*Farmers earn great return on their quotas – July 24, 2002
Feeling burned by the stock market and looking for a solid long-term investment? Not a gold bug, you say? Have you considered farming?

European Farm Reforms Conservation-Oriented – July 23, 2002
A wise man once said, "If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there." The corollary to that one is, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it!"

Begin Canadian Wheat Board Reforms – July 2, 2002
Just say the words “Canadian Wheat Board” to three Prairie farmers and you’ll quickly hear four different opinions. What should be done about this “single desk” grain-selling agency, if anything?

Biotech Advances Boost Agriculture – June 17, 2002
The march of high-tech agriculture continues in spite of the spurious obstacles thrown in the way of progress by the anti-trade and anti-globalization crowd.

Market Access not Farm Subsidies – May 24, 2002
Brian Chamberlin is a New Zealander with a mission to promote free trade in agriculture, an important topic in light of the subsidy provisions in the new U.S. Farm Bill.

U.S. Farm Bill May Hurt Prairies – May 14, 2002
The gargantuan U.S. Farm Bill has finally been passed. It’s a multi-billion dollar monster that will subsidize U.S. farm production at levels never seen before. The bill raises crop subsidy spending in agriculture by a whopping 70%.

A Conversation with Brian Chamberlin – May 8, 2002
A conversation with Brian Chamberlin: farming without subsidies.

Hamiota on the Move – May 5, 2002
The conventional view of small rural communities holds that they are generally in decline.

Manitoba Becomes Bean Champion – April 25, 2002
Quick, what is Manitoba’s fastest growing crop? If you guessed wheat, barley or potatoes, you’d be wrong. It’s edible beans.

Giving Animals Rights – April 1, 2002
Bill C-15, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and to amend other Acts (the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2001), was introduced in the House of Commons and given first reading on 14 March 2001.

Canadian Federation of Agriculture Examines Challenges – March 18, 2002
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) held its annual meeting recently in Halifax, Nova Scotia and I was fortunate enough to be there.

New Animal Laws a Threat to Canadians – March 11, 2002
Although the use of animals for human purposes is vital to the health and well-being of our society, a proposed federal "animal rights" law, Bill C-15B, will harm the quality of life of all Canadians.

The Product Labelling Scam – February 18, 2002
The comprehensive labeling of food and other products has become the latest crusade for the anti-trade crowd. Their demands sound reasonable, but complying with them would put many products beyond the reach of the average household budget.

Life After Subsidies – February 1, 2002
In 1984, nearly 40% of the average New Zealand sheep and beef farmer's gross income came from government subsidies. A year later, almost all of these subsidies were removed. New Zealand farmers were on their own, and remain so today in 2001.

The Farm Support Dilemna – January 28, 2002
What can we do about the perpetual crises that afflict grain and oilseed farmers? Prices are low and the competitive pressure from low-cost foreign producers is growing.

Adapting to New Realities – December 21, 2001
"Rural Canada: Moving Forward or Left Behind?" read the title of a recent conference in Regina.

Red Tape and Rural Life – November 16, 2001
You probably think that all of us country folk are as free as the proverbial birds, doing whatever we like, since there is no one out here to worry about it. Well, the reality is much different.

Manitoba Beef Sector Sizzles – September 15, 2001
Amid all of the bad news in the grain industry and the conflicts over expansion in the hog industry, one segment of farming, the beef business, is doing quite nicely, thank you very much.

Farm Chemicals can Benefit our Environment – August 15, 2001
This means that our soil resources will be tightly tied to the earth and our lands protected from spring floods and winds. In addition, the wholesale adoption of winter wheat may reduce flooding overall as the spring runoff is captured very early in spring by crops that have spent the winter under the snow. Throw in newer, better, and less toxic herbicides and the future looks bright.

Pay Farmers to Stop Farming – August 1, 2001
Subsidies may help grain producers in the short term, but in the long term they perpetuate dependency. What farmers really need is an exit strategy.