Ray Garnett analyzes recent data and discusses the role that solar activity plays in shaping summer climates in the Prairie Provinces.
Agriculture
Mark Lynas – Lecture to Oxford Farming Conference
I want to start with some apologies. For the record, here and upfront, I apologise for having spent several years ripping up GM crops. I am also sorry that I helped to start the anti-GM movement back in the mid 1990s, and that I thereby assisted in demonising an important technological option which can be used to benefit the environment.
An Activist Recants on GM Foods
Environmental journalist Mark Lynas used to think that genetically modified crops were evil. But now, Mr. Lynas has recanted. He admits he was unequivocally, disastrously wrong about GM foods, and he’s offering his apology.
Canada’s Organic Food System is a Nightmare
As the holidays approach, Canadians are spending more time purchasing and preparing foodstuffs for their family tables. They’re also looking for appealing, tasty, nutritious goods that will not upset their budgets. Be prepared for the seasonal, united...
Featured News
Canadians on the Move, to Smaller Communities
The Canadian Dream is increasingly being realized in smaller areas For decades, Canadians moved to the larger cities (census metropolitan areas, or CMAs) with their economic opportunities. The latest estimates indicate that CMAs have 72 per cent of the nation’s...
Leadership Needed in Canadian Healthcare; Apply Within
When the Premiers were first called to a sit-down lunch to talk about healthcare with Prime Minister Trudeau, there was plenty of talk about the potential for systemic change, innovation and accountability. It seemed that Canadians and their leaders were finally on...
Dairy Trade Winners, Losers, and Winners: There are no national interests in trade, other than selling high and buying low
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key’s visit to Ottawa serves to contrast Canada’s agricultural policy with the policy of free trade.
Is Our Food Safety System Broken?: It is more accurate to say that it has not yet been built.
Slyvain Charlebois argues the debate on food safety should not about the number of inspectors hired but how to build food safety systems that serve the health requirements of Canadian consumers.
The Shape of Tomorrow’s Farming
Farming intensity must triple on the best land, in order to protect the poorer land which houses three-fourths of the wild species. Good farmland will become even more important, as one of the scarcest resources.
Canada’s Cropland: Becoming Better Protected From Erosion: Canada’s soil is far healthier today than it was 20 years ago
Over the past 30 years, the percentage of Canada’s agricultural soil that is well-protected from soil erosion has steadily increased. FC056
Competitiveness in Canadian Agriculture
Briefing and powerpoint slides from testimony presented to the Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food in Ottawa by Frontier Research Associate Les Routledge, June 2, 2009 (11 slides).
On the Verge … of the Greatest Farming Challenge in History
PowerPoint slides from Hudson Institute Scholar Dennis T. Avery’s address to the Western Canada Wheat Grower’s Association Conference, Winnipeg, January 9, 2009.
Bovonomics
Some humour – cows and the economy.
Food Safety: Quality Matters, Not Just Price
In our fast-paced modern social arrangements fewer consumers prepare food for themselves, and these few often with less available time. In filling this demand for convenience, processed foods have become a big part of our diets.
Ethanol Producers’ Unworthy Heyday Finally Over
The good news is that no amount of subsidies can disguise the fact ethanol is the wrong fuel at the wrong time. There may be good biofuels; corn-based ethanol is not one of them. Some clean fuels and technologies are worthy of taxpayer funding, but not the one that raises food prices and has no proven environmental advantage.