It can be too easy for farmers to either ignore how their actions are perceived by the public or complain about public perception but fail to seek solutions. Either way, the result can be government regulation in which they had no input. This is why it is so encouraging to see the actions of two […] Read more
Opinion
Letters to the editor – June 27, 2024
CBC remains valuable institution While watching the ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landing of Canadian troops on Juno Beach, France, I was reminded how important the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is to Canadians’ sense of who we are as a country. CBC reporter Matthew Halton was on the beach with the troops on […] Read more
Gophers, insects, weather: perennial problems persist
Producers are dealing with a long list of production and management issues. While many have recurring themes, some have a unique twist. I would never have guessed that gophers could be such a big problem over such a widespread area of the southern Prairies. Unlike the control of grasshoppers and flea beetles, gophers can’t be […] Read more
Look back at June 21, 2007, issue
For the next year, this column will mark The Western Producer’s 100th anniversary by taking a deep dive every week into a past issue of the paper. The fight over the Canadian Wheat Board was heating up in 2007 with the Conservatives under Stephen Harper in power. The party would eventually dismantle the wheat board’s […] Read more
Protect the longevity of family farms
There is a true saying in farming communities: farmers are asset rich, cash poor. Throughout a farmer’s career, they are constantly re-investing into their operations, be it to purchase new acreage, upgrade their grain bins, or purchase the newest and most innovative tractors or combines. These assets, built up throughout a farmer’s career, are added […] Read more
Wheat growers question need for new building
If you repeat it, if you say it louder, if that’s your talking point, people will totally believe it,” stated former federal environment minister Catherine McKenna. It seems supporters for a new agriculture building in Winnipeg bought into this infamous diatribe. Related story: Under one roof? Not so fast We have heard over and over […] Read more
Senate soil report supports valued asset
Quick, what one thing is essential to any farming operation? If you had to think for a minute to come up with soil, it’s understandable. Land, or more specifically soil, is much like water for a fish or air for land animals. We are oblivious to its presence until it is gone or degraded. This […] Read more
Are we planning to build a Winnipeg centre of Ag excellence, or a tower of Babel?
I visited the CBC HQ in Toronto a few times. There, within this 13-storey magnificence of white, red and glass, and under the gaze of an enormous portrait of Barbara Frum, I would wonder why all this money had been spent on erecting such a structure that would obviously turn CBC inward. It seemed an […] Read more
More retired farmers opt to sell rather than lease
According to longtime farmland realtor Tim Hammond, retired farmers are becoming more likely to sell some or all of their land rather than rent it out. This shift in attitudes could have an impact on the farmland market in years to come. About one-third of Saskatchewan farmland is leased and while the land owned by […] Read more
Look back at June 16, 2005, issue
For the next year, this column will mark The Western Producer’s 100th anniversary by taking a deep dive every week into a past issue of the paper. I wrote in this column earlier in the year about an import duty that the United States had imposed on Canadian hogs. In the June 16, 2005, issue, […] Read more
