I’m a big advocate of democracy. I defend the free press globally, especially the agricultural free press, and people’s right to say what they want, as long as they don’t misuse it by slandering or scurrilously pursuing others. But when I see Donald Trump supporters flaunting slogans like Rope. Tree. Journalist. Some assembly required, as… Read More

It took an election over the Oval Office, but it seems some of the Internet’s biggest companies are now saying, just maybe, they have a role to play in wrangling up false and fake news. Google and Facebook have both announced that they will cut off the advertising revenue for websites that produce fake news…. Read More

We’re halfway through November, and I can pretty confidently say it is one the world is not likely to forget. Half of Americans are stunned and saddened. The other half are stunned and feel surreal. The rest of the world isn’t sure what to make of it. Good or bad, Trump is going to be… Read More

Despite a tough year, there are reports of Ontario elevators running at full capacity or right full. Some farmers are reporting a record wheat and soybean year, which explains the full delivery points, but as harvest winds down many farmers will be happy with average, at best. That’s where we start with this week’s Wheat Pete’s Word,… Read More

There are revolutionary developments happening in the world of molecular biology that could soon make their way to the farm or field. That is, if society allows it. Chances are you’ve seen a headline containing the terms ‘gene editing’ or ‘CRISPR’ in the last year or two. It likely involved a scientist excited about how this new… Read More

Grains for the first week of October saw some see-sawing as the market dealt with some weather premiums and short-covering in wheat and corn pushing values higher. Compared to a week ago, oats are up 6.7%, canola gained 1.2%, corn prices improved by almost 1%, soybeans were up 0.5%, while wheat closed 1.7% lower as… Read More

Grains pushed through the first full week of September with a mix of bearish and bullish headlines, but mostly of the latter as a weaker U.S. Dollar, wet weather, and decent export numbers being supportive. Corn was the shining star for the week, up 3.5% in Chicago, mainly supported by ethanol being up more than… Read More

The Manitoba Agricultural Museum and Canadian Foodgrains Bank teamed up with over 600 volunteers from 100 Canadian communities to attempt a record-breaking harvest this week, at Harvesting Hope: A World Record to Help the Hungry. Over two years of planning culminated into 139 (of 148) threshing machines harvesting wheat for 15 minutes at the Museum… Read More

The US Department of Agriculture confirmed another discovery of rogue genetically engineered wheat plants on Friday. A total of 22 volunteer GE plants were found by a farmer in an unplanted field in Washington State. The department says the plants contain the protein found in MON 71700, the glyphosate-resistant GE wheat developed by Monsanto. The… Read More

Last January, camelina, a drought-tolerant oilseed high in protein and omega-3 fatty acids, was approved as a feed ingredient for broiler chickens. Now, work is underway to see the approval for inclusion in laying hen rations and dairy animal diets. Camelina Approved for Broiler Chicken Feed “Can you imagine a day when all our eggs… Read More

You can’t be everywhere at once. You can‘t be in the field, in the barn, on the road and, at the same time, talking face to face to consumers. You need some help, some friends. And more and more, those friends include professionals in related fields, such as butchers, retailers and dietitians. Dietitians’ role is… Read More

What’s it like to have 2,000 consumers show up for breakfast at your farm? It’s not that big of a deal if you’re organized and have plenty of volunteers, says cash cropper and dairy farmer Evert Veldhuizen. He and his brother, Jan, hosted the latest Ontario ‘Breakfast on the Farm’ event Saturday morning at their… Read More

While many farmers were busy seeding on May 21st, thousands of people around the world spent the day rallying against genetic engineering and other innovations in crop science, at what is known as “March Against Monsanto” (MAM). Most of the people at the rallies proclaim that genetic modification, herbicides and other technologies used to produce food are,… Read More

Headlines in mainstream news last week declared that genetically engineered (GE) crops are no more dangerous to humans than conventional crops following the release of a major study looking at the risks and benefits of GE crops. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine published what many have called the most thorough review to… Read More

 

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