Ordinarily, when there’s a shortage of something in the marketplace, classic economic theory tells us prices will rise along with demand, until producers create more of whatever is in short supply. It works for manufacturing, mining and even farming, where the old saying is that “nothing solves high prices like high prices,” alluding to the
Editor’s Take: Farm labour in short supply
Working it out: Manitoba needs a farm labour plan
The province sees the highest cost for unfilled positions
The farm labour shortage is expected to hit Manitoba harder than any other province because of its diversity of agricultural products. That’s according to Portia MacDonald-Dewhirst, executive director of the Canadian Agricultural Human Resources Council, who spoke last week at the Keystone Agricultural Producers annual meeting in Winnipeg. “Because of the product mix that you
Editor’s Take: Beyond ‘Beyond Meat’
How do you separate a food trend from a food fad? It’s a valid, and pressing, question for the agriculture sector, because these fads can have a huge impact. Recall the gluten-free craze of a few years ago, when many fretted over the cumulative impact on wheat prices. Or the fad diets that are basically
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: The cancer of herbicide-resistant weeds
I’m a redhead. Or at least I once was, before I started seriously going grey. Along with the inability to hide in a crowd, I also got the pale skin that makes sunscreen and a hat a critical part of my summertime coping tool box. It’s also led me to be statistically more likely to
Losing the war on weeds
Tammy Jones has been doing the math on where herbicide resistance is taking Manitoba farmers and the numbers are grim
Tammy Jones spent four hours last summer wrestling with about 300 waterhemp plants in a Manitoba field, yanking them out of the ground by the roots and carrying them to the field edge for destruction. The provincial weed specialist was trying to demonstrate the value of controlling what might seem to be small patches of
Editor’s Take: Farmers should be researchers
More years ago than I care to remember, I began my career writing about agriculture production practices in this newspaper. While I did grow up on a grain and oilseed operation, I don’t have much in the way of formal agriculture training. My early years involved a lot of learning on the job, asking what
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
Editor’s Take: The crops groups merger vote nears
Are you ready for the Manitoba Crop Alliance vote? The MCA is the name a new merger of crops groups is poised to take on if their amalgamation proposal passes votes to be held at this winter’s CropConnect conference. That meeting, slated for February 11-13 in Winnipeg, will see the annual meetings of the Manitoba
Editor’s Take: Lack of leadership on Food Safety Act leads to limbo
On June 11, 2009 Gary Doer was contemplating his pending exit from provincial politics, Barack Obama had less than six months under his belt as president of the United States and Stephen Harper was still nearly two years away from receiving his first majority mandate. In popular culture, Jason Aldean’s “Big Green Tractor” was burning
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