File photo of a provincial border marker in Lloydminster. (Michele Gervais/iStock/Getty Images)

Borderline city hosts interprovincial food trade pilot

Trade barrier on pause for two years for food businesses serving Lloydminster

The idea of loosening interprovincial trade in certain foods made by provincially-inspected processors will get a major test in one of Canada’s very few province-crossing municipalities. The Saskatchewan, Alberta and federal governments on Jan. 19 announced the start of a two-year pilot project within the limits of Lloydminster, a city of over 31,000 people straddling […] Read more

Les Henry: A note to readers

Les Henry: A note to readers

A health wake-up call, but soldiering on

On July 12, 2022, my world took a sharp downturn on the health front. It was a very hot July day. I worked too hard for too long in the heat at my Dundurn farm. The end result was a bad case of atrial fibrillation, AFib for short. For some, AFib means you get a […] Read more


Wheat fields being harvested

Protect yourself from developing respiratory problems

Grain dust may be commonplace on farms, but respiratory problems don’t need to be

It’s harvest season and that means two things are common sights on farms across the country — combines and grain dust. Just because grain dust is a regular occurrence on many farms doesn’t mean you should ignore it. In fact, grain dust can wreak significant havoc and long-lasting damage on your lungs with repeated exposure. […] Read more

Next time you’re struggling to fall asleep, try one of the breathing exercises below.

A good night’s sleep is important to quality of health

Fit to Farm: But if you struggle to get to sleep, these exercises will be worth a try

Do you struggle to fall asleep on a regular basis? Sleep, or rather, quality sleep is one of the most important factors to quality of health and quality of living. Regularly going with six or less hours of sleep per night has been proven to produce mental states similar to being intoxicated. The negative effects of […] Read more


Pain, unfortunately, is often a fact of life. Especially on the farm!

Understanding the common reasons behind pain

Fit to Farm: Never ignore pain, but some focused breathing techniques may help to ease it

In my profession I meet many people who experience pain from various triggers, and one piece of homework I give to 99 per cent of them: breathing. Our breath is one of our most powerful tools, physically, physiologically and even mentally. To understand why breath can be so effective for pain, we first have to […] Read more

Exercise doesn’t require a gym, a certain time frame or even a program to participate in. Movement or exercise can be done anywhere, any time, in any length or sequence.

What is the best way to work out and exercise?

Fit to Farm: You don’t need a gym or a certain program. Find a movement that you enjoy and just make time to do it

Working out, exercising, keeping fit and maintaining an active lifestyle; terms we are all familiar with for overall well-being and health. A key point that many may miss out on is that exercising isn’t just an hour at the gym, a certain dedicated workout program, or even a specific time frame. Equally so, a life […] Read more


Pain is there for a reason and it can actually be considered an ally if we are able to see it as a sense versus an attack to be made the victim of.

Do emotions and pain work together?

Fit to Farm: Like any other emotion, pain needs to be felt to be released so the healing process can begin

Regulating pain has a lot to do with regulating the nervous system’s response to its environment (or perceived environment). Throwing emotion into the mix will actually lead to fixating on the sensation of pain and ramping up the intensity of that sensation. Think of pain like another emotion. The more you think about it, the […] Read more



Many issues in the spine stem from too much of the same movement or not enough movement in general.

Simple ways to keep the spine healthy

Fit to Farm: Spine health is important for overall quality of life so we must look after it

Spine problems like low back pain, sciatica, disc degeneration, shoulder and neck pain often sneak up on us seemingly out of nowhere, however, usually they are byproducts of chronic behaviours and patterns over the years. With this in mind there are a few simple things we can do routinely to support the spine, and everything […] Read more

Stages of healing after an injury

Stages of healing after an injury

Fit to Farm: There are usually clear phases to indicate what is needed, but when that will happen can’t always be predicted

Healing is not a linear process. It does often have some clear phases and stages that can indicate what is needed when, however, the arrival of these stages isn’t always predictable. In healing work I often see one of two presentations: an acute onset of a complaint or a long-term issue held in the body. […] Read more