Behind the Lines

Were those remarkably mild days in March a harbinger of the droughty summer to come? Forget that question. Were they a harbinger of springs we will see in the future?

According to this issue’s cover story, Environment Canada thinks so. In less than 40 years, federal environmentalists assert, southwestern Ontario’s climate will match that of Kentucky today. If snowy days chill you to the bone, this might sound like a good idea. But there may be a price to pay.

While farmers and even automotive companies are finding any number of uses for crops such as switchgrass and miscanthus, the market for biofuel still appears to be precarious. Writer Mary Baxter looks at this crop and markets for it from several angles in this month’s cover story that begins on page 12.

One angle is that miscanthus could be grown and made into pellets in a plant in Springford for burning in generation facilities in Italy (See “‘Fuel pellet maker to supply Italian market” on Better Farming’s website, July 4.)