At first glance, Patrick Moore resembles more CEO than ecologist, but give him a topic like the opposition to genetically modified crops, and you get all the emotion you’d expect from someone who helped found Greenpeace. Moores involvement with Greenpeace started in the late 1960’s in opposition to nuclear testing and the arms race and… Read More

As kids we used to laugh about people who bought bottled water. Who would pay for water! How about every nation on the planet. We need water on just about every level imaginable. It is a commodity that affects all other commodities. Droughts hurt crops, poor crops hurt supplies, demand for those supplies, in the… Read More

By Jason Stroeve It’s a running joke that while it costs you $55 to $100 dollars a year to get into Costco, it usually costs you at least $200 dollars every time you leave. I like shopping at Costco and apparently so does the rest of the world. If you’re successful at navigating the parking… Read More

“Those dairy farmers print money!” That’s what a friend of mine says every time the subject of dairy farms comes up. Drive down many roads in Canada and it’s easy to see how that perception was born. Huge brand new facilities, multi-site operations with finely manicured yards and milking parlors with nicer tile most people’s… Read More

If you cannot see the embedded video above click here. There are extreme challenges in the grocery store in trying to decipher all the labelling, marketing and propaganda.  With the current rise in food prices there has been an increased coverage of what food costs in the mainstream media.  Some of the most expensive food… Read More

No matter what industry you are involved in, striving for efficiency is critical for lowering costs. If you can gain efficiency and increase productivity you are really achieving a win win. Precision agriculture provides the opportunity to achieve both improved efficiency and increased productivity with the same application. Most of the early focus was on… Read More

Farmers are great at growing crops and raising livestock but I don’t know many that really like to crunch the numbers.  I feel that farmers are naturally entrepreneurial and tend to keep the farm financial plan in their head.  For many farmers this works but it can result in some surprises from time to time…. Read More

In the short term the financial picture for agriculture looks very good.  Both farmers and livestock producers are very excited about the possibilities in 2011.  With profit comes bullish behaviours of expansion and growth.  In different areas of Western Canada there has been some reports of very steamy land rental rates based on the prices… Read More

Creating a business plan and making sure you execute the plan is a very big challenge for farmers. In fact it is a great challenge for all business owners. Agriculture can even be tougher because of the underlying industry foundation of the “agricultural lifestyle.”  Added on top of this is the increased amount of un-controllables… Read More

Last year proved to be a very interesting year for weather.  Eastern Canada had probably one of the most ideal growing seasons in history.  Western Canada suffered from the problems of dealing with heavy moisture and even drought in Northern Alberta.  I have been at several farm shows across the country this month and weather… Read More

It is really hard to find analysts, feeders and ranchers that are bearish on this cattle market. The industry as a whole is pretty bullish in comparison to prior years and especially in comparison to two years ago.  Everyone is bullish prices in 2011 but are they bullish margins and if they are not, should… Read More

 

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