Lisa Thompson was recently named the new minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for Ontario, another in a line of female agriculture ministers from Huron-Bruce. I’ve known Thompson for […] Read more
Editorial: The two routes to agriculture minister
Editorial: Farmers have a YEN for more useful data
I was sitting in the livestock pavilion at the University of Guelph’s Ridgetown Campus during the SouthWest Agricultural Conference when I first heard about yield enhancement networks and thought they […] Read more
Editorial: The thorny issue of people on your land
There are more people roaming around rural Ontario during the pandemic and that’s increased concerns about trespassing and trash that finds its way onto farms. We live on a corner […] Read more
Editorial: Will agriculture seize the moment?
There’s growing interest from outside the traditional agriculture world in what’s happening on the farm and the arrival of new ideas and people will change the sector in ways we […] Read more
Editorial: Inflation worries
Gen Xers have enjoyed the stability the economic system has given them
I’ve been lucky to have spent most of my adult life in very stable economic times. Interest rates have been low and steady. Global trade and economic growth have been […] Read more
Editorial: Lessons from political speeches
There’s rarely enough news in politician visits to farmer group meetings to justify a report. Sometimes there’s an announcement to be made and then they let the farm media know […] Read more
Editorial: Lessons from an enthusiastic agriculture IPO
Farmers Edge has gone public on the TSX, the stock exchange in Toronto, and the large interest around it saw share price rise quickly after the launch. The company is […] Read more
Editorial: A tempest in a butter wrapper
I pondered whether to add more copy to the head-scratching and manufactured debate over palm fat in dairy nutrition and the subsequent effects on butter hardness, but I think the […] Read more
Editorial: Regulatory agility critical to ag innovation
The pandemic has shown that governments can make decisions quickly
One of the lessons of the pandemic and response to it by governments and regulatory agencies is that regulatory agility is possible. COVID-19 vaccines have been approved with record speed, […] Read more
Editorial: A willingness to be better
There’s value in the move by farm groups to include diversity and inclusion as parts of their driving principles. There was significant online debate about Beef Farmers of Ontario’s new […] Read more