File photo of an oil pumpjack near Drumheller, Alta. (LaughingMango/E+/Getty Images)

Bankrupt oil firms must clean up inactive wells, Supreme Court rules

Ottawa/Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that bankrupt oil companies must clean up inactive wells, overturning lower court decisions that prioritized paying creditors and potentially raising the risks of investment in the industry. The 5-2 ruling means that the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), which had appealed the earlier court decisions, can […] Read more



New caretakers at Kootenay River Ranch

Another family takes a turn at making a home and memories

We’re barely into January and already there is change. “The Farm” is gone. It wasn’t my farm, but it was a chunk of pasture and hayland in south eastern B.C. that has been a big part of my life for the past 40 some years. Let’s face it, it was just dirt and grass but […] Read more






A customer eats an ‘insect tsukemen’ ramen noodle topped with fried worms and crickets at Ramen Nagi restaurant in Tokyo on April 9, 2017. (Photo: Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon)

Farming insects may solve one problem, create others

Rome | Thomson Reuters Foundation — Insects have great potential as an alternative source of protein, but further research is urgently needed before mass production begins in order to avoid environmental disaster, Swedish researchers warned Monday. There is currently an “overwhelming lack of knowledge” on basic questions such as suitable species, their housing and feed […] Read more

File photo of a Brazilian coffee plantation. (Sidney de Almeida/iStock/Getty Images)

Brazil plans to fight invasions by landless workers

Brasilia | Reuters — Brazil’s right-wing government under President Jair Bolsonaro will seek to classify invasions of farmland by landless workers movements as akin to terrorism, with harsher penalties for perpetrators, an agriculture ministry official said on Monday. Nabhan Garcia, land issues secretary at the ministry, said the government must convince the National Congress to […] Read more