By Gord Leathers Glacier FarmMedia contributor It all started with a request from a neighbour selling them land. About seven years ago Paul Harris, of Harris Farms near Stony Mountain, Manitoba, and his son Andrew bought some land. The land was organic so the previous owner asked them to keep it that way. They honoured […]
By Jennifer Blair Glacier FarmMedia staff Nancy and Chad Hewlett wanted to do things a little differently when they decided to start farming four years ago. So they moved away from the conventional farming of their childhoods and took a more holistic approach instead. “Shifting to permaculture was a huge learning curve. Some days, it […]
Alberta Farmer Express – The Canada Organic Trade Association marked National Organic Week in September by releasing new data that shows a “staggering” increase in the number of Canadians who are buying organic groceries every week. An online consumer research study done earlier this year found that organic food is on the weekly shopping list […]
A July 3 editorial from Agweek, published in Grand Forks, North Dakota. U.S. commercial agriculture produces more food than American consumers can consume. We want to send our surplus to the world — frozen chicken, edible beans, soybeans. Conversely, we want agricultural imports. In the Upper Great Plains of the Dakotas, Minnesota and Montana, we […]
The production system is linked to healthier meat, egg and dairy products By Laura Rance OrganicBiz staff It’s unlikely that University of Toronto researcher Richard Bazinet will include on his resumé the fact that he had a whole room of farmers holding their noses during one of his presentations. But it was actually an effective […]
OrganicBiz staff The Seattle Times is reporting that Costco has started investing in farmers to increase the supply of organic foods and keep pace with consumer demand. “While other retailers might have loan programs for suppliers to upgrade equipment or offer financial incentives such as advance payments or long-term contracts, helping farmers buy land to […]
By Greg Berg OrganicBiz staff Livestock producers are always working to avoid mortalities, but they do happen and are an unfortunate part of production. In addition, dealing with the carcass afterward can be time consuming. On display at Manitoba Ag Days this past January, BioMulcher is designed to handle these dead animals by mechanically breaking them […]
Canadian farmers need to understand their customers better By Laura Rance OrganicBiz editor Farmers attending this year’s AgEx conference received what some would consider odd advice: when you are building a marketing plan, don’t focus so much on the market. “The market doesn’t always take care of farmers,” Nicole Rogers, founder and CEO of Agriprocity, […]
Time for calves to drop is when grass is tall as their bum By Ron Lyseng OrganicBiz staff Dale Hicks was tired of pulling calves in blizzards, getting stomped by cows, hauling calf sleds in the mud in the middle of the night and losing sleep. “When you’re calving in the corral in February or […]
By Ron Lyseng OrganicBiz staff Dale Hicks says his 60-head cow herd is “one small step away” from being drug-free and certified organic, emphasizing that organic beef is merely a byproduct of organic grain production. “There’s no way you can grow organic grain unless you have a significant percentage of forages in your rotation,” said […]
