Osteoarthritis is often considered a relatively common, normal part of aging.

Osteoarthritis — a very common diagnosis

Fit to Farm: It is most common in knees, hips, low back and hands but can affect any joint

Joint pain during movement, aching joints at rest or during weather shifts, stiffness and even audible grinding or clicking during movement are all symptoms of a common diagnosis: osteoarthritis. Classified as the symptoms associated with the gradual wear and tear on the joint cartilage, osteoarthritis is most commonly experienced in the knees, hips, low back […] Read more


Farm teams can come in many different forms. The key is achieving a cohesive working unit.

How to build a strong farm team

To achieve a cohesive working unit involves collaboration, communication and compromise

In my close to 20 years in farm business consulting, I have worked with many farm families or extended teams. Something I have seen many times is there is not a strong emphasis on building the overall goals for the farm at the same time as trying to meet the needs of the individual members […] Read more

Customer service endangered but not extinct

Occasionally someone does pick up the phone and says, “How can I help?”

Perhaps you live in a customer service Utopia, but in my world, because good customer service is such a fleeting experience, I felt the need to share a happy story when it does happen. Nothing earth shattering, but it does renew my faith in humanity, at least a little. I’m one of those Fitbit people. […] Read more


Greenleaf Foods, a subsidiary of meat processor Maple Leaf Foods, last month began providing its plant-based Lightlife Chick’n Tenders to convenience chain 7-Eleven in Canada. (Dave Bedard photo)

ADM releases alternative protein outlook for 2022

MarketsFarm — Major U.S. agribusiness ADM released a report Tuesday identifying the seven biggest trends in the alternative protein market, ranging from creating new protein sources from fungi to making plant-based meat substitutes more affordable and palatable to the general public. The seven trends in the report were: introduction of novel protein sources, using microbial […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

StatsCan confirms tight grain and oilseed stocks

Canadian corn stocks up on year

MarketsFarm — Canada’s tight supplies of canola, wheat and other crops following the 2021 Prairie drought received more confirmation from Statistics Canada with the release of updated stocks data on Tuesday. Canola stocks, as of Dec. 31, 2021, of 7.6 million tonnes were down 43 per cent from the previous year and the tightest since […] Read more


AAFC’s Drought Monitor map effective Jan. 31, 2022. (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

Drought conditions ease slightly across Prairies

MarketsFarm — Mixed precipitation throughout January helped drought conditions improve across much of the Canadian Prairies during the month, according to the latest Drought Monitor report from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), released Tuesday. Conditions have deteriorated in some areas, however, and the majority of Western Canada was still in some kind of drought state. […] Read more

File photo of Canadian farm-grown blueberries. (LittleCityLifestylePhotography/iStock/Getty Images)

Prizes put up to develop year-round berry production in Canada

Weston Foundation's new challenge backed with $33 million

A philanthropic foundation focused on improving public health now wants to improve diets by finding ways to juice up Canada’s home-grown fruit supplies. The Weston Family Foundation on Tuesday pledged $33 million over six years for what it calls the Homegrown Innovation Challenge, a prize challenge pitting ideas against ideas with the goal of extending […] Read more


Why do dividends appear less important when interest rates are low?

Why do dividends appear less important when interest rates are low?

In reality, dividends have very little to do with company valuations

The market is commonly a perplexing place, and one thing that has been perplexing me is why dividend stocks haven’t done better in an environment with ultra-low interest rates. Why would a company like BCE Inc. paying a safe 5.5 per cent dividend stagnate as interest rates decline, while a company like Shopify, paying no […] Read more

In the foreground is the new variety with no manganese — and no crop. In the background is the new variety with manganese — a good crop. On the left is Dwayne Ericksmoen of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and on the right is Guido Myovella of Tanzania Agriculture.

Les Henry: Integrated, three-province, field research program for micronutrients needed

Some mechanism to assemble and publish case studies would be an asset

In Henry’s Handbook we had this to say about micronutrients: “I do not suffer under any illusion that we have discovered all the micronutrient deficiencies that exist in Western Canada. It is best to maintain an open mind when the question of a new deficiency comes up. Micronutrient research is expensive and often not exciting […] Read more