We can build the technology, but public policy can help with on-farm adoption of things like FuelPositive's on-farm anhydrous ammonia plant.
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- Gord Gilmour
Editor's Take: Self-care key before the spring rush
From my viewpoint, this last stretch before spring can be the dreariest time of year. A constant freeze-thaw cycle has rendered our landscape an icy mess, slightly less attractive than the ice planet Hoth from the Star Wars film franchise. It’s also about as safe to walk on as a concrete floor covered in ball[...]
Editor's Take: Durable solutions needed for human capital crunch
When Canada has a systemic problem, all too often our national reaction is to slap a Band-Aid of some kind on it and call it a day. Nursing shortage in Manitoba? Jump on a plane and poach every available nurse from the Philippines. Doctor shortage? Hoover up every available international doctor from South Africa, India[...]
Editor's Take: The window opens
It’s been a long-held dream of many in the agriculture sector to see farmers paid for the environmental goods and services they provide to society. The argument goes that farmers can do great things for the environment. But as Bill Campbell, past president of the Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP), has often noted, farmers can’t be[...]
Editor's Take: Many tools
Everything changed for agriculture after the Second World War. As the world went to war, the sector was largely driven by horsepower. By war’s end, it was poised for rapid mechanization and the Green Revolution. which brought about increased use of fertilizer and herbicides, all products of wartime research efforts. The widespread use of nitrogen[...]
Editor's Take: Getting with the times
I have many memories, when I was a kid, of trips to the elevator. We’d roll up the driveway and earthen ramp, into the building and over the pit. The man on duty that day — and back then it was always a man — would greet my father as we stepped off the scale.[...]
Editor's Take: The political winds are blowing
For those who care about such things, it’s been an eventful few days in politics, both provincially and federally. Here in Manitoba, Brian Pallister, the only Manitoba premier in many years to have grown up on a farm, confirmed speculation that he won’t be leading the Progressive Conservatives into the next campaign. And federally, the[...]
Editor's Take: Playing the canola game
Two years ago, when China severely curtailed imports of Canadian canola by suspending the licences of Canada’s two largest grain companies, most saw a disaster about to unfold. The ginned-up claim was around the quality of Canadian canola seed, specifically pests like weed seeds and plant diseases such as blackleg. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency,[...]
Editor's Take: Lobby power
I’m sure at some point or another most farmers have felt their voice is never heard in public policy debates. There’s a germ of truth to it, mainly because of the demographic realities. When less than two per cent of the population is a member of any particular group, they’re always going to struggle to[...]
Editor's Take: Charting a different path for Canadian ag
The National Farmers Union used its 50th annual convention to release a major discussion paper that charts a new path for agriculture. There are a lot of details, but it makes the case that farmers have committed to a form of high-input agriculture that can be environmentally harmful and economically risky. The document’s key conclusion[...]
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
