Farmers behaving badly Monday, February 3, 2014 Some bizarre stories of farmer misbehaviour have been making the headlines lately. The Irish Examiner reports that pig farmer Donal Connaughton was sentenced to a year in jail after he ordered two repossession men to strip naked and get into a pen with an "agitated" boar. A cellphone recording taken by one of the men during the ordeal features the sound of the boar in the background while the men plead for their release. Connaughton made the men kneel and say an "Our Father" before finally letting them leave, without their truck. In Lancashire, a cattle farmer has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for violating U.K. gun laws. The Daily Mail reports that Paul Alton possessed a "bizarre" homemade gun "crudely constructed from lumps of wood, belts and tags" attached to an air-rifle barrel. The weird weapon could fire 74 rounds of "expanding ammunition" that would mushroom upon hitting flesh. Police were told about the gun by Alton's wife when they came to investigate a domestic dispute. Shame these farmers couldn't just blow off steam like Australian farmer Oscar Bell. He told ABC that, after a November frost ruined his canola crop, he fed it to his sheep. While making paths with the slasher, he wrote a giant "Sh*t Happens" into his field. He then asked his father to check the paddock from the air, and when Geoff Bell flew his ultralight over the artwork he captured his son's "deep-felt sentiments" on camera. BF Ontario livestock groups reach agreement with OSPCA Butterball, have you tried beer?
A new front in the repair access debate Friday, March 6, 2026 Iowa lawmakers have pushed the right‑to‑repair conversation into new territory with House File 2529, a bill that focuses specifically on diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) systems—the single most common cause of emissions-related downtime on modern farm machinery. The bill would require... Read this article online
March 8 is International Women’s Day Friday, March 6, 2026 Across the United States and Canada, women are taking on increasingly visible roles in agriculture—managing farms, leading ag-tech startups, advancing research, and strengthening the rural economies that feed both nations. Their work reflects a shift in an industry once defined... Read this article online
Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry to Visit Toronto and Southwestern Ontario Tuesday, March 3, 2026 The Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry will be in Toronto and Southwestern Ontario later this week as part of its ongoing study on the role of Canada’s agriculture and agri‑food sector in strengthening national food security. The fact‑finding mission is scheduled for... Read this article online
AgriStability Program Updated to Include Pasture-Related Feed Costs Beginning in 2026 Monday, March 2, 2026 In case you missed it last week, the Honourable Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, announced that pasture-related feed costs will be added as an allowable expense under AgriStability starting with the 2026 program year. The update addresses rising operational... Read this article online
Bringing more Food and Ingredient Processing Back to Canadian Soil Monday, March 2, 2026 Protein Industries Canada has announced the second cohort of nine companies participating in its Program, an initiative designed to bring more food and ingredient processing back to Canadian soil and expand the nation’s value‑added agriculture sector. The selected companies span the... Read this article online