The case of Canada’s tariffs on Chinese EVs versus China’s retaliatory tariffs on Canadian peas and canola products will boil down to how comfortable we are as Canadians in allowing other countries to pick our losers.
Editor’s column
Editor’s Rant: Hew that wood, draw that water
Doing nothing was not an option
Editor’s Rant: Thanks, Elaine
Much of Elaine Froese’s life has been devoted to helping farm families communicate in healthy and productive ways
Thanks to our friend and longtime contributor Elaine Froese, whose final Seeds of Encouragement column appears in this issue. It takes a special kind of person to want to help people navigate their way through conflict.
Editor’s Rant: No soy registrado
Why’s a potentially helpful nematicide for soy crops not up for registration here?
Surely a made-in-Canada nematicide would be a boon for Prairie soy growers before soybean cyst nematode gets any further foothold up here on the Prairies, right? Well, no.
Editor’s Rant: Get lost, grandkid
If we don’t talk openly about scams we’re condemned to have them repeated on us
It’s not like I marked the exact date or time on the calendar, but otherwise I still clearly recall the day I officially got old. It wasn’t while having to catch my breath after taking the stairs. It wasn’t from the first time my feet got sore standing in line, being asked if I wanted […] Read more
Editor’s Rant: We’re all Phil now
It’s been a long time since I’ve watched the movie Groundhog Day, where Bill Murray plays a weatherman doomed to live out the same day over and over again, but I’d say that to see pundits talking — on and around Groundhog Day, of all days — about the suddenly urgent need to diversify Canada’s […] Read more
Editor’s Rant: Canadian graffiti
The government's conditions for a Bunge/Viterra marriage left much to be desired
I’ve got to admit, I’ve never fully understood the geometry behind federal regulators’ decisions on which assets a company has to sell in exchange for clearance on a big merger or takeover. There may well have been a solid reason why, after Husky sold off its retail gas stations in 2022, our neighbourhood wound up […] Read more
Editor’s Rant: Lights out
Thoughts on green policy-making ahead of Justin Trudeau's departure
Up on the shelf where we keep light bulbs of assorted sizes and wattages, I just happened across an old compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) — remember, those bulbs that looked like an Arby’s curly fry wrapped in thin white glass? Talk about a relic from a bygone time in western civilization when, it seemed, the […] Read more
Editor’s Rant: The price tag on progress
Points to ponder as a seed company announces a hybrid wheat breakthrough
All things considered, the announcement is more of a surprise than it should have been. Corteva Agriscience in mid-November said it’s made a “revolutionary breakthrough” with which it expects to produce hybrid hard red winter wheat for the North American market “as early as 2027” and add other hybrid wheats to the product line over […] Read more
Editor’s Rant: Cinquante!
I can’t help it. I’ve watched enough French-language beer commercials that anytime I see the number 50 out in the wild, my first thought is to exclaim “Cinquante!” in an outside voice. My second thought is to not do that, because that would just make the birthday or anniversary party weird. With that earworm now […] Read more
Editor’s Rant: Next order of business
Given all that’s known so far about the guy, I’m not optimistic. Whether you or I like him or not, though, by this time next month, he’ll again be president of the United States. To anyone suggesting Canadians should just clam up about this development south of the border and mind our own business, I’d […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
