A lack of water can hamper production and disrupt the supply chains that businesses rely on.

Opinion: For want of fresh water

Fresh water is a hidden challenge and opportunity for global supply chains

Reports of lengthy shipping delays for vessels traveling through the Panama Canal this year have highlighted the critical but often overlooked role that fresh water plays across global supply chains. Abnormally dry conditions in Panama, brought on by El Niño, left the region drought-stricken and sent water levels in the locks that feed the canal […] Read more

“When the price of farms was doubling in a short time like it was, we just didn’t see a future for the next generation to continue on.” – David Graber.

Amish community relocates after nearly 65 years

Skyrocketing land prices spur communal decision

A farming neighbourhood south of St. Marys saw slow but steady changes in the landscape during the past year as a long-established Amish community disbanded and dispersed. Change came in the form of powerlines extended to houses where previous residents went without electricity, fence lines bulldozed and huge maples downed on the edges of woodlots […] Read more

Ari Westhaver of the NFU demonstrating on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Nov. 22, 2023. (Jonah Grignon photo)

NFU takes demand for ban on investor ownership to Parliament Hill

Organization's youth caucus concerned amid ‘transition crisis’

Members of the National Farmers Union (NFU) gathered on Parliament Hill Wednesday to demand a ban on investor ownership of farmland. The demonstration was organized by the NFU Youth Caucus and Farm Workers’ Working Group. The goal was to demand protection of food sovereignty and help farmers, especially young ones, gain more access to farmland. […] Read more

(Shaunl/E+/Getty Images)

Feds plan to ease Underused Housing Tax reporting load

New exemption also proposed for employee housing outside cities

Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s latest Fall Economic Statement offers to take some of the reporting burden off certain farmers and other Canadians when filing for exemptions from the national Underused Housing Tax (UHT). The federal finance department on Nov. 16 posted its legislative and regulatory proposals for changes to the UHT online and has […] Read more

This graphic shows a textbook example of the expected weather impacts across North America during an El Niño winter. Across the Prairies, El Niño can often mean warmer than average winters – but not always.

Understanding El Niño and La Niña

It has everything to do with the temperature of the Pacific Ocean

Glacier FarmMedia – We are into an El Niño period and there is high probability it will continue through the winter. What is El Niño, and why can it have such a profound impact on our weather? Simply put, El Niño is a change in ocean surface temperatures across the tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean. […] Read more


(Fentino/E+/Getty Images)

Canada to boost carbon tax rebate for rural areas

Will also pause carbon tax on home heating oil for three years

Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday announced a three-year carbon tax exemption for home heating oil and higher carbon tax rebates for people in rural areas, measures he said were intended to bring relief amid soaring costs of living. Trudeau’s Liberal government has implemented a price on carbon to combat […] Read more

One day you’re out walking or biking with short sleeves in early November, and a couple of days later, you’re digging out from a snowstorm. That is weather.

The difference between climate and weather

A warm fall is weather; decades of warmer autumns are climate

When media talk about climate change, a lot of confusion can arise, and that can negatively impact what needs to be done about climate warming. When I write and talk about this topic, I call it climate warming, not climate change. The term “global warming” is fine, but I feel it has been so overused […] Read more

While the United States maintains a comprehensive general plan for its agriculture sector, the Canadian agriculture sector currently has no such plan.

Needed: a long-term vision for Canadian agriculture

Greater collaboration, consultation, and issue ownership required to manage major disruption, says report

What does Canada’s agriculture and food sector need to do to insulate itself from major disruptions? According to the latest Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) report “A Toolbox for Managing Crises,” farmers, federal policy makers, and everyone in between needs to stop working in isolation to extinguish individual fires, and adopt a more dynamic approach […] Read more


Derek Molnar of Degelman said the new 7800 rock picker can take the place of two or three of the company’s 7200 models.

Mid-sized rock picker simple but tough

Degelman’s new rock picker designed to reduce the number of rock pickers a farm needs

Glacier FarmMedia – Rocks don’t change. Farmers have been picking and dumping them ever since fields were broken. But farms have changed. Farmers have changed. Farm machinery has changed. That means rock-pickers had to change. “It’s going to pick more rocks with less dump time,” said Derek Molnar of Degelman, the rock-picking giant, about the […] Read more

Vivian and Chris Crump used funding from ALUS to create wetlands on their farm.

ALUS gets new provincial funding

Program helps farmers pay for projects that protect species at risk

At the Crump farm near Ilderton, runoff from 400 nearby acres, grazing by too many cattle and an elevation change of 35 feet in a short distance led to a strained ecosystem. Now, Chris and Vivian Crump have added wetlands, created more controlled grazing, managed the runoff from the barns and farmyard, planted 2,500 trees […] Read more