In 1932 my grandfather moved north from the drought-stricken plains of southern Saskatchewan, to the province’s parkland region. Chasing rain and a better life, he first homesteaded a rocky quarter, turned it back in and the next year bought an irregularly shaped piece of property, totalling 204 acres, bounded by two creeks, from the Hudson […] Read more
In the early-morning fog the other day, I heard a claw hammer’s tap, tap, bam, bam, bam, boom drive a nail into its place for who knows how many years. A moment later, another six, clear, sharp notes cut through the fog and another nail was set for, maybe, a century or more. There were […] Read more
Some restaurant chains are offering non-meat burgers, while others double down on beef
The great “protein war” is heating up as several major restaurant chains are either embracing the plant-based movement while others firmly position themselves as guardians of the mighty meat eater. It’s getting confusing with all these announcements, hard to keep track. A&W, Canada’s first Beyond Meat ambassador, started it all a little over 12 months […] Read more
Canadian agriculture can’t become a political football — it’s too important for that
We love technology. Apple brings out a new cellphone and there are lineups around the block. We are talking to our own houses these days as our homes become “smart.” And our houses are talking back (I think the Irish Rovers had a song about that). Yet, when it comes to technology and agriculture, the […] Read more
Sir Paul McCartney, of pop music fame, once famously observed, “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian.” Built into this statement is the assumption that most people are too squeamish to look what they eat in the eye, and there is a grain of truth there. Most people prefer to only meet their […] Read more
A recent agriculture report from the Royal Bank of Canada paints a picture of a sector with big opportunities and big challenges. Farmer 4.0: How the coming skills revolution can transform agriculture is all-in on the concept of farms thriving in the digital age. It paints a picture of autonomous equipment, sensor-driven agronomy and other […] Read more
