Reading Time: 2 minutes Sweeping regulatory changes at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and limited funds for research are among the challenges facing fruit and vegetable growers, says Ron Lemaire, president of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association. “The foundation for Canada’s fresh produce supply chain is made up of approximately 25,000 small-, medium- and large-size farms that produce vegetables, […] Read more
Produce sector needs help with CFIA changes
Low margins in the industry leave little capacity to cover rising research costs if an existing formula is scrapped
Green jobs in agriculture eligible for wage subsidy
Protecting and restoring ecosystems, reducing energy use, producing organic products and limiting greenhouse gases qualify for the program
Reading Time: < 1 minute Employers in the ag sector with an environmental focus are being urged to consider a program that subsidizes the salaries of new graduates by up to $13,500 per year. “Agriculture is a natural fit for this green jobs initiative,” says Portia MacDonald-Dewhirst, executive director of the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council. “Canada’s primary producers are […] Read more
Alberta producers aren’t sold on sustainability certification programs
Only 30 per cent of farmers believe sustainability certification will be part of doing business in the next five years
Reading Time: 4 minutes Alberta producers don’t know much about sustainability certification programs — but they don’t think it matters much anyway. Those were the key findings of a survey of 400 Alberta producers who were asked about sustainability practices on their farms. While producers are making headway on adopting sustainable production practices, they’re not yet sold on the […] Read more
National environmental farm plan in the works
A summit next month will bring together farm groups and governments from across the country
Reading Time: 3 minutes Having a national environmental farm plan could make it easier for producers to market their commodities overseas. “We recognize that farmers have international buyers from around the world that are sourcing Canadian products from more than one jurisdiction,” said Erin Gowriluk, government relations and policy manager at Alberta Wheat. “If we can position ourselves here […] Read more
B.C. farmers learned to live with a carbon tax
Reading Time: < 1 minute B.C.’s carbon tax didn’t make its farmers less competitive, says a carbon tax expert. Brandon Schaufele studied its effect on agricultural trade for 12 different commodities and found the competitiveness of B.C. products wasn’t reduced. “There was very little evidence that the carbon taxes impacted trade at all,” said the assistant professor at the Ivey […] Read more
Farmers fear big price hit from carbon tax
The focus has been on the price of fuel, but the effect of a carbon tax on the price of fertilizer, chemicals, and machinery could be much greater
Reading Time: 5 minutes Sixty miles south of where Stephen Vandervalk farms lies the American border — an invisible line dividing farm country with the same growing conditions producing crops that will be sold to mostly the same customers. But the Fort Macleod producer worries that being north of the line is going to be a huge disadvantage when […] Read more
Canadian biofuels aren’t a ‘blunder,’ they’re a success story
Well-designed renewable fuel policies can be good for the environment, the economy, and agricultural producers
Reading Time: 3 minutes In an opinion piece published in the previous edition of this paper (Biofuels are one of our greatest environmental blunders), Gwyn Morgan questions the benefits of biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel. Mr. Morgan would have it that biofuels are a “blunder.” In our opinion, biofuels are a home run for the environment and the rural economy. […] Read more
Sustainable beef is ‘an incredible opportunity’
Canada’s beef sector leads the world when it comes to sustainability and needs to tell that story, says Cameron Bruett
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s time for the beef industry to speak up and explain itself to its detractors and the people who don’t understand it. “I become very frustrated when I see media and activists attacking the global beef industry,” Cameron Bruett, head of corporate affairs and sustainability with JBS USA, said at last month’s Canadian Beef Industry […] Read more
Biofuels are one of our greatest environmental blunders
Proponents of biofuels are simply refusing to count their true environmental cost
Reading Time: 3 minutes Are biofuels really greener than the fossil fuels they displace? In a recent column I pointed out that electric cars are only as green as the fuel used to generate the electricity they consume. For internal-combustion-powered vehicles, much of the focus has been on trying to reduce carbon emissions by adding ethanol to gasoline and […] Read more
Perennial grain: It’s two — yes, two — crops in one
It’s been a decades’ long search, but researchers believe the finish line is in sight for a crop that can be both grazed and then harvested for its grain
Reading Time: 4 minutes As concerns grow over sustainability in modern farming, researchers are looking to the past in search of crops that can both meet the needs of farmers and consumers as well as the environment. Thinopyrum intermedium — commonly known as intermediate wheatgrass — is one of the fruits of that research. It’s been nearly three decades […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
