Female farmer numbers show major increase

Female farmer numbers show major increase

For the first time in 30 years, the number of female Canadian farm operators appears to be on the rise. Farms in Canada tend to be family operations. The fact that women are turning up on the census rolls in higher numbers might be a result of better data, women more accurately identifying their roles, […] Read more

Gene-edited crops rules needed soon

Gene-edited crops rules needed soon

When Canada chose to go its own way on genetically modified crops many years ago, it chose to regulate crop genetics by the results of the breeding, not how it was done. If a new and novel trait is added to a genetic line, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, as a part of Health Canada, […] Read more

Impact of hog disease can’t be underestimated

Impact of hog disease can’t be underestimated

Canada is bracing for impact. The massive blow won’t shake china off the shelves, but rather, will arrive in the tiniest of forms — a virus or bacteria that can replicate itself and hitch a ride on almost anything, killing livestock in its wake. The nation’s farmers and processors are preparing for a time when […] Read more


Drone regulations ground valuable farming technology

Drone regulations ground valuable farming technology

Unmanned aerial vehicles — drones — are a part of many farm futures. From field and pasture reconnaissance to application of pesticides, the ability to see land without setting foot on it offers many advantages that can improve the bottom line. Technology is developing faster than the regulations that guide operations, as is usually the […] Read more

A 30-million-tonne error? Consider the agenda

A 30-million-tonne error? Consider the agenda

Animal activists will collaborate with other activist camps if it serves their underlying goals. The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) has given them an opportunity to piggyback with environmental groups to push an anti-food-animal message, the better to garner media attention. World Animal Protection jumped on the event-based bandwagon to offer new math […] Read more


Better production practices help farmers survive drought

Better production practices help farmers survive drought

At the heart of John Palliser’s triangle is the steppe that runs west in Saskatchewan from the Montana border to Lethbridge. It can be dry country. In the 1860s, when the explorer came through that part of the Northwest Territory, he saw little potential for farming, preferring the area we now call the dark brown, […] Read more

Daycare is no place to promote veganism

Daycare is no place to promote veganism

There are places where individual dietary choices shouldn’t be imposed on the many. A children’s daycare inside a public institution is one of them. There’s some irony that the University of Guelph, one of Canada’s largest agricultural universities, has chosen to keep animal agricultural products out of its Child Care and Learning Centre, which proudly […] Read more

Biofuel a fine option; fossil fuels still needed

Biofuel a fine option; fossil fuels still needed

The move from fossil fuels to crop-derived fuels sounds good —until a crop failure or two occurs after we’ve stopped pumping or digging fossil fuels out of the ground. Then we might find them much less attractive. Compact, energy-rich portable fuels are the basis for nearly all of agriculture, with the exception of grazing, though […] Read more


CFIA should heed science,as it always claims to do

CFIA should heed science,as it always claims to do

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s livestock transport regulations appear to be a compromise between science and popular opinion. In fact, the agency has said as much. CFIA’s new policy requires the offloading of cattle for eight hours after 36 hours of travel. But another federal government department has research that contradicts the need for weaned […] Read more

Everyone in the industry — farmers, ranchers agri-businesses and even community volunteer-based organizations — should employ cybersecurity measures. | Getty Images

Lock those electronic bins to keep what’s yours

Why would hackers looking to make a buck pick on a farm or farmer organization? Wouldn’t banks, health-care institutions or large corporations yield richer harvests? Like fishing, hacking is most rewarding where it’s easiest. While there is money in financial institutions, those folks are prepared to fend off would-be thieves. The same applies to many […] Read more