Climate Changes, Grain Exports and A New World Order in Food – August 19, 2010
There is hardly a crisis in agricultural commodities but rather a continuing recalibration between supply and demand.

Attention Whole Foods Shoppers – May 7, 2010
"Though it's certainly a good thing to be thinking about global welfare while chopping our certified organic onions, the hope that we can help others by changing our shopping and eating habits is being wildly oversold to Western consumers."

Dairy Trade Winners, Losers, and Winners – April 14, 2010
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? – April 1, 2010
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 – March 30, 2010
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 – March 5, 2010
Over the past 30 years, the percentage of Canada’s agricultural soil that is well-protected from soil erosion has steadily increased.

Transforming Manitoba – January 16, 2010
Manitoba’s old style public sector model has placed the province firmly outside of western Canada's mainstream.

Can't We All Drink From The Same Cow? – November 19, 2009
Canada is a dairy industry production backwater. Over the past 10 years, the value of Canadian exports of dairy products has dropped by 30% to $255-million. Last year, Canada had a dairy product trade deficit of $422-million.

Adapting To Climate Change Through Technology – October 1, 2009
Norman left us a remarkable legacy. But as he told my daughter, “There is no final answer. We have to keep doing research, if we are to keep growing more nutritious food for more people.” The world, its climate and insect pathogens will continue to change. It is vital that we sustain the incredible agricultural revolution that Norman Borlaug began.

The Man Who Defused the 'Population Bomb' – September 16, 2009
"Without high-yield agriculture," Borlaug said, "increases in food output would have been realized through drastic expansion of acres under cultivation, losses of pristine land a hundred times greater than all losses to urban and suburban expansion." Environmentalist criticism was doubly puzzling because in almost every developing nation where high-yield agriculture has been introduced, population growth has slowed as education becomes more important to family success than muscle power.

The Wheat Board’s Tall Tales – August 21, 2009
The board’s claim that by gathering together all prairie grain and selling it in bulk it will achieve a higher price is a myth, because even though it controls the output of around 60,000 farmers, it nonetheless still controls too little grain to push the price up by withholding wheat and barley from the market, then rushing it to the selling floor.

The Environmental State of Canada – June 30, 2009
PowerPoint slides detailing Canada's environmental progress which accompanied the Meeting for Policy Experts seminar by Dr. Ken Green and Ben Eisen in Winnipeg on June 17th, 2009.

Competitiveness in Canadian Agriculture – June 10, 2009
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).

The Common Follies of Banning Bottled Water, Food Miles, and Earth Hour – March 19, 2009
When environmental initiatives ask the wrong questions or pursue the wrong goals they are liable to be ineffective, detract from more pressing concerns, or even do more harm than good.

On the Verge ... of the Greatest Farming Challenge in History – March 8, 2009
PowerPoint slides from Hudson Institute Scholar Dennis T. Avery’s address to the Western Canada Wheat Grower’s Association Conference, Winnipeg, January 9, 2009.

Food Safety: Quality Matters, Not Just Price – February 26, 2009
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.

President Obama Is COOLing It – February 17, 2009
Food trade policy is essential to providing variety and affordability to consumers, no matter where they live. The food industry is largely recession-proof, but still vulnerable to external influences. With a president in the White House who seems ready to think more internationally, the virtues of free trade may be fortified. That would be welcome news to the Canadian economy during these worrying conditions.

Canada’s Wheat Cult – November 24, 2008
The CWB has become as much an economic cult as a Crown marketing agency. So it is never going to admit it is a drag on farmers or the West. But at some point taxpayers have to wake up to the fact that they are subsidizing Western farmers to the tune of $1-billion or more a year and they wouldn't have to if the federal government would simply make marketing grain through the board optional, rather than compulsory.

Ethanol Producers’ Unworthy Heyday Finally Over – November 14, 2008
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.

Governments Sleepwalking Into Water Crisis – November 2, 2008
Governments, if they are not careful, are allowing communities to sleep walk towards a water supply crisis. Governments are not dealing with long term supply needs and are potentially jeopardizing the future economic prospects of rural communities.