On April 21, the New York Times ran four corrections. On April 18, the Toronto Star ran five. No doubt many people have received viral emails containing humorous errors and corrections in the media. A newspaper accidentally reported that a musician was on drugs, instead of on drums. Another newspaper reported that a source did […] Read more
Brian MacLeod
Stories by Brian MacLeod
WP writers recognized for their efforts
Western Producer journalists have been recognized around the world for their work, and this year’s North American Agricultural Journalists awards competition kept that record going. Five members of the Producer’s newsroom were honoured in four categories. The news team of Barb Glen, Robert Arnason and Ed White won first place in the Special Projects category […] Read more
Insect report reaction misguided
By now, you’ve likely heard about “the study.” It’s the one by environmental scientist Francisco Sanchez-Bayo and entomologist Kris Wyckhuys concluding that an insect apocalypse is underway. They are right to raise the alarm — we need to know this — but the rush to judgment by some about what must be done is superficial. […] Read more
Farmers need more carbon tax analysis
Last week’s front-page story by Robin Booker was a substantial piece. After filing a series of requests through the federal Access to Information Act to determine what, if anything, the Canadian government had done to determine the effect of the pending carbon tax on farmers, Robin searched through a mountain of information to determine that […] Read more
Rural minister should bring cabinet clout
If the newly created rural and economic development ministry, led by MP Bernadette Jordan, is effective and can earn some clout in cabinet, it may bring a healthy new focus to rural issues in Canada. Jordan represents the riding of South Shore-St. Margarets in Nova Scotia, and as earlier reported in The Western Producer, is […] Read more
Top-10 online stories of 2018
Each year, we look at the top-read stories on producer.com. The results are interesting and wide-ranging. Here are the top-10 online stories of 2018. 10. “Tractor trip ends in tragedy.” In July, Elmira, Ont., dairy producers Henk and Bettina Schuurmans travelled across Canada to promote Canadian dairy. After a collision with a truck on Highway […] Read more
Agriculture has the potential to change the world
Welcome to our annual special edition, which we at the Western Producer affectionately call Issue 52. Each year, for the last edition, we select a topic and take a deep dive with our entire newsroom. We parse the topics and go long, finding out what’s new and improving in the industry. We started this back […] Read more
Biofortification: the art of improving food
Examples of biofortification projects include:
The potential for crop breeding known as biofortification to direct specific nutrients to people who need them the most is “huge,” but it will take a worldwide effort among many organizations to make that happen, says Adam Heurberger, assistant professor of horticulture and landscape agriculture at Colorado State University. Biofortification involves breeding plants with high […] Read more
‘Fake news’ term not to be used lightly
I have, in recent weeks, come across the term “fake news” when people want to express their concern with an element in a story or column. This term has caught on and is being used as a tool to denigrate other people’s communication. It is often used inappropriately. The term was popularized by U.S. President […] Read more
Combatting bad press
On Nov. 1, The Western Producer published a story under the headline, “Canadian pulses attacked in India’s press.” The story detailed how the Times of India, the country’s largest English language newspaper, published a story a week earlier warning readers about a government statement on glyphosate in daal (split, dried pulses) imported from Canada and […] Read more
