On Tim van der Hoek’s irrigated acres near Vauxhall, potatoes, seed canola and sugar beets are central to the bottom line, but CWRS and durum also play a key role. In fact, cereals reliably hold his high-value rotation together. Of his more than 3,000 acres, much is rented, all is irrigated. Potatoes and sugar beets are grown once every five years while cereals or corn fill out the balance. The cereal years can be the thinnest on the balance sheet, but they are essential to the good health of his operation.

The cost and complication of herbicide resistance is reshaping the way Prairie farmers manage their acres. It’s a frustrating problem that demands adaptation, typically in the form of integrated weed management (IWM), a customized, field-by-field strategy. One size does not fit all as farmers and agronomists tackle herbicide resistance with a multi-strategy approach.

Outdated. Reactive. Costly. This is how certain critics describe business risk management programs available to Canadian farmers.

The first in a series of family farm portraits, GrainsWest visited Angela and Robert Semeniuk, whose land is in the Smoky Lake area. Their children, daughter Gabrielle and son Tristan, are the fifth generation to be raised at this 115-year-old farm.

The words “white bread” don’t tend to stir excitement in the hearts of Canadian consumers. The term itself is used as shorthand for “boring,” and typical grocery store white bread is often considered a junk food, inferior to whole wheat counterparts. But despite white bread’s second-rate reputation, squishy snow white bread has long been a staple of diets around the globe. While trends may ebb and flow, refined grain breads continue to have a place in our ever-changing culinary world.

Farmers are being backed into a corner, said Breanne Tidemann. “They are losing the go-to weed management solutions they’ve relied on for years—herbicides—and need to consider new tools to keep their fields clean.”

Farming has never been easy, but for those now launching careers in agriculture, the hurdles are higher than ever. “There’s a massive barrier to entry that’s never been there before,” said Evan Shout, co-founder and CFO of Maverick Ag, an agricultural consulting and risk management firm. He believes the higher-than-ever cost to take up farming is the greatest challenge and restriction facing today’s new and young farmers. “These days, it’s hard to start from scratch, you almost need to have a family farm to play in the game.”

The proposed reopening of the Grassy Mountain coal project on Alberta’s Eastern Slopes has prompted questions about selenium and downstream water quality among scientists, citizens and farmers. In a January Grainews column, retired agronomy research scientist Ross McKenzie raised concerns about selenium mobilization and its persistence in watersheds downstream from the Eastern Slopes. In July, ecotoxicologist Guy Gilron responded in a letter to the editor, arguing that guideline exceedances do not necessarily translate into risk and that regulatory controls exist, characterizing McKenzie’s warning as alarmist.

Canadian cereals are a hot commodity south of the border, where the $3 billion U.S. market for this country’s cereals-based products is highly integrated. Despite the current trade climate in which tariff uncertainty has become the norm, this demand remains strong for a range of reasons.

The non-stop tariff talk has been dizzying to say the least. For those keeping score at home, U.S. President Donald Trump has publicly announced levies on Canada, but also on practically every major economy on earth.