Woke wave washes over world agriculture
As the woke wave continues to gain momentum, some worry it will have a tsunami impact on agriculture. The fears have merit. The most blatant example is European farm policy mandating less fertilizer, fewer crop protection products and more organic production. The measures are particularly severe in the Netherlands where agriculture is in a downward …
Several Ag Canada acreage projections off-base
In it’s January 20th Outlook for Principal Field Crops, the market analysis group of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada includes seeded acreage projections for the growing season ahead. Many of the projections seem plausible, with some notable exceptions. All wheat, excluding durum, is expected to see a 4 per cent acreage increase, which seems reasonable given …
Pandering to woke culture won’t save the planet
Have you ever heard of Konstantin Kisin? I hadn’t until a saw his short, but brilliant speech on social media. The topic: woke culture has gone too far. Look it up. It’s really entertaining. Kisin is described as a satirist, author and political commentator. As someone often billed as a comedian, you might assume he …
Land prices likely to continue chugging higher
As farmers, an array of concerns might keep us awake on any particular night, but one fundamental issue bedevils many farms on an ongoing basis without any easy answers – access to farmland. Regarding when and how to market your grain, there’s no shortage of advice even though it can often be contradictory. The same …
Sustainable agriculture? What definition?
The federal government has released a discussion document for the development of a sustainable agriculture strategy. Wading through all the buzzwords and motherhood statements is rather tedious, but the document does provide some insight into government thinking and how future programs are likely to unfold. Let’s start with some positives, some praiseworthy statements amidst all …
Case-by-case solutions to farm labour crunch
Listening to farmers from across the country, you hear a wide range of strategies for dealing with the farm labour shortage. While organizations led by the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council have long been chronicling the shortage and working on big picture solutions, farmers have had to find their own answers. In many cases, additional …
