From the Hip

straight from the hip It’s hard to recover once body condition is lost, and that can have lasting implications on your herd’s health and productivity

Reading Time: 3 minutes We could face yet another long winter and as we prepare our farms it is important to remember the basics for the cattle. Feed testing is an easy step, but to bring it alive, it is best looked at from a human point of view. Would you feed your child only pasta three times a […] Read more

From the hip Leaders are driven with passion from a deep place of core beliefs and values

Reading Time: 4 minutes Some things just blow your hair back and at that moment you feel a bit validated. I was speaking recently at the Youth Ag Summit in Calgary and was pleased to meet the great leaders of tomorrow there — several were from Alberta. As I entered the conference a woman from South Africa, who had […] Read more

Open farm days are already a hit in places such as the U.K. and Quebec, 
and they’re gaining fans across the country

Reading Time: 3 minutes As I prepare to leave for more global research in agriculture, I am recalling the innovations I saw on farms to engage the public in the production of food. We tend to be a little private here in Canada about our farms and our work, but in many parts of the world that is not […] Read more

Britain’s bizarre efforts to eradicate TB while protecting the badgers that 
spread it shows the folly of trying to upend the natural order

Reading Time: 3 minutes I am looking at my oat storage bin and counting the square bales under cover. The inventory in the barn for the rescue horses is low. Out in the hay yard, the inventory is sparse and we will quickly face another winter of feeding cows. It would be an ordinary day, and not normally one […] Read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes In Canada all wildlife is the property of the Crown. Why is it then that paid hunting is allowed in Saskatchewan and not in Alberta and what is the difference in the provincial acts? In this column we take a look at hunting for profit in both provinces. The current position of the Government of […] Read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes My friend Ewan and I were sitting together as we travelled from the headquarters of the Hassad Group through the Qatari desert to their farming operations. Hassad has a sole vision of food security for the nation of Qatar, and their reach is global in context. Their mission is, “To own, develop and operate efficient, […] Read more

From the hip One of the greatest gifts to our youth 
will be the skills to survive financially

Reading Time: 4 minutes Empowering means to enable, liberate, engage, free and permit. It is the drawing out of the very best in a person without the constraints of expectation or entitlement. It is the inside growth of a human being that gives them the power and the drive to change their life, succeed in school and business, to […] Read more

Reading Time: 4 minutes Afew weeks ago I watched in horror as my husband was attacked and rolled by a cow. It was unexpected in our herd, but a new cow in a new place can result in some fear. It is in those moments when time stands still and you fail to believe your eyes. The same week […] Read more

When government interferes in the free market, farmers get 
hurt and the poor see no change in their fortunes

Reading Time: 3 minutes Iwas recently travelling in Argentina, a land of intense possibilities. Running from the Tropic of Capricorn to the end of the earth, Argentina has soil and climate suitable for a wide variety of crops. In the subtropical northwest, cattle, goats, sugar cane, wine, avocados, tobacco, citrus fruits and olives are produced. The arid central Andes […] Read more

Reading Time: 4 minutes This is an interesting point in history as the world becomes urbanized and agriculture faces a critical loss of labour and investment in the farm. Case studies around the world support the absolute need for solutions to agricultural employment. In the EU, labour shortages and retirement (only seven per cent of farmers are under 35) […] Read more