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Those awkward conversations about food production
Columns

Those awkward conversations about food production

Talking to urban consumers about food can be more uncomfortable than political debate

By
By the time you read this, the 2015 federal election will be history. Maybe you will have even re-friended any politically-obnoxious people you dropped on Facebook in the weeks leading up to the big vote. Maybe. As I write this, before the election, I’m filled with the smug satisfaction of a citizen who already cast […] Read more
Riskan Hope Farm barn
Columns

The story of the Riskan Hope barn

By
If you’ve driven north on Highway 11, from Regina to Saskatoon, you’ve seen Riskan Hope Farm. The farm name is spelled out on a big red barn between Craik and Aylesbury. I see it at least twice a year, on my drives home from Canada’s Farm Progress Show and Canadian Western Agribition. It’s a milestone […] Read more
durum wheat
Columns, Crops

Getting to know durum country

Reporter's Notebook: A French Durum SAS researcher may turn up at your doorstep, asking about durum

By
If you farm in Saskatchewan’s southern grain belt, you may have met Quentin Renault this summer. Quentin hails from France, but he’s in Canada for two years studying the durum supply chain, from farm to harbour. He spent his spring and summer driving dusty gravel roads in Saskatchewan’s durum belt, looking for farmers. On June […] Read more
parliament hill
Columns

Getting government under the influence

Reporter's Notebook: Farm organizations use several different strategies to sway government decision makers

By
Years ago I attended a public relations meeting on the topic of how companies and other organizations could influence government. I was a web editor with Alberta Agriculture at the time and wasn’t really a bureaucrat that anyone was trying to influence, so I’ve forgotten details. But the gist of it was that you influenced […] Read more
farmer in a tractor cab
Columns, Crops

Who’s handling your farm data? Keep an eye on this U.S. model

Data is becoming an industry. Whether you like it or not, you’re part of it


By
We talk about environmental stewardship, land stewardship and animal stewardship in agriculture, but there’s not a lot of discussion about data stewardship. And that’s too bad because there are some good reasons to have control over who accesses our data. I’m really talking about Big Data here — the move by businesses to collect mountains of data […] Read more
crop sprayer
Columns, Crops

Better weather information for better spraying decisions?

New technology allows farmers to have their own on-farm weather stations


By
In my last column, I wrote about how new technology sometimes scares the snot out of me (specifically driverless cars). But I’m not a complete Luddite, or neo-Luddite. I do have an iPhone, apps and all. Some of the apps I use most frequently during the summer are weather-related. I like to check if a […] Read more
metal gear on a circuit board
Crops

Cost cutting with new agricultural technology

Technology is moving at a pace we couldn’t have imagined. Can it help you?

By
If you’ve ever wondered what the future will be like, Jack Uldrich has the answer. It will feel like you’re sitting in a driverless car for the first time as the vehicle careens around pylons and executes high-speed turns. In other words, a little nerve-wracking. Uldrich, a futurist and author, showed us a video clip […] Read more
children in back of a truck
Columns

Raising kids down on the farm

It’s not all one long Disney movie, but there are also many lifestyle benefits

By
It’s a cliché, but it’s a cliché because there’s some truth to it. Farms are great places for kids to build character. I asked farmers on Twitter what they thought about raising kids on farms. Work ethic kept coming up. Terry James, an Alberta farmer, said some employers value former farm kids for their work […] Read more

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