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Agriculture

Pot price 'race to the bottom' hurts market: OCS

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Thursday, Jun. 1, 2023

TORONTO - The head of Ontario's cannabis distributor says the "race to the bottom" happening with pot prices risks hurting the market's future.

“Once you condition consumers to certain prices, it may take a generation to change perceptions and price tolerances,” David Lobo, Ontario Cannabis Store president and chief executive, said in a speech at the Lift cannabis conference in Toronto on Thursday.

“In an economy where inflation has impacted every other consumer good, we can't keep pushing lower.”

His remarks come as the cannabis boom that materialized in 2018, when the substance was regulated and money poured into the sector, has since dissipated. Pot companies are taking multimillion-dollar writedowns, laying off staff and rethinking their product mixes as the industry gets a better sense of consumer demand and regulatory hurdles.

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Ontario abandons controversial farm lot proposal

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Ontario abandons controversial farm lot proposal

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Tuesday, May. 30, 2023

TORONTO - Ontario has backed off a housing proposal that farmers say would have had a "catastrophic" impact on farmland and livestock operations.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark proposed a series of regulations along with a bill that would allow for more housing to be built beyond urban boundaries and in rural areas, including allowing up to three new lots on parcels of farmland.

But more than a dozen farming organizations, including the National Farmers Union — Ontario, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, the Beef Farmers of Ontario and the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, issued a joint letter urging the government to abandon the proposal.

Those changes would hamper growth of livestock farming, fragment the agricultural land base, and risk inflating farmland prices, shutting out prospective new farmers, they said.

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Tuesday, May. 30, 2023

Farmland is seen in the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve on Monday, May 15, 2023. Ontario has backed off a housing proposal that farmers say would have had a "catastrophic" impact on farmland and livestock operations. Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark proposed a series of regulations along with a bill that would allow for more housing to be built beyond urban boundaries and in rural areas.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Canopy Growth inks deal with Indiva for Wana brand

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Canopy Growth inks deal with Indiva for Wana brand

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Tuesday, May. 30, 2023

SMITHS FALLS, Ont. - Cannabis company Canopy Growth Corp. has signed a deal with Indiva Ltd. for the exclusive rights and interests to manufacture, distribute and sell Wana branded edible products in Canada.

The companies also signed a contract manufacturing agreement that grants Indiva the exclusive right to manufacture and supply Wana branded products in Canada for five years, with the ability to renew for an additional five-year term upon mutual agreement.

Under the deal, Canopy Growth will buy about 37.2 million Indiva shares for a purchase price of 5.79 cents per share for a total of nearly $2.2 million giving it a 19.99 per cent stake in Indiva.

The company will also pay Indiva additional consideration representing a value of $844,383 and a cash payment of $1.25 million on May 30, 2024.

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Tuesday, May. 30, 2023

Cannabis company Canopy Growth Corp. has signed a deal with Indiva Ltd. for the exclusive rights and interests to manufacture, distribute, and sell Wana branded edible products in Canada. Staff work in a cannabis grow room at Canopy Growth's Tweed facility in Smiths Falls, Ont. on Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Saskatchewan recycling rules stifle entrepreneur

Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Saskatchewan recycling rules stifle entrepreneur

Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Sunday, May. 28, 2023

Dallon Leger thought he was part of the solution.

The entrepreneur from Yorkton, Sask., about 190 kilometres northeast of Regina, says he collected more than 1.8 million kilograms of used grain bags over the past few years, helping his neighbours deal with their mounting plastic problem.

Leger’s business, EcoGenX, transported the grain bags to a company in the United States that would recycle them. The company would turn the bags into various agricultural plastic products, including new grain bags. EcoGenX would then sell the recycled product in Saskatchewan.

But he says the Saskatchewan government has stifled his business through rules he believes are unfair.

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Sunday, May. 28, 2023

An aerial photo of company EcoGenX preparing to roll up agricultural plastics on a farm in Saskatchewan in this undated handout photo. EcoGenX has since been required to stop operating for failing to follow the province's grain bag rules. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - EcoGenX, Dallon Leger

Researchers growing plants under solar panels

Ritika Dubey, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Researchers growing plants under solar panels

Ritika Dubey, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Saturday, May. 27, 2023

EDMONTON - Lawns, backyards and roofs could be used to produce both solar power and fresh vegetables, University of Alberta researchers say.

Guillermo Hernandez, a soil scientist, and Camila Quiroz, a research intern from Peru, are looking into growing crops under solar panels to improve the use of space in cities and farms.

"We know how to generate electricity from sunlight. We also know how to grow crops," says Hernandez. "But the question is, can we do the two things in the same space?"

Crop harvesting under solar panels is called agrivoltaics, a relatively new concept to improve land-use efficiency by producing energy and food in the same spot.

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Saturday, May. 27, 2023

Guillermo Hernandez, right, a soil scientist, and Camila Quiroz, a research intern from Peru, look over their plants in a research room used to simulate sunlight at the University of Alberta in Edmonton in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Guillermo Hernandez Ramirez, University of Alberta. *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Quebec toddler dies in farming accident

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Quebec toddler dies in farming accident

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Saturday, May. 27, 2023

SAINT-LIN-LAURENTIDES, Que. - Quebec provincial police say a two-year-old girl has died after falling into a grain mixer on a farm north of Montreal.

They say the accident occurred Friday at a family farm in St-Lin-Laurentides, about 85 kilometres from the city.

Sgt. Audrey-Anne Bilodeau says emergency services were called at about 3:30 p.m. after the child fell into an industrial mixer.

The girl's parents also intervened quickly but she had already died.

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Saturday, May. 27, 2023

A Surete du Quebec police car is seen in Montreal on Wednesday, July 22, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Olymel cutting hog production in Alberta and Sask

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Olymel cutting hog production in Alberta and Sask

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Friday, May. 26, 2023

MONTREAL - Olymel says it is cutting about 80 jobs as it reduces its hog production in Western Canada.

The company says it is closing five sow units in Alberta and one sow unit in Saskatchewan in a move that will reduce its western sow herd to 40,000 from 57,000.

It says the barns will be wound down over the next several months and remain closed until market conditions improve.

The company says the closures will result in a net reduction of about 200,000 market hogs annually to its Red Deer, Alta., slaughter plant from company owned farms.

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Friday, May. 26, 2023

Signage and cars are seen at the Olymel meat processing plant in Red Deer, Alta., on March 5, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Competition Bureau recommends changing THC limits

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Competition Bureau recommends changing THC limits

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Friday, May. 26, 2023

Canada's competition watchdog is putting its weight behind some longtime cannabis industry asks including easing restrictions on cannabis packaging and adjusting limits on how much of pot’s psychoactive component can be in edible products.

In a submission to Health Canada and a panel reviewing cannabis legislation published Friday, the Competition Bureau positioned changing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) limits and giving pot companies more freedoms around packaging and marketing as a way to boost competition.

"The bureau believes that stronger competition in the cannabis industry would help foster innovation and benefit consumers by providing them with increased choice and quality," it wrote in its submission.

"Importantly, these benefits would serve to further displace illicit market activity and bolster the legal cannabis industry."

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Friday, May. 26, 2023

Canada's competition watchdog says the federal government should consider easing restrictions on cannabis packaging and limits on how much of pot’s psychoactive component can be edible products. A variety of cannabis edibles are displayed at the Ontario Cannabis Store in Toronto on Friday, Jan. 3, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin

Tech in agriculture attracting young farmers

Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Tech in agriculture attracting young farmers

Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Tuesday, May. 23, 2023

Canada’s farmers are getting older, and most don't have a clear succession plan, leaving a big question over who will take over the agriculture sector as a wave of retirements loom.

But industry insiders say an increased focus on technology and sustainability is helping attract younger generations to agriculture, including those coming to the field for the first time.

Young people entering farming from other industries will be key to the sector’s evolution as it grapples with challenges like climate change, said Todd Klink, chief marketing officer at Farm Credit Canada.

“We're going to need technology, we're going to need innovation, we're going to need new ideas and new approaches," he said. "So when you meet young people that have these new ideas and come from different disciplines, it's super exciting."

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Tuesday, May. 23, 2023

Daniel Stefner and Abby Sim, as shown in this handout image, of the Smart Ag Applied Research team at Olds College use a ChrysaLabs soil nutrient probe at Steckler Farm in Alberta, part of the Olds College Smart Farm.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Olds College-Sergei Belski
**MANDATORY CREDIT **

Talks moving forward on Canada-U.S. river treaty

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Talks moving forward on Canada-U.S. river treaty

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Saturday, May. 20, 2023

Canadian and U.S. officials have wrapped up the latest round in a five-year negotiation to modernize a major treaty on flood control and power generation on the Columbia River.

Global Affairs Canada says negotiators from both countries in the Columbia River Treaty met in Kelowna on May 16 and 17, and the next round of talks is scheduled for Aug. 10 and 11 in Seattle.

The original treaty was signed in 1964 after catastrophic flooding of the Columbia River destroyed Vanport, Oregon, in 1948.

The treaty facilitated the construction of four dams — three in British Columbia and one in the United States — to manage river waters while generating power for the region's growing power demand.

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Saturday, May. 20, 2023

Water spills over the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, which runs along the Washington and Oregon state line, on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. Canadian and U.S. officials have wrapped up the latest round in a five-year negotiation to modernize a major treaty on flood control and power generation on the Columbia River. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jessie Wardarski

Looking at the good and bad of glyphosate

Laura Rance 4 minute read Preview

Looking at the good and bad of glyphosate

Laura Rance 4 minute read Saturday, May. 20, 2023

A newly publicized study by researchers with the University of Saskatchewan confirms what many farmers already knew.

Glyphosate, one of the world’s most widely used herbicides, and crops that are genetically modified to tolerate the herbicide have contributed to better soil management through reduced tillage.

The researchers with the university’s agricultural and resource economics department set out to quantify the net increases in carbon sequestration due to the virtual elimination of summerfallow practices, reductions in tillage and the use of herbicide-tolerant crops over three decades. Based on a 1,000-hectare farm, it equates with the emissions from 432 cars.

In the early 1990s, a 1,000-hectare farm under conventional tillage of the time released 15 times more carbon than the average car each year. Two decades later, in the period between 2016 to 2019, that same farm would sequester the equivalent of emissions from 95 cars due to the adoption of reduced tillage.

Read
Saturday, May. 20, 2023

A newly publicized study by researchers with the University of Saskatchewan confirms what many farmers already knew.

Glyphosate, one of the world’s most widely used herbicides, and crops that are genetically modified to tolerate the herbicide have contributed to better soil management through reduced tillage.

The researchers with the university’s agricultural and resource economics department set out to quantify the net increases in carbon sequestration due to the virtual elimination of summerfallow practices, reductions in tillage and the use of herbicide-tolerant crops over three decades. Based on a 1,000-hectare farm, it equates with the emissions from 432 cars.

In the early 1990s, a 1,000-hectare farm under conventional tillage of the time released 15 times more carbon than the average car each year. Two decades later, in the period between 2016 to 2019, that same farm would sequester the equivalent of emissions from 95 cars due to the adoption of reduced tillage.

Russia agrees to extend Ukraine grain deal in a boost for global food security

Suzan Fraser And Courtney Bonnell, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Russia agrees to extend Ukraine grain deal in a boost for global food security

Suzan Fraser And Courtney Bonnell, The Associated Press 5 minute read Wednesday, May. 17, 2023

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Russia agreed to a two-month extension of a deal that has allowed Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday, a boost to global food security after the war drove up prices.

Turkey and the U.N. brokered the breakthrough accord with the warring sides last summer, which came with a separate agreement to facilitate shipments of Russian food and fertilizer that Moscow insists hasn't been applied.

Russia had threatened to bow out if its concerns were not ironed out by Thursday. Such brinkmanship isn’t new: With a similar extension in the balance in March, Russia unilaterally decided to renew the deal for 60 days instead of the 120 days outlined in the agreement.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday that problems would need to be resolved “at the technical level.” Neither she nor Erdogan mentioned any concessions Moscow may have received.

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Wednesday, May. 17, 2023

FILE - A sailor fixes the flag of Ukraine on a boat in Izmail, 700 km (432 miles) southwest of Kiev, Ukraine, on April 26, 2023. The United Nations is racing to extend a deal that has allowed for shipments of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger, helping ease a global food crisis exacerbated by the war that Russia launched more than a year ago.(AP Photo/Andrew Kravchenko, File)

Scientist identifies cow patty bugs in new guide

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Scientist identifies cow patty bugs in new guide

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Saturday, May. 13, 2023

Alberta entomologist Kevin Floate is ready to start spreading the news that he has compiled a comprehensive guide into insects that live in cow dung in Canada.

Floate — a scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre in southern Alberta — said he started studying insects in cattle dung about 30 years ago.

At the time, he realized he needed one source of information to help get him started.

"It didn't exist. So, here we are 30 years later, and I've written that guide and it's intended for ranchers and farmers and students and naturalists," said Floate, who has a doctorate in entomology and penned "Cow Patty Critters: A New Guide on Canada's Faecal Friends."

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Saturday, May. 13, 2023

Alberta entomologist Kevin Floate, shown in this handout image as he speaks to students, is ready to start spreading the news that he has compiled a comprehensive guide into cow dung insects in Canada. Floate is an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada scientist at the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-University of Lethbridge-Dr. Cameron Goater
**MANDATORY CREDIT **

Seeding heats up as temperatures rise

Laura Rance 4 minute read Preview

Seeding heats up as temperatures rise

Laura Rance 4 minute read Saturday, May. 13, 2023

You could still see snowbanks in the treelines as Manitoba farmers headed for the fields this week, anxious to pick up the pace after yet another cooler-than-normal spring.

Although seeding progress is well behind what’s considered optimal, it’s not nearly as delayed as it was last year after a series of spring snowstorms and rain bogged down field operations until late May and into early June.

“If you look at the five-year average, we should be at 20 per cent by now,” provincial agricultural representative Lionel Kaskiw told this week’s CropTalk webinar.

So far this year, seeding progress province-wide could be measured in the low single digits. But that’s changing rapidly as warm, dry weather starts heating things up.

Read
Saturday, May. 13, 2023

You could still see snowbanks in the treelines as Manitoba farmers headed for the fields this week, anxious to pick up the pace after yet another cooler-than-normal spring.

Although seeding progress is well behind what’s considered optimal, it’s not nearly as delayed as it was last year after a series of spring snowstorms and rain bogged down field operations until late May and into early June.

“If you look at the five-year average, we should be at 20 per cent by now,” provincial agricultural representative Lionel Kaskiw told this week’s CropTalk webinar.

So far this year, seeding progress province-wide could be measured in the low single digits. But that’s changing rapidly as warm, dry weather starts heating things up.

Pot company Canopy to refile financial results

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Pot company Canopy to refile financial results

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Friday, May. 12, 2023

SMITHS FALLS, Ont. - Canopy Growth Corp. says it will refile three of its past quarterly financial statements after uncovering "material misstatements" linked to its BioSteel business.

The Smiths Falls, Ont. cannabis company says in a regulatory filing that its sports beverage business's first-, second- and third-quarter sales information from 2022 "should no longer be relied upon."

The company discovered the misstatements when it was preparing its financial results for the financial year ended March 31.

Canopy determined on May 4 that there were errors in its filings after a review of BioSteel results with independent external counsel and forensic accountants.

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Friday, May. 12, 2023

A BioSteel sports drink logo is shown in Toronto on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015. Canopy Growth Corp. says it will refile three of its past quarterly financial statements after uncovering "material misstatements" linked to its BioSteel business.THE CANADIAN PRESS/J.P. Moczulski

Quebec runaway cattle: Animals seized at farm

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Quebec runaway cattle: Animals seized at farm

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Thursday, May. 11, 2023

MONTREAL - Quebec's agriculture department says it has seized 38 cattle from the central Quebec farm that was home to a group of fugitive cows that escaped last summer and went on the run for months.

Yohan Dallaire Boily, a spokesman for the agriculture department, says the cattle were seized from Ferme Clément Lapointe et fils after a recent inspection found the safety and well-being of some of the animals was at risk.

He says the animals will be assessed by a veterinarian and that a report will be submitted to prosecutors, who will determine whether any charges will be laid.

Twenty-four cattle escaped from the farm in Saint-Barnabé, Que., around 130 kilometres northeast of Montreal, in July.

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Thursday, May. 11, 2023

Cows and their calves graze in a pasture on a farm near Cremona, Alta., Wednesday, June 26, 2019. Quebec's agriculture department says it has seized 38 cattle from the central Quebec farm that was home to a group of cattle that went on the run for months last summer. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Nutrien may slow potash ramp-up plans

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Nutrien may slow potash ramp-up plans

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Friday, May. 12, 2023

CALGARY - The CEO of Canadian fertilizer giant Nutrien Ltd. said Thursday the company may consider slowing down its previously announced plan to ramp up potash production, as falling prices and lower sales volumes take a bite out of profits.

"Yes, we would consider slowing down. We're really, as we talked about earlier this year, watching the market," CEO Ken Seitz told analysts on a conference call to discuss the company's disappointing first-quarter financial results.

"If we see that the market's not there, then we'll pace our capital accordingly."

The Saskatoon-based company — the world's largest fertilizer producer — lowered its earnings guidance for the year to between $6.4 billion and $8.0 billion, down from a previously announced range of $8.4 billion to $10 billion.

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Friday, May. 12, 2023

Nutrien President and CEO Mayo Schmidt speaks at a the state of the province address in Saskatoon, Monday, October 25, 2021.  THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards

McCain hands over Maple Leafs Foods reins

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

McCain hands over Maple Leafs Foods reins

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Thursday, May. 11, 2023

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - The head of Maple Leaf Foods Inc. said he's confident in the future of the companyas he hands the reins of the protein producer to current president and chief operating officer Curtis Frank.

CEO Michael McCain will stay on as executive chair of the board of directors for the Mississauga-based firm, and said his family will remain as the company's largest shareholder through McCain Capital.

"When I started at Maple Leaf almost three decades ago, the world was a very different place and the challenges, while many, were perhaps not as profound as they are today,"said McCain on a call with analysts Thursday. The company announced a year ago that McCain would be stepping down after taking the top job in 1998.

"Our vision to be the most sustainable protein company on Earth is inspiring and enduring. I could not be more thankful or prouder of the team that we have the resilience that they've shown over decades," he said.

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Thursday, May. 11, 2023

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. reported a loss in its first quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it faced a difficult pork market, cost inflation and higher startup expenses. Packages of chicken breasts by Maple Leaf Foods are shown on a shelf at a grocery store in Oakville, Ont., Friday, Jan.6, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Richard Buchan

China still blocking Canadian beef, industry says

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

China still blocking Canadian beef, industry says

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Thursday, May. 11, 2023

CALGARY - A Chinese ban on Canadian beef that industry officials expected would be short-lived remains in place 17 months later, and industry representatives say they remain in the dark about the reasons.

China has been blocking beef shipments from Canadian processing plants ever since an atypical case of BSE, a rare variant of classical BSE (sometimes called mad cow disease), was found on an Alberta farm in December of 2021.

At the time, Canadian officials expressed little concern that the case would have lasting market impacts. Atypical BSE develops spontaneously in about one in every one million cattle and unlike the classic BSE strain — which has been linked to the fatal neurological disorder Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease — it poses no health risk to humans and is not transmissible.

While most of Canada's trading partners did not respond with any form of trade restrictions after the discovery of the case, South Korea and the Philippines joined China in suspending beef imports from this country.

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Thursday, May. 11, 2023

Cattle at the Thorlakson Feedyards near Airdrie, Alta., Thursday, May 28, 2020. A Chinese ban on Canadian beef that industry officials expected would be short-lived remains in place 17 months later, and industry representatives say they remain in the dark about the reasons. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Growth of Manitoba pork industry not a source of pride

Jessica Scott-Reid 5 minute read Preview

Growth of Manitoba pork industry not a source of pride

Jessica Scott-Reid 5 minute read Thursday, May. 11, 2023

MANITOBA is the largest producer of pigs in Canada. Ads currently plastered on buses and billboards across Winnipeg extol the virtues of the industry as a major economic driver and showcase hog farmers as stewards of the environment and even protectors of pigs. The industry is growing, reports the Free Press, with almost eight million pigs farmed here annually. Biosecurity, sustainability and animal health have all become top priority in pork production, claim those who peddle it. Surely, Manitoba’s pork industry is something we can all be proud of.

Or is it all just marketing magic?

Manitoba Pork chair Rick Prejet recently told the Free Press that the province’s expanding pork industry is actually “not particularly profitable” these days. In truth, it’s costing us a lot.

Though the number of pigs farmed here has increased at least sevenfold since the 1970s, with at least 40 new jam-packed warehouses built in the last five years, still the number of overall farms has dramatically decreased in the last five decades.

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Thursday, May. 11, 2023

Charlie Riedel/ AP files

Hog farming isn’t all a success story.

Agri-food immigration pilot extended

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Agri-food immigration pilot extended

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Monday, May. 8, 2023

OTTAWA - Canada will expand a pilot project to attract more temporary foreign workers to jobs in Canada's agricultural industry for another two years after the pandemic meant it got off to a slow start, the immigration minister announced Monday.

The government launched the agri-food pilot three years ago to offer temporary workers in the sector a pathway to permanent residency in Canada.

It was due to end later this month but Fraser says it will run until 2025.

The aim of the program is to address labour shortages in the harvesting and livestock industry, Fraser said.

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Monday, May. 8, 2023

Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser arrives to a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. Fraser says the government will expand a pilot project to attract more temporary foreign workers to accept jobs in Canada's agricultural industry for another two years. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

High costs turning away young Canadian farmers

Jacob Serebrin, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

High costs turning away young Canadian farmers

Jacob Serebrin, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Sunday, May. 7, 2023

MONTREAL - When Myriam Landry started raising goats for their meat in 2018, she started small — because she had to.

She opened Chèvrerie aux Volets Verts, in St-Esprit, Que., with two goats; she couldn't afford a large herd and chose animals small enough that she could handle on her own while pregnant with her third child.

"I should have started bigger … but then I would have needed more money, which I didn't have," Landry, 33, said in a recent interview from her farm 50 kilometres north of Montreal.

"It's really hard for young people to start … I don't even have land, I don't have tractors, even my goats (I paid for) on loans."

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Sunday, May. 7, 2023

MONTREAL - When Myriam Landry started raising goats for their meat in 2018, she started small — because she had to.

She opened Chèvrerie aux Volets Verts, in St-Esprit, Que., with two goats; she couldn't afford a large herd and chose animals small enough that she could handle on her own while pregnant with her third child.

"I should have started bigger … but then I would have needed more money, which I didn't have," Landry, 33, said in a recent interview from her farm 50 kilometres north of Montreal.

"It's really hard for young people to start … I don't even have land, I don't have tractors, even my goats (I paid for) on loans."

Farmland rental deals require transparency

Laura Rance 4 minute read Preview

Farmland rental deals require transparency

Laura Rance 4 minute read Saturday, Apr. 29, 2023

Provincial farm management specialist Darren Bond was hearing from an unusual number of callers looking for the scoop on farmland rental rates one morning this spring.

One of the most frequent questions he gets asked is how much to pay or charge for rented farmland.

About 40 per cent of the land farmed in Canada is rented. Escalating farmland values have prompted many farmers to choose renting over purchases. Landlords may be disconnected from the local scene and want to be sure they’re charging fair market rates.

But the cluster of calls from one area of the province and the rumoured jump in rental values had him a little confused.

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Saturday, Apr. 29, 2023

Provincial farm management specialist Darren Bond was hearing from an unusual number of callers looking for the scoop on farmland rental rates one morning this spring.

One of the most frequent questions he gets asked is how much to pay or charge for rented farmland.

About 40 per cent of the land farmed in Canada is rented. Escalating farmland values have prompted many farmers to choose renting over purchases. Landlords may be disconnected from the local scene and want to be sure they’re charging fair market rates.

But the cluster of calls from one area of the province and the rumoured jump in rental values had him a little confused.

How shading crops with solar panels can improve farming, lower food costs and reduce emissions

Joshua M. Pearce, John M. Thompson Chair in Information Technology and Innovation and Professor, Western University, The Conversation 6 minute read Preview

How shading crops with solar panels can improve farming, lower food costs and reduce emissions

Joshua M. Pearce, John M. Thompson Chair in Information Technology and Innovation and Professor, Western University, The Conversation 6 minute read Thursday, Apr. 27, 2023

This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site.

___

Author: Joshua M. Pearce, John M. Thompson Chair in Information Technology and Innovation and Professor, Western University

If you have lived in a home with a trampoline in the backyard, you may have observed the unreasonably tall grass growing under it. This is because many crops, including these grasses, actually grow better when protected from the sun, to an extent.

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Thursday, Apr. 27, 2023

This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site.

___

Author: Joshua M. Pearce, John M. Thompson Chair in Information Technology and Innovation and Professor, Western University

If you have lived in a home with a trampoline in the backyard, you may have observed the unreasonably tall grass growing under it. This is because many crops, including these grasses, actually grow better when protected from the sun, to an extent.

Farmers plan bigger wheat crop due to Ukraine war

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Farmers plan bigger wheat crop due to Ukraine war

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Wednesday, Apr. 26, 2023

Canadian farmers are expecting to plant the largest wheat crop in more than two decades this year amid strong demand for wheat.

Statistics Canada said Wednesday that farmers anticipate planting 23 million acres of wheat, up 6.2 per cent from the previous year.

According to the federal agency's report on principal field crop areas, the anticipated growthis possibly due to favourable prices and strong demand for wheat.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago drove up global wheat prices, as Ukraine has been one of the world's largest wheat exporters.

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Wednesday, Apr. 26, 2023

A head of wheat is silhouetted by the sun in a wheat crop near Cremona, Alta., Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. Statistics Canada says farmers are expecting to plant the largest wheat crop in more than two decades in 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

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