Food and Farming Canada » water

Testing key to knowing what’s in your water – and protecting your farm

Lilian — Mon, 09 May 2011 14:14:24 +0000

Water testing has long been part and parcel of buying and selling agricultural properties. But knowing exactly what’s in your soil and well water is becoming increasingly important to safeguard both human health and property values.

E.coli O157:H7 is one pathogen that can have serious human health implications but that many people don’t realize may be [...]

What you probably didn’t know is happening on our farms

Lilian — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:06:01 +0000

Here’s a piece I wrote as a guest post for the Canadian Beef Blog.

Every day is Earth Day on the farm. This slogan has long been used by folks in agriculture to highlight how farming benefits the environment. The good news stories don’t get told is a common complaint I hear from the farmers and farm [...]

Protecting the environment – one farm at a time

Lilian — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 13:58:21 +0000

Folks in food and farming talk a lot about all the things farmers do to protect the environment – but often in somewhat general terms.

Here’s a real life example in Terry, a farmer and business owner from the Stouffville area.

I interviewed him this past summer for an article that I was writing and his story, to [...]

Farmers take safe pesticide application seriously

Lilian — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:00:40 +0000

Sometimes I wonder whether we’re actually hard-wired to be instantly attracted to bad news and shocking revelations. I see negativity often dominating our 24-hour news cycle, leaving the less sensational but equally important good news to fall by the wayside.

More and more people are now writing and reporting about food, farming, science and the environment. These [...]

Free farm disposal program starts tomorrow

Lilian — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:38:36 +0000

Farmers can safely dispose of their obsolete pesticides, unused animal health products and used sharps at collection sites across Ontario this week.

The CleanFARMS blitz program starts tomorrow and will run until October 22 as part of an Ontario government-supported Great Lakes Basin water quality initiative that offers farmers a free, safe way to recycle and dispose [...]

Trail signs highlight “green” farming

Lilian — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:05:05 +0000

A series of hiking trail signs highlighting environmental accomplishments by farmers are being unveiled today in the Greenbelt.

The signs have been installed along popular hiking trails in the Greenbelt – an area of permanently protected farmland, forests, wetlands and greenspace in southern Ontario – as a way of showcasing the many environmental advancements made by farmers.

“Farmers [...]

Take action for the environment – by learning from farmers

Lilian — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:15:52 +0000

The federal government has developed a series of suggestions for Canadians to be more environmentally conscious.

The tips – listed on a website called Take Action for the Environment – cover a variety of areas, but some of them, in my opinion, come directly from agriculture and represent things that farmers have been doing for years. For [...]

New corn to be better for environment

Lilian — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:09:07 +0000

Corn uses too much water and too much fertilizer to produce, its critics often charge, making it a bad environmental choice.

Yet millions of people around the world depend on corn as a staple of life - as food for themselves, as feed for their livestock and as a renewable fuel alternative. And that demand is only [...]

UK water rules sign of future for Canada’s farmers?

Lilian — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:45:51 +0000

A new strategy on water usage in agriculture unveiled by Britain’s Environment Agency paints a potentially grim picture for farmers.

This according to a report in Farmers Weekly, a leading British agricultural publication. The strategy includes tighter restrictions on agricultural irrigation as well as increased costs for water recycling and construction of on-farm reservoirs.

It is in response [...]

The green crystal ball

Lilian — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:19:51 +0000

The following article was printed in the Ontario Corn Producer, December 2008.

By Lilian Schaer

These days, it seems hard to predict what may happen with any degree of accuracy three months from now, let alone three years into the future. But although we live in volatile times, there are some fairly safe bets on [...]