Opinions

Every day, the world needs more. More food on tables, more fuel in tanks, more fertilizer in fields – and it’s a demand teetering on the edge of crisis.

A recent peer-reviewed study revealed that Canadian dairy farms dispose of between 600 million to one billion liters of milk on-farm annually.

November 7, 1885, a historic day in Canada’s economic development with the momentous completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), marked by the driving of the last spike.

With a potential labour disruption on both major railways starting August 22, a cloud has been cast over fall grain deliveries. Hopefully, a strike or lockout does not occur on August 22, but at this point it doesn’t look promising.

I don’t claim to be a market analyst, just an analyst of analysts. I follow several market commentaries quite closely and have a few observations about which crops seem to have upside market potential and which ones don’t.

As I combined a thin, low-yielding field of mustard, a call came from my spouse/office manager. Amongst her information to pass along was the arrival of the annual bill from Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation. “How much does SCIC want?” I asked.

What can be done to help cattle producers facing another year of drought and serious feed shortages? The Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association has held well attended meetings in Kindersley, Perdue, Cabri and Cadillac to address the issue.

It’s back to the future. Lawrence MacAulay has returned as federal agriculture minister. Despite the warm words of welcome from farm organizations across the country, I suspect the actual response was surprise followed by a collective groan.

I can’t keep up with all the new products being offered to farmers often from companies new to Canada. Some of the products are definitely in the miracle crop cure category and are a big waste of money. Others may have merit in certain circumstances.

Over the years, I’ve had many discussions, sometimes heated, with farming family members and other acquaintances about the changing methods and practices in the industry. It’s amazing how much resistance to change there can sometimes be.