Editorial: Future farms

What will the farm of tomorrow look like? There’s certainly no end of opinions on offer when that question gets asked. Will the average Prairie farm become a massive undertaking, measured in tens of thousands of acres, wired in every corner to harness the power of big data? That’s certainly one possibility, and if history

Editorial: No fake news here

The tree is now down, the fruit cake all eaten So it’s time for our annual New Year’s greetin’ On the past year’s news we offer reflection And give a glimpse of the future direction Plus offer valuable free farming advice On what to grow, and when to sell at top price For a while


Editorial: Happy Christmas

Here in the heart of winter, those of us living north of the equator find our days drawing ever shorter until reaching their nadir; we must find comfort where we can. Societies through history have dealt with this by having a mid-winter celebration as a centrepiece of their calendars, be they written, celestial, lunar or

Editorial: Building bridges

Earlier this month the A&W restaurant chain may have taken a significant step towards rebuilding its battered image with the nation’s cattle farmers. The company has been the source of much controversy in recent years after it introduced a marketing strategy branding the beef in its burgers as free of hormones and other growth promoters.


Editorial: Rotation, rotation and rotation

In the early 1980s, the wheat board developed an idea called the Market Assurance Plan (MAP). That was back when there were perennial transport bottlenecks and the whole crop could sometimes not move by the end of the crop year. Even if it could move in total, it could be feast or famine for supply

Editorial: Green tape

Hipsters and hippies across the country are set to celebrate cannabis legalization this coming Canada Day. The Trudeau government is on track for legalizing this recreational drug by that date, one of the highest-profile promises made during the last election campaign. That’s likely a good thing. While any recreational drug, alcohol included, is a problem


Editorial: On a (rail)road to nowhere

The Port of Churchill and the rail link to the south has been much in the public eye of late, most recently with word a Toronto financial group is partnering with local First Nations groups to buy the line. The tantalizing promise of Churchill has always been just over the horizon, it would seem. On

Editorial: Wheels within wheels

Canada’s current debate over carbon pricing, and Manitoba’s response to the federal requirements, highlight the complexities of making public policy. The federal government wants Canadian businesses, households and individuals to emit less carbon. That’s going to mean burning fewer fuels, using what we do use more efficiently and many other changes large and small throughout


Editorial: On remembering

Canada has a long history of respect and remembrance for citizens who served and fell in war. In fact it was a poem by Canadian physician John McCrae that first made the poppy an enduring symbol of remembrance, with the moving opening line: “In Flanders Fields the poppies grow, between the crosses row on row.”

Editorial: Guidance needed

You’d be hard pressed to think of a document that could be more innocuous and apolitical than Canada’s Food Guide. The modest booklet has the distinction of being the federal government’s second-most-requested document and is available in a dozen languages. This staple of home economics classes and cooking schools should simply be a straightforward recitation