Carbon tax reform vital at the farmgate

Carbon tax reform vital at the farmgate

Producers in the four most productive agricultural provinces are paying carbon taxes on natural gas and propane that don’t reflect the realities of their industry. It needs to stop. Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario don’t have working carbon tax programs so they are administered by the federal government. The federal plan has exemptions for fuels […] Read more

There will be a high cost to building back better but it is necessary work. | Screencap via Twitter/@TranBC

B.C. floods show need for better infrastructure

Western Canadian infrastructure is being tested by the atmospheric river that plowed through British Columbia last week, wreaking havoc with people, animals and transportation links. More than 300 millimetres of rain fell in southern B.C. in 48 hours, the amount that on average falls over one month. Resulting damage has halted rail and commercial vehicle […] Read more

While other food prices have risen by three to seven percent in the past year, dairy products have been stable. | Getty Images

Criticism on dairy prices lacks full explanations

Consumers and food processors will soon pay more for farmgate dairy products and many commentators are using the increase as ammunition in their war upon supply management. While other food prices have risen by three to seven percent in the past year, dairy products have been stable. To establish prices, the Canadian Dairy Commission looks […] Read more


Canadian agriculture's history of efficient production in livestock and crops should be a story we take to the carbon bank. | File photo

Ag deserved better promo at COP26

COP26’s goals to examine global emissions and provide some agreed solutions are laudable. But the voices at the table — and there were many — didn’t tell the true tales experienced in western Canadian agriculture. Maybe they couldn’t be heard over the din of anti-economics rhetoric. Much of the COP26 discussion in terms of food […] Read more

In 2019 Winnipeg's Jim Carr was appointed special representative for the Prairies after longtime Liberal Member of Parliament Ralph Goodale lost his Saskatchewan seat. That role, and Carr, have now been dropped. | File photo

How the West didn’t win

Prairie people appear to have less representation than ever following the federal election. The West has the same number of seats but their influence in the nation’s cabinet has been reduced in the last two governments. In 2019, Winnipeg’s Jim Carr was appointed special representative for the Prairies after longtime Liberal Member of Parliament Ralph […] Read more


Navigating the perplexing nuances of grain contracts

Navigating the perplexing nuances of grain contracts

Many farmers are calling for penalty relief after being held to crop contracts they cannot meet this season. Failing that, they want industry consistency in enforcement. Should they get it? Drought left many producers unable to meet production or delivery contracts this season. Tiny inventories and sky-high prices are leaving grain companies and brokers without […] Read more

Value added on the Prairies: 40 years in the making

Value added on the Prairies: 40 years in the making

Red Williams slid a plywood chair away from a plywood table, the kind with the edges worn off from being set up and taken down at numerous wheat pool member meetings, 4-H achievement days and fowl suppers. “You need to invest in adding value to your own production. It doesn’t look like anyone else will,” […] Read more

Food waste an issue for people, planet

Food waste an issue for people, planet

The amount of food wasted in Canada grows along with citizens’ expectations that cheap, abundant food will be available at grocery stores 12 hours per day, seven days per week. Canadians can and do buy nearly anything they desire when poverty isn’t a factor. Unfortunately for the planet, they throw away more than 10 percent […] Read more


Do more with less? That seldom works

Do more with less? That seldom works

Use 30 percent less fertilizer and put 30 percent more food into the global system. That is, at first blush, what the federal government has suggested Canadian farmers should be doing over the next nine years. The ag industry isn’t impressed. Farmers in Western Canada are outraged that their operations are so misunderstood by the […] Read more

Could election money have been better spent?

Could election money have been better spent?

Canadians spent $600 million in the span of 35 days on the recent federal election. For that amount of money, the nation could have accomplished many things — or at least had more fun. On a bulk deal the country could have purchased 600 very large combines or 850 good-sized tractors. The tricky part would […] Read more