Latest Newsletter

Tag Archives climate change

News

Farmer ready to cut woodlots to pay carbon tax

Government needs to pay for carbon sinks like woodlots and crops, he says

By
Reading Time: 2 minutes A Lambton County farmer, a winner of environmental awards, says he is ready to rip out his woodlots to help pay for carbon taxes on his farm. Joe Kerr, his wife and their company own about 1,800 acres, about 365 of which is woodlot. He doesn’t expect to clear it all, because it wouldn’t make […] Read more
Crops, Markets

Wheat in Whitehorse: How climate change helps feed Canada’s remote regions

Newfoundland and Labrador also pushing to expand arable land base

By ,
Reading Time: 3 minutes Winnipeg/Ottawa | Reuters — After failing to grow wheat in the Yukon territory 15 years ago, farmer Steve Mackenzie-Grieve gave it another shot in 2017. Thanks to longer summers, he has reaped three straight harvests. This spring he plans to sow canola on his family’s 450-acre farm near Whitehorse, a city not much further from […] Read more
News

‘Doomsday’ seed vault welcomes millionth crop variety

The vault was built to safeguard the world’s food supplies

By
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters – A vault in the Arctic built to preserve seeds for rice, wheat and other food staples will contain one million varieties with the addition of specimens grown by Cherokee Indians and the estate of Britain’s Prince Charles. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, built on an Arctic mountainside in 2008, was designed as a […] Read more
Crops

New Brunswick postpones pesticide use hearings

Deadline extended for written submissions

By
Reading Time: 2 minutes The New Brunswick government’s planned public hearings on the use of glyphosate and other pesticides are postponed, and more time is being granted for the public to file written briefs. The provincial legislature’s all-party standing committee on climate change and environmental stewardship on Feb. 5 announced it would hold hearings in Fredericton March 24-27 “on […] Read more
Soil health and carbon sequestration will be important to managing climate change, and those tools are in the hands of farmers.
News

Farmers pitched as climate solution providers

A new organization aims to bring attention to farmers’ role in climate change mitigation

By
Reading Time: 2 minutes A coalition of farm groups has launched a new national movement to promote the idea of farmers being a part of creating Canadian climate change solutions. The group, called, Farmers for Climate Solutions is currently made up of organic and environment-focused groups across the country, but aims to include more larger farm organizations, says Brent […] Read more
News

Currie appointed to climate change committee

By
Reading Time: < 1 minute The agriculture sector will have a voice on the premier’s Advisory Committee on Climate Change. Ontario Federation of Agriculture President Keith Currie was recently appointed to the new committee. “I’m pretty excited to have agriculture around the table,” said Currie in an interview. “I think agriculture is climate change’s best-kept secret.” Carbon sequestration by agriculture […] Read more
Machinery

NFU paper lays out solutions for climate, farming challenges

By
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The global climate crisis is interlinked with the financial crisis on Canadian farms, according to a new discussion paper from the National Farmers Union (NFU). The paper proposes changes to agriculture practices that could help the sector become part of the solution to both major issues. Compiled by Darrin Qualman in collaboration with […] Read more
Markets

Canadians to spend more on food in 2020, report predicts

By
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Canadians will spend two to four per cent more on food in 2020, according to the latest Canada Food Price Report from researchers at Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab and the University of Guelph. The average family in the country will see its total food bill for groceries and restaurant meals rise by […] Read more
Dairy cows eat their breakfast at a dairy farm, in Exeter, Rhode Islan.
News

U.S. utilities turn to farms in climate change fight

The United States, and especially California is ahead of Canada in adopting renewable natural gas

By
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters – Joey Airoso has always been proud of his cows, whose milk goes into the butter sold by national dairy company Land O’Lakes. Now he has something new to brag about: the vast amounts of gas produced by his 2,900-head herd is powering truck fleets, homes and factories across the state of California. “It’s […] Read more
Maple Leaf Foods says its operations are now carbon neutral, and it’s asking all of its suppliers to participate in sustainability efforts.
News

Maple Leaf hits carbon neutral

The company has been working throughout its operations to reduce environmental impact

By
Reading Time: 2 minutes Maple Leaf Foods says its operations are carbon neutral, a status achieved through improvements in its own operations and investments in offsets elsewhere. The company claims to be the first major food company to be able to say that it is carbon neutral. Why it matters: Major operations decisions by large companies almost always have […] Read more

GFM Network News

More GFM Network News

Special Podcast Series

On Twitter