Author: Owen Roberts

Ready, set, grow says federal lender about food sector

The outlook for Canada’s food and beverage processing industries is optimistic says Farm Credit Canada. But it’s a different story for the institutional food sector where hired help is hard to find. Farmers in Norfolk County are also experiencing labour problems with new local public health requirements for temporary international workers, just as they start to arrive. Photo: cbc.ca

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Let’s stop pretending climate change is not real

It’s hard to understand how anyone can still deny climate change when so many respected scientists confirm the fact. Just ask a farmer about the warmer temperatures and extreme weather events they’ve witnessed. Kudos to federal Conservative leader Erin O’Toole for telling it like it is, in the face of opposition.
Photo: environmentalleader.com

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I hear the train a-comin’ – from Mexico

Rail transport of freight has skyrocketed during the pandemic, and it looks like Canadian Pacific Railway Is about to ride that trend further. The company is about to become is the first rail network to link Canada, U.S. and Mexico, which has huge implications for agriculture in all three countries. Photo: CTVNews.ca

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Lights, camera …. entrapment: SILO, the movie

In the midst of a saturated media market, a movie made on a shoestring budget “ about grain handling safety “ has generated a buzz among rural audiences. SILO is a Hollywood style, 80 minute-long story of a farm worker who gets trapped trying to free-up grain stuck in a 50-foot high storage bin. Compared to most instructional videos, SILO takes farm safety to a whole new level.

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Urban Cowboy

Raising awareness and promoting dialogue about current food and agriculture issues.

OWEN ROBERTS

Owen Roberts is an agricultural journalist and communications instructor based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. He is a trustee on the Global Foundation for Agricultural Journalism and an associate editor (communications) for the Journal of Agromedicine. Previously, Owen was president of the International Forum for Agricultural Journalists, an agricultural communications faculty member at the University of Illinois, and research communications director at the University of Guelph. His programs and research papers have been recognized through awards from the Journal of Applied Communications, the National Agri-Marketing Association, the Association for Communications Excellence and the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation.

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