The Ballantyne house in 1942.

Old Ballantyne house an important part of my roots

Hart Attacks: Where or who would I be without the old Ballantyne place in Eastern Ontario?

It was just an old house at the end of the road I grew up on in Eastern Ontario, but for some reason news I received on New Year’s Eve that the Ballantyne place had been destroyed by fire, really hit home — it was a bit like losing a friend. I had only been […] Read more

30 years in and still on the learning curve

Hart Attacks: There’s always more to learn, even after 30 years in the writing field

Man I have to start off my 30-something year of writing agricultural stories for this company with a correction. Fortunately I only had to take off one glove to do it. One of my Hutterite reader friends phoned the other night to point out in my December column where I was talking about available agricultural […] Read more


Landscape featuring a harvested grain field

A bit of something for everyone

Hart Attacks: Who needs the moon? I can pick up the phone and learn lots as I travel across the country

I’ve got my application in to be a greeter on that new U.S./Russia space station they are planning to build about 440,000 km above the earth. But since they aren’t doing any real hiring until about 2028 I’ve got some time. (I may withdraw my name anyway. Even when I’m on a boat, I always […] Read more

Would it really be so bad to have a cool day?

Would it really be so bad to have a cool day?

Hart Attacks: In the era of climate change, I should be careful about the kind of weather I wish for

I am really sick of weather forecasters here in Calgary this summer. Finally, this morning one started to make sense — cool, wet days ahead. It doesn’t seem to matter that half of Western Canada is on fire, crops are parched, and ponds and creeks are dry, these forecasters keep telling me here in Calgary […] Read more


Food guide isn’t keen on red meat

Food guide isn’t keen on red meat

Hart Attacks: The problem isn’t that I don’t know about good food... the problem is me

Boy, I can’t wait for the revised version of the Canada Food Guide to hit the store shelves so I can start eating properly. Health Canada is proposing changes to the food guide steering people away from red meat and more towards “alternative” proteins such as plant-based proteins — your peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas, or […] Read more

This is my grandpa, Ernest Hart, getting a field prepared prior to seeding a crop in late 1920s. I don’t think he could have imagined an air seeding system 80 feet wide.

What a difference 100 years can make

Hart Attacks: The crop yields achieved by today’s famers would be a shock for our forefathers

As a new growing season begins, I am always impressed with the progress farmers have made in pushing the limits on crop production — striving to be more efficient, using improved agronomic practices and technology to increase yields and hopefully outsmart Mother Nature. I worked on a story earlier this year that described some global […] Read more


Despite the headlines, ag does a good job

Despite the headlines, ag does a good job

Hart Attacks: It’s a challenge to produce crops and livestock and manage consumer perception as well

The good name of agriculture has taken a few hits this spring. They don’t necessarily link to Canadian farms, but I’m sure even a global event making headlines has some impact with consumers wondering about what goes on with their food and the environment. First, JBS meat packers in Brazil — the worlds largest meat […] Read more

Raw chicken breasts on cutting board

On the upside, no plucking necessary

Hart Attacks: Get ready for designer chicken, and cultured steaks. Meat technology has arrived

I knew when Case IH rolled out that robotic tractor that didn’t need a driver, it was only a matter of time before technology produced meat without an animal. And here we have it — Memphis Meats, a food science company with headquarters in Transylvania has just launched “the world’s first Clean Poultry”… that’s chicken […] Read more


Former Prime Minister Kim Campbell at the University of Alberta.

The wacky world of decision-making

Hart Attacks: When there is too much information, there must be an app for that

Here’s one “flypaper” email list you want to avoid — the Conservative Party of Canada. I made the mistake back in Stephen Harper’s days as prime minister — it might have even been during his first term — but I sent a donation to the Conservative Party. The pitch was if I sent even a […] Read more

How good or bad is that unharvested crop?

How good or bad is that unharvested crop?

Hart Attacks: Farmers and processors won’t really know until quality is tested

I am sensing a muffled drum roll in parts of Western Canada right now as a few thousand farmers across central and northern B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan are waiting to see what this unharvested crop looks like, when they do have a chance to get it combined. There were several thousand acres — about 10 […] Read more