Rural Crime: Wire Theft From Irrigation Pivots On The Rise by RRC soundbites

Canada is beefing up its defence against foot-and-mouth disease, one of the most dangerous livestock diseases in the world.

AgKnow, the Alberta Farm Mental Health network, is looking to the agriculture industry to provide feedback on their latest assessment of the mental health environment for farmers and the ag industry in the province.

Director Linda Hunt says this white paper assesses the needs in the community as well as the ability of the mental health and health care providers to connect with farmers.

"Looking for what are the barriers for people getting help, and how can we build capacity within the Alberta health and mental health system to support farmers and their families and veterinarians," says Hunt.

Fires on farm equipment are a known risk, especially during the busy harvest season, however, a Canadian agtech start-up believes they have developed a solution to help farmers spot problems before they spark.

Chariot Command, co-founded by CEO Andrew John Leaman, uses camera-based technology to monitor the mechanical health of farm equipment, with a sharp focus on combines, where fire risk is often highest.

“At Chariot Command, we use cameras to understand the mechanical health of farm equipment,” Leaman explains. “We are visual people. We are a vision company, so we use cameras to see things, whether they’re cameras that we install or the cameras on a phone. We're taking that information to help farmers understand what's going on with their machinery. We're helping them understand what their machine is thinking and feeling using cameras.”

The company’s hardware mounts directly onto the machine and includes both a high-end regular camera and a thermal imaging unit. Together, they monitor critical hotspots like chopper bearings, the engine bay and gearboxes.

“These are ideally for combines,” says Leaman. “So we’re actually looking for heat, potential fire risk, temperature changes.”

Building a strong relationship between a producer and a veterinarian is important for your herd's health and the economical sustainability of your farm. 

Dr. Tommy Ware from Veterinary Agri-Health Services says that the relationship starts with the first phone call between the producer and the veterinarian.

As technology continues to evolve in agriculture, Canadian livestock producers are embracing new ways to connect with their veterinarians—without ever setting foot in the clinic.

Tele-medicine is gaining ground as a practical tool, allowing producers to consult with their vets remotely using phone calls, photos, and video. Dr. Tommy Ware of Veterinary Agri-Health Services near Crossfield, Alberta, the key to making it work starts with trust.

"A lot of it starts with having a good relationship with your veterinary, because we can't just willy-nilly go about just answering phone calls and taking videos," says Ware.

“I wish I didn't have to deal with these dryland corners on my fields. They are more trouble than they are worth.”

This offhand remark from a farmer has led to a full-fledged research initiative at Farming Smarter to explore how farmers manage these tricky, often-overlooked portions of irrigated fields.

The new project is entitled No Cutting Corners: Realizing the Sustainable Potential of Dryland Corners.

Ashley Wagenaar, Conservation Agronomist at Farming Smarter, is super excited to explore farms' different strategies for managing these areas.

She believes they can provide value to anyone interested in changing their approach or seeking advice on managing these areas differently.

An upcoming event in Airdrie aims to help livestock producers build stronger relationships with their veterinarians, an important but sometimes overlooked part of a successful operation.

Organized by Ashley Nicholls of REACH Agriculture Strategies, the session will explore effective communication strategies between producers and veterinarians and highlight how technology is reshaping animal health management.

Nicholls says two featured speakers will offer diverse insights into the field.

Like crops weathering droughts and downpours, women in agriculture are rising through uncertainty and leading with resilience.

At the recent Advancing Women in Agriculture conference, Dr. Cami Ryan, Senior Business Partner for Industry Affairs and Sustainability at Bayer Crop Science Canada, spoke with Rural Roots Canada about her talk, "The Heat is On! Resiliency and Leadership in Ag." Ryan said she never planned for a career in agriculture, but stressed that we all have to grow where we're planted.

"I would have been the least likely person to end up in this space, but I did," she said. "So, really, the message is, if I can do it, anybody else can do it, too."

Canadian farmland rental rates remained relatively stable in 2024, despite another significant rise in land values, according to a report from Farm Credit Canada (FCC).

Nationally, the average rent-to-price ratio, which measures the return on rented land relative to its market value, dropped slightly to 2.50%, nearly unchanged from 2.52% in 2o23. This indicates that rental rates haven't kept pace with the 9.3% increase in farmland values recorded over the previous year.

The report, which focuses on cash rental agreements, shows regional differences in rental markets across Canada. In Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, rental rates have adjusted more quickly to land value increases. Other provinces saw little to no change in rental prices.