory Olson. “Their diets are fairly diverse, but […] Read more
It’s (once again) go time for a host of organizations in rural Alberta
Reading Time: 4 minutes Alberta’s agricultural societies, 4-H and Open Farm Days are all gearing up for Alberta’s reopening. “We are seeing our ag societies start to fire up,” said Tim Carson, executive director of the Alberta Association of Agricultural Societies. They are also scrambling a bit as two months ago, there was no indication the province was going to be […] Read more
Sale of new fuel-powered cars, light trucks to be banned from 2035
Interim targets to be set for 2025, 2030
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will ban the sale of fuel-burning new cars and light-duty trucks from 2035 in an effort to reach net-zero emissions across the country by 2050, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government said on Tuesday. Only zero-emissions cars and trucks can be sold from 2035, according to a statement, adding that a […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
