Extreme weather events like fires, floods, heat waves and droughts pose an increasing risk to Canada’s food supply chain, putting pressure on prices all the way to the grocery store shelf, say experts. “Anytime you have major weather-related events, it tends to increase costs,” said Frank Scali, vice-president of industry affairs at Food, Health & … Read more
On the surface, last week’s Canada’s Farm Show in Regina was all about exciting new equipment — massive tractors and other heavy duty tools. Under the surface, however, farmers were also expressing serious feelings of frustration with the federal government. In interviews conducted for a special episode of CBC’s The House focusing on politics in Saskatchewan, farmers spoke about perceptions of … Read more
Western University researchers are developing a new kind of farm that uses machine-learning algorithms and data analytics to create optimum conditions for growing food anywhere and in any season — producing bigger and better yields while using as little energy and water as possible. The venture comes at a pivotal time in agriculture, with climate change escalating the likelihood of drought and floods capable of decimating harvests, causing consumers to … Read more
British Columbia grain farmer Malcolm Odermatt says all he can do is pray for rain this spring after repeated droughts sabotaged his harvest last year. Odermatt, who is also the president of the B.C. Grain Growers Association, has been working with his father since 2012 to farm about 2,000 acres of land in the Peace … Read more
Brad Clements, 82, has been growing Christmas trees near Milton, Ont., since the 1980s but is getting ready to pack it in. “We’re looking at closing it up in the next year or so, if not sooner,” said Clements, owner of Clembrook Christmas Farm. Clements and his wife aren’t passing the business on to a … Read more
To the untrained eye, the collection of pipes and structures rising out of the prairie 200 kilometres east of Calgary looks like any other natural gas processing plant in southern Alberta. But the Steveville plant isn’t focused on extracting hydrocarbons. Instead, the prize it’s seeking deep underground is helium. The element is most commonly associated with … Read more
