Manitoba Co-operator
Pasture south of Medicine Hat shows little snow cover to rejuvenate water levels as of December 2023 following another drought year in Alberta. PHOTO: ALEX MCCUAIG

Wider conversation needed on climate causes

PERSPECTIVE | Agriculture has a role to play, but so does society at large

It’s tough being a farmer today and it is easy to be fixed on sky watching, that proverbial hope of rain or snow and even perhaps a wee bit of wind. Even as the farmer watches, there are political and social expectations that we, the keepers of the land, do something to change the course

A gravel road leading into Riding Mountain National Park in western Manitoba.

Comment: The road to success

Federal policy cannot ignore the very real needs of the nation

When Steven Guilbeault recently mused about no longer funding new road infrastructure, I was curious. How does the Minister for Environment and Climate Change have jurisdiction over transportation infrastructure? There is no mention or reference to roadways in his mandate letter from the prime minister. It is a mystery as to why he would suggest,


Thinking of this from an agricultural perspective, we must first ask how we see our own space and the community in which we live...

Comment: Tourism can teach farming a thing or two

The tourism sector can offer agriculture some lessons on forging connection

Glacier FarmMedia – I was thrilled to attend a premier tourism conference in January and I certainly felt at home. Tourism loves Canadian agriculture; so much so that the conference theme of regeneration was based on the agricultural model. Regenerative tourism digs deep into the concept of leaving a community better than before you visited

From beyond meat to the return of meat

From beyond meat to the return of meat

Climate-based policies frequently ignore consumer preference and economic reality

As I walk by a storefront that once housed the city’s largest ‘plant-based butcher’, the irony hits me. The new sign announces that this will soon open again – as a beef burger cafe. It brings to light the complexity of understanding Canadian consumers and their varying wants and needs. Protein in all sources is

A corn farmer in China in 2015: ‘…it has been proven that when we try to conquer the land and severely disrupt watersheds, challenging the biodiversity that makes critical events like pollination possible, the opposite of food availability occurs.’

Opinion: The increasing danger of forced farming

Autocratic regimes seem hell-bent on returning to the scary past

A troubling trend is creeping up on global farmers as governments control food production and eliminate crop diversity. In China, “non-grain” farming has become the target of the Rural Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Brigade, or nongguan, which exercises agricultural administrative penalties and related inspections for the Agriculture and Rural Development ministries. Rules include no burying