What’s the right amount of oversight in Canada’s grain quality assurance system? That’s the fundamental question at the heart of an ongoing review of the Canadian Grain Commission and Canada Grain Act. As our Allan Dawson reports, many in the grain trade want to see the regulatory burden lighten. The Western Grain Elevator Association, which
Editor’s Take: Coming and going
Farmers and the grain trade may have many common interests, but they are not perfectly aligned
Editor’s Take: Funding fairness
Few would argue the education tax system Manitoba’s had for the past few decades was a model for the future. It was a complex patchwork of competing interests and duplicated efforts. It saw one level of government set the tax rate, another collect it on its behalf, and the province turning around and refunding a
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: Governments need to provide clarity — quickly
The past year has proven — on many fronts — that the actions, inactions and inattentiveness of government can have an outsized impact on farms. As our reporter Geralyn Wichers writes in the March 25 issue of the Co-operator, the federal government has finally clarified the rules around farmers bringing temporary foreign workers into the
Editor’s Take: International relationship management
As an exporting nation Canada will always be dependent on maintaining decent relationships with other countries around the globe — and that’s frequently easier said than done. Think of our closest neighbour the U.S. A close relationship with it is inescapable, as it’s both right next door and an economic and military superpower. Ordinarily that
Editor’s Take: Kitchen aid
Earlier this winter I had the chance to give an old friend a call and spend an hour or so catching up. We were talking about how our lives have changed due to COVID and how we haven’t welcomed a lot of these changes, but some have actually been good. One thing we both remarked
Farmers Edge launches IPO
Digital ag firm makes first public share offering to big demand
Manitoba’s best-known digital agriculture firm is now a publicly-traded company. Farmers Edge, founded in 2005 in Pilot Mound, Man. by agronomists Wade Barnes and Curtis MacKinnon, has carved out a niche using field-centric data, artificial intelligence and its FarmCommand data management platform. CEO Wade Barnes called it an exciting day during an online press conference
Editor’s Take: Child care a necessity
It was the spring of 1965, and my parents had just returned to the farm after spending their first four years of marriage on a grand adventure of sorts, living, working and studying in other parts of Canada. First, they travelled to Newfoundland, where my father worked with 4-H Canada, organizing clubs in the new,
Editor’s Take: The digital divide
It was a pleasant, if bitterly cold, winter evening. The Winnipeg Jets were battling the Edmonton Oilers on one laptop screen, while my spouse’s family were catching up on a Zoom call on the other. As we closed the gap COVID has imposed amongst us, I couldn’t help but reflect how nice it would be
The great disruptor
Wade Barnes is straddling the digital/agriculture divide — and reimagining agronomy
Wade Barnes says he knows what the agronomy of tomorrow looks like. It’s a proactive system that uses data to model crop development, helping farmers make decisions every step of the way. The power of data analytics will fuel every step, from what variety to plant based on soil moisture, disease and pest pressure and
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
