Investing in small-scale agriculture is one of the best ways to ensure rural people in developing countries can feed their families and move out of poverty. Agriculture contributes to economic growth, better nutrition and improved lives for women and children. This is not surprising, considering that six out of seven people who live in rural […] Read more
Stories by Carol Thiessen
Help farmers adjust to climate change
Crop yields are in decline. Water resources are threatened. There is a significant risk of rising hunger. These are the alarm bells sounding on global food production in a world of climate change. A major new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change argues that these are not distant threats. Climate change’s impacts are […] Read more
Labrador family produces eggs in the wilderness
HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY, Newfoundland — Just before the Trans-Labrador Highway reaches Lem and Darla Seaward’s farm, a road sign warns that the next services are 294 kilometres away. It’s proof that the Seawards, who are the only egg producers in Newfoundland’s vast Labrador region, are literally perched on the brink of wilderness. It has taken […] Read more
Manitoba family a business team
TEULON, Man. – Call them innovators, call them diversified, call them thoughtful risk takers. Just don’t call them stagnant. Herb and Helen Kletke and their son Glenn have built a small mixed farm in Manitoba’s southern Interlake region into a multi-faceted business, cleaning grain and forage seeds, treating canola, growing crops and selling chemicals. It’s […] Read more
Government aid calculations vary
How much help does the government give farmers these days, after years of cuts and downsizing? It depends how it’s calculated. According to analysis from Agriculture Canada, it could be anywhere from $1 billion to $4 billion. The lower number is the value of program payments made directly to farmers, from crop insurance and Net […] Read more
No TV for me
Canadians are watching less television and Albertans watch the least of all. A recent report from the federal government said the time the average Canadian spends in front of the television has fallen almost one hour during the past decade to 22.8 hours. Albertans averaged 20.3 hours per week, including 1.6 watching videotapes. Women over […] Read more
Quality may not always be beneficial
WINNIPEG (Staff) – Canadian processors appreciate the high quality of wheat and barley. But they also think the system pumps out too much of a good thing. Gordon Harrison said the Canadian National Millers Association is besieged with requests for low-quality Canadian flour. He said some export customers can use it to blend with their […] Read more
Lost customer leads to job cuts
SASKATOON (Staff) – The 60 job cuts at the Saskatoon Dairy Producers Co-operative milk plant have nothing to do with the company’s recent merger, says corporate spokesperson Dan Wong. “This was driven exclusively by the loss of a particular contract that we had with a major customer,” Wong said. He claimed Dairy Producers lost the […] Read more
