Fewer bankers, more farmers? Monday, October 3, 2011 If you want to become rich, become a farmer. That's the essence of an essay published in the July 10 issue of Time Magazine. The essay quoted Jim Rogers ("investment whiz, best-selling author and one of Wall Street's towering personalities") as predicting that farming incomes will rise dramatically in the next decades, surpassing even Wall Street. "The world has got a serious food problem," says Rogers. "The only real way to solve it is to draw more people back to agriculture." (That's according to Time).He cites net farm income as rising 27 per cent last year compared to less than two per cent for the overall economy. That's because of a wealthier and hungrier emerging middle class world-wide and a boom in biofuels. (He doesn't mention that the latter is due to heavy government subsidies which could disappear with the stroke of a pen.) While general real estate values have fallen, farmland has doubled in six years.One example Rogers cites of agricultural prosperity is Grand Island Neb. The home to a major beef packing plant and to farm machinery makers is booming and Nebraska itself has the second lowest unemployment rate in the nation.Yet another Time Magazine story, dated June 28, says that many of the workers producing food in California's Tulare County qualify for food stamps and 23 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. The state and national averages are 14 per cent. So it seems like owners of farmland are gaining wealth while workers on those farms are falling behind. BF Court rules chemical spray drift is trespassing Behind the Lines - October 2011
First Northern Cohort Joins Ontario Vet Program Thursday, September 4, 2025 This September, the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) at the University of Guelph welcomed its inaugural Northern Cohort of 20 students through the Collaborative Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Program (CDVMP). This initiative, created in partnership with Lakehead University, marks a milestone... Read this article online
Manitoba Farmers Defend Their Whisky Roots Amid Ontario Backlash Thursday, September 4, 2025 As most reader will know by now, on August 28, beverage alcohol giant Diageo announced it will be closing its Amherstburg, Ontario bottling plant. Located just 25 kilometres from the nearest U.S. border crossing, the company says the decision is part of a strategy to streamline its supply... Read this article online
Global grain trade gets a shake-up: What it means for Canadian farmers Tuesday, September 2, 2025 The global grain and oilseed trading industry is undergoing a major transformation—and Canadian farmers should take note. A recently published study in the September 2025 issue of discussed how the traditional dominance of a few multinational giants is giving way to a more competitive,... Read this article online
Canadian Farmers Face Weaker Soybean Yields Ahead Tuesday, September 2, 2025 Statistics Canada forecasts that Canadian soybean production will decline in 2025, reflecting weaker yields across major producing provinces. Nationally, output is projected to fall by 7.3% year over year to 7.0 million tonnes. The decline is linked to a drop in yields, which are expected... Read this article online
Canadian Corn Outlook Shows Mixed Regional Trends Tuesday, September 2, 2025 Statistics Canada projects Canadian corn-for-grain production to grow slightly in 2025, despite drier-than-normal weather and high temperatures that have pressured yields. National production is forecast to rise 1.4% year over year to 15.6 million tonnes. This gain comes from higher... Read this article online