(Dave Bedard photo)

White House not ruling out a U.S. carbon tax

Option 'not off the table' despite Manchin comment

Washington | Reuters –– The White House on Tuesday said it has not ruled out a carbon tax as a possible option for fighting climate change, even though U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a critical holdout in the closely divided Senate, said he was not discussing the topic in talks about U.S. spending and infrastructure bills. […] Read more


(Flaman Group video screengrab via YouTube)

Clean ag tech adoption fund open for applications

Intake open and ongoing for Agricultural Clean Technology Program

A federal program farmers can use to invest in “cleaner” on-farm equipment — including money specifically for more efficient grain dryers — is now taking applications. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Wednesday announced the $165.7 million Agricultural Clean Technology Program is “now open to applicants.” First launched in 2018 and earmarked for expansion under […] Read more


Average sea surface temperature anomalies over the equatorial Pacific Ocean for the week centred on Oct. 28, 2020 compared to 1981-2010 base period. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

WMO officially calls a La Nina winter

MarketsFarm — A La Nina weather event has officially developed in the Pacific Ocean and is expected to continue into 2021, affecting temperatures, precipitation and storm patterns around the world, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The global declaration of the La Nina event by the United Nations’ agency will be used by governments […] Read more


Corn seedlings.

Looking for carbon sequestration answers

U.S. farmers could soon be paid for sequestering carbon, which could put Canadian farmers at another subsidy disadvantage

Canadian farmers are worried their American neighbours are on the cusp of getting yet another competitive advantage, this time over carbon management. Farmers in this country are not only paying carbon taxes on many of their farm inputs, they are not receiving any credits for the carbon sequestered in their soils. Meanwhile, American legislators are […] Read more

Keith Coble, of Mississippi State University, says there may be overexuberance in the agriculture technology market. (John Greig photo)

Greig: Farmer trust key to big data’s future

The marketplace for precision agriculture technology is sorting itself out, but it still has a way to go before it will be mature and have predictable uses for farmers, says a U.S. agriculture economist. Dr. Keith Coble, chair of the Mississippi State University’s department of agricultural economics, says we’re in the “overexuberance” phase of technology […] Read more

The Paris Agreement seeks to phase out greenhouse gas emissions this century.  Photo: Thinkstock

Ignoring Trump, UN talks seek to turn climate pledges into action

Morocco/Reuters – Almost 200 nations began work on Monday to turn promises for fighting climate change into action at a UN conference that played down threats to a 2015 global agreement if Republican Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidency. At the start of two-week talks in Morocco, many delegates wore badges with a smiling picture […] Read more