General & Production Tips

The United Nations’ General Assembly Hall in Manhattan. (BWZenith/iStock/Getty Images)

Food, farming, forestry must be transformed to curb global warming, UN says

Earlier draft of panel report called for reduced intake of meat

By GFM Network News April 6, 2022

Reuters — Protecting forests, changing diets, and altering farming methods could contribute around a quarter of the greenhouse gas cuts needed to avert the worst impacts of climate change, according to the United Nations’ climate panel. But the changes are unlikely to happen unless governments act to spur them along, the report from the Intergovernmental […] Read more

The Kharkiv Tractor Plant assembly line, during more peaceful times. (Kharkiv Tractor Plant photo)

General, Machinery

Farming behind the lines: Hostages of globalization

By GFM Network News April 4, 2022

Imagine — even if it looks unrealistic — that one day Canada will be cut off from the rest of the world. And all import deliveries to the country will be possible, for example, only through Alaska, only by trains along one route. It sounds absurd, but Ukraine, in the very heart of Europe, is […] Read more

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to media at the GLOBE Forum 2022 in Vancouver on March 29, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Jennifer Gauthier)

General, Machinery, Reuters, Weather

Canada lays out $9.1 billion roadmap to meet 2030 climate targets

About $1 billion earmarked for new or expanded ag programs

By GFM Network News March 30, 2022

Reuters — Canada released its first real roadmap to meeting 2030 climate targets on Tuesday, laying out detailed plans and $9.1 billion in new spending to cut planet-warming carbon emissions after years failing to meet its goals. The Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) is the first time Canada has had a comprehensive plan, rather than just […] Read more

Insulators for electric fencing will be a black-and-white PST-exempt expense for ranchers in Saskatchewan starting April 1, 2022. (Gallagher.com)

General, Machinery

Saskatchewan clarifying certain on-farm PST exemptions

More items to be specified as exempt in tax regulations

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News March 24, 2022

Saskatchewan farmers’ and ranchers’ concerns about some inconsistencies in how and when provincial sales tax is applied to purchases of on-farm equipment will be dealt with in a revised list effective late next week. The province said Wednesday in a budget release that a “number of clarifications” will be made to its Provincial Sales Tax […] Read more

A drone photo from the Sampona commune of Madagascar on Feb. 11, 2022, shows Zebu cattle drinking water from a large puddle created from Cyclone Batsirai. The island nation’s south has been experiencing severe drought for the past four years, putting it in danger of what the World Food Programme calls “the world’s first climate change famine.” (Photo: Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis)

General, Reuters, Weather

U.N. to roll out global early-warning systems for extreme weather

By GFM Network News March 24, 2022

London | Reuters –– With climate change fueling dangerous weather worldwide, the United Nations is pledging that early-warning weather monitoring will cover everyone on the planet in five years. “Half of humanity is already in the danger zone,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said earlier this week. And yet, “one-third of the world’s people, mainly in […] Read more

Concept art for the rear view of a Ram electric truck. (Ramtruck.ca)

General, Machinery, Reuters

Stellantis’ battery plans take shape in Italy, Canada

LG and Stellantis set up j.v. for Windsor gigafactory

By GFM Network News March 23, 2022

Milan/Ottawa | Reuters — Stellantis took significant steps in its battery production plans in Europe and North America on Wednesday as carmakers race to meet rising demand for electric vehicles. The maker of Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, Fiat and Jeep vehicles said its Automotive Cells Co. (ACC) joint venture with Mercedes-Benz and TotalEnergies would build a […] Read more

NYMEX May 2022 West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

General, Machinery, Markets

Fuel prices may remain high beyond Russian invasion, expert says

By GFM Network News March 22, 2022

MarketsFarm — The decision by the U.S. to halt the import of Russian petroleum products due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine created sticker shock at the pumps in North America — but an end to that invasion would not necessarily mean an end to high fuel prices. On March 15, the average price of […] Read more

File photo of Highway 363 near Moose Jaw, Sask. (Mysticenergy/iStock/Getty Images)

General, Machinery, Weather

Spring road bans coming into effect across Prairies

By Phil Franz-Warkentin, GFM Network News March 15, 2022

MarketsFarm — Warming temperatures and melting snow across Western Canada may cause some disruptions to grain and livestock movement over the next few weeks as seasonal spring road restrictions come into effect across the Prairies. Annual spring road restrictions set axle weight limits for vehicles moving on certain roads, in an effort to reduce the […] Read more

General, Markets

Rate of rise in farmland value ‘surprised’ in 2021

Canada books 8.3 per cent year-over-year increase, FCC reports

By GFM Network News March 15, 2022

MarketsFarm — Despite a year of economic uncertainty due to extreme weather, reduced crop yields and the COVID-19 pandemic, the value of Canadian farmland rose by its highest rate in four years, according to a report from Farm Credit Canada (FCC). FCC’s report, released Monday, revealed that the national average value of farmland increased by […] Read more

General

Canada to raise tariffs on Russian imports

By GFM Network News March 3, 2022

Reuters — Canada will remove Russia and Belarus’s most favoured nation status as trading partners, and will provide additional lethal aid to Ukraine, including rocket launchers and hand grenades, Canadian officials said Thursday. The only other country that does not enjoy the most favoured nation status with Canada is North Korea, and goods from Russia […] Read more

GFM Network News

U.S. livestock: Cattle fall sharply as Trump says he’s working to lower beef costs

Alberta Crop Report: Harvest reaches completion

U.S. grains: Corn, soybeans rise on yield uncertainty, firming cash markets