As sustainability climbs to the top of the federal government’s agricultural policy agenda, farmers may wonder how they ensure their farms are well positioned for the future. “Often, the first thing that comes to mind when we hear the word ‘sustainability’ is climate change and the environment,” said Jolene Noble, extension co-ordinator for the Alberta Farm Sustainability Extension (AFSE) working group. “But sustainability is not only an important part of agriculture because of environmental leadership, but also because of succession planning, business readiness and future market access.”

Stakeholders in the Canadian ag industry are optimistic that a potential free trade agreement (FTA) with China could vastly increase value, predictability and competitive edge in export. With other countries—including Australia, New Zealand and Chile—already securing FTAs with China, the potential for Canada to do so looks promising.

The Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi) is experiencing a time of change, but the CEO of the organization sees nothing but opportunity and growth ahead.

During the July 19-21 annual meeting of federal, provincial and territorial ministers of agriculture in St. John’s, NL, the ministers reached consensus on the makeup of the successor to Growing Forward 2, which is now drawing to a close.

With the renegotiation of NAFTA slated to begin in just a few short weeks, the Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC) has been working diligently to assess the potential impacts of these trade talks on the Canadian grains sector, and to communicate producers’ concerns to the federal government.

“Leftovers” isn’t a term that generally gets one’s heartrate up. However, from a market outlook perspective, the “leftovers” from the previous year (referred to as the “ending stocks” or “carryout”) is of critical importance. In many ways, it can be considered the most important number on the supply and demand balance sheet. Analysts and traders rely heavily on ending stocks when trying to determine where prices may go. This is an important reminder when trying to make sense of wheat price activity over the past several months.

“To me, growing up in the agricultural industry, there’s such misconception of what farmers do,” says Origin Malting & Brewing co-owner and product manager Kyle Geeraert. He and business partner Josh Michaluk are launching their Strathmore malting and brewing business on Aug. 4, in time to take part in Alberta Open Farm Days, Aug. 19-20, 2017.

In 2016, the founder and former CEO of communications agency AdFarm initiated and advanced a national strategy to rebuild public trust in farming and the food industry. A living legend within the agri-food industry and a driven advocate of the farm sector, he was uniquely suited to the task.

Alberta has fewer, but larger, farms and more young, and female, farmers than it did in 2011, according to Statistics Canada farm and farm operator data from the 2016 Census of Agriculture.

There are no shortcuts to the top of the malting barley heap. More than 15 years after becoming a registered variety, CDC Copeland has become the most widely grown malting barley variety in Western Canada, pushing stalwart AC Metcalfe into second place.