farming

When Alberta MLA Glenn van Dijken tabled a bill last April that would prevent institutional investors from buying up farmland in the province, he knew the move would raise eyebrows. A staunch member of the United Conservative Party and self-proclaimed "free market guy," he was typically loath to regulate a booming industry. 

Methane emitted from burps and manure from about 75,000 cows in a massive Brooks, Alta., feedlot is the 11th highest source of the gas nationwide. 

Conservative politicians and advocacy groups linked to Canada's far-right and fossil fuel lobby have been posting erroneous information about the federal government's fertilizer plan, a Canada's National Observer investigation reveals.

Higher food prices have pushed some of the more than 60,000 temporary farm workers who come to Canada each year to skimp on their own meals so they can make sure their relatives at home are able to afford food.

Real estate prices have soared across Canada in recent years, and farmland is no different. From B.C. to the Maritimes, farmland near urban centres is being eyed by developers seeking to turn fields into suburban malls and cul-de-sacs.

Zebra and quagga mussels are small freshwater mussels originally from the Black and Caspian seas. The invasive mussels can transform aquatic food chains and grow in thick carpets that can clog farm irrigation lines, hydropower dams and municipal waterworks. Keeping them out of B.C. is a full-time job for two dedicated dogs.

A meeting of Canada's agriculture ministers later this month could be pivotal in the fight against climate change, according to a national coalition of farmers.

Environmentalists are warning that slow-release nitrogen fertilizers, central to Canada's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on farms, are filling fields with microscopic plastic pollution.

Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Peggy Brekveld says urban development is putting enormous pressure on farmland, with 319 acres per day being swallowed up.

Céline Caron and Yves Tessier devoted their lives to protecting soil health long before regenerative farming became mainstream.

Monica Kariuki is about ready to give up on farming. What is driving her off her 10 acres of land outside Nairobi isn’t bad weather, pests or blight — the traditional agricultural curses — but fertilizer: It costs too much.

The past decade has seen exploding interest in an approach to farming focused on soil health called regenerative agriculture, which proponents say can help fix the climate crisis. The problem? No one agrees on what regenerative agriculture actually means.

The “disastrous” way in which plastic is used in farming across the world is threatening food safety and potentially human health, according to a report from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

Cover crops and other key practices in organic, regenerative, and agroecological farming also help farms weather the climate crisis. In addition to keeping soils stable during floods, they protect the ground from extreme heat, which can kill important microbial ecosystems, and help retain moisture during dry spells.  

The federal government must recognize the role that industrialized animal agriculture plays in the climate, health, food and animal welfare crises.