Statistics Canada released its 2021 report on farm numbers last week. (The survey is done every five years.) The agency cautions against comparisons with past reports because it has redefined what constitutes a farm. Still, some of the trends since 2016 might surprise you. Image: census.gc.ca
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It isn’t just the war in Ukraine that’s forecast to dampen grain supply on world markets. Farmers – and other businesses in rural Canada – continue to be limited by expensive and unreliable internet access that undermines their efficiency. Image: CENG.ca
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The latest University of Guelph survey of farmers’ mental health in Canada reveals some worrisome results. And even more so for women. The good news is that it shines a light on the struggles of these very essential workers. Image: https://ontario.cmha.ca/intheknow
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Self-driving cars get a lot of media attention, but the technology’s been available in tractors for about 20 years. It’s allowed farmers sitting in the cab to turn their attention to other work. Now, John Deere has announced the industry’s first fully-autonomous tractor. Photo: Deere.com
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Farmers enjoy a high ranking in public trust polls, but they could be mistakenly blamed for rising food costs. It’s true that crop prices have been yielding better returns, but skyrocketing fertilizer costs take a big bite out of their profits – causing some farmers to think twice about which crops they can afford to plant.
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Owen Roberts is a faculty member in the Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications program at the University of Illinois. As an agricultural journalist, he is the past president of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists and a lifetime achievement award recipient from the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation. His programs and research papers have been recognized nationally and internationally through awards from the Journal of Applied Communications, the National Agri-Marketing Association, the Association for Communications Excellence, and others.