Proudly Canadian

Robert Arnason

Reporter

Robert Arnason is a reporter with The Western Producer and Glacier Farm Media. Since 2008, he has authored nearly 5,000 articles on anything and everything related to Canadian agriculture. He didn’t grow up on a farm, but Robert spent hundreds of days on his uncle’s cattle and grain farm in Manitoba. Robert started his journalism career in Winnipeg as a freelancer, then worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Nipawin, Saskatchewan and Fernie, BC. Robert has a degree in civil engineering from the University of Manitoba and a diploma in LSJF – Long Suffering Jets’ Fan.

Stories by Robert Arnason

An aerial image of the Port of Prince Rupert with a ship at dockside.

News

Grain volumes up at Prince Rupert

Recovery is welcome because port has been under-used recently

When compared to the 2023 calendar year, grain exports at the port of Prince Rupert were 26 per cent higher in 2024, the Prince Rupert Port Authority said in a January release.

March 4, 2025

A grain train passes alongside a lake in the mountains.

News

Rail biggest transport cost

One would think that most of the durum from Western Canada should logically be shipped through the St. Lawrence Seaway to a customer in Algeria. But that’s not what happens.

March 4, 2025

Counting scientists

News

Counting scientists

Quebec has more federal agricultural researchers than Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan has 40.3 million acres of field crops and hayland. Quebec has 4.4 million acres, yet 59 Agriculture Canada scientists work at the four research centres in Quebec while Saskatchewan has 52.

March 4, 2025

Justin Sherlock, a farmer and soybean grower from North Dakota.

News, Tariffs, Video

VIDEO: The risk of tariffs – some U.S. farmers get it and some don’t

Some American farmers understand the risks of tariffs, but some do not.

March 4, 2025

Kip Eideberg, Lobbyist who represents the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.

Markets, News, Tariffs

Anti-tariff lobbyists struggle in Washington

A prominent lobbyist in Washington, D.C., who represents manufacturers of machinery and farm equipment in America is having little success with U.S. president Donald Trump’s administration on tariffs.

March 3, 2025

U.S. agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins speaks with reporters at the Commodity Classic farm show in Denver March 2.

Ag trade deficit top priority for U.S. agriculture secretary

As U.S. secretary of agriculture Brooke Rollins took the stage at the Commodity Classic in Denver about 2,500 farmers inside the Colorado Convention Centre leapt out of their seats and gave her a standing ovation.

March 3, 2025

An overhead drone photo showing an autonomous tractor pulling a grain cart receiving grain via a combine's auger in a field, on the fly.

Crop Management, Machinery, News, Video

VIDEO: PTx Trimble wins agricultural technology award in Denver

Davidson Prize recognizes leading engineering technologies that impact different farming operations

An agricultural technology company from the Prairies has won a major award at the Commodity Classic in Denver.

March 3, 2025

A large sprayer drone hovers over a crop while a large boom attached to it sends spray downward.

Crop Management, Machinery

Many cons, few pros found with drone spraying

A spray specialist worries about swath width, spray drift, risk of accidents and lack of regulations when using the unmanned aircraft

Tom Wolf traveled to Winnipeg in the middle of February to give a talk on the pros and cons of spraying crops with drones.

February 26, 2025

The Pest Management Regulatory Agency plans to assess new pesticides by looking at the residues of a specific product and how it might combine with other pesticide exposure to increase the health risk to an individual, but CropLife Canada says that is “almost a scientific impossibility.” | File photo

Crop Management, News

Pest Management Regulatory Agency under fire for pesticide regulatory reform

The crop protection industry claims the federal government’s regulatory burden may ‘drive innovation out of Canada’

Canada ranks 32 out of 38 member countries for administrative and regulatory burden, says the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

February 25, 2025

Three cows are gathered around a broken down round bale in the middle of a snowy field.

Livestock Management, News, Video

VIDEO: Producers support mandatory livestock inspection in Manitoba

Eighty-five to 90 per cent of Manitoba Beef Producers members vote in favour of the resolution put forth at a recent meeting

After years of debate and discussion, cattle producers in Manitoba are supporting mandatory livestock inspection in the province.

February 21, 2025