(Photo: Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Reuters)

The healing power of the farm

Farmers can play a role in making our society - and the world - stronger and more resilient

Reading Time: 3 minutes Brenda Schoepp column regarding healing power of agriculture and food production for society.

The wild side of zoonotics

The wild side of zoonotics

Did the U.S. practice of feeding chicken litter contribute to the bovine flu outbreak?

Reading Time: 3 minutes Commonly known as bird flu, avian influenza A has crossed the boundaries from the chicken barn to the dairy farm and from there to a human in the United States. This is a serious virus that has infected poultry in 50 American states since 2022. The person infected in April is the second U.S. human […] Read more


The farm operation that uses a model of diversity and maintains and integrates natural landscapes may be more resilient in times of weather and financial stress.

Schoepp: For sale signs of the times

Should farms consider ecological diversity as a risk management tool?

Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s spring and the time of year that farmland often changes hands. The “for sale” sign signals an end to trial and triumph and always invites curious conversations. This spring, there is an increase of sales in certain sectors. Sales driven by land stress and owners’ inability to financially weather another storm. Tree fruits and […] Read more

There has been a definite drought pattern but the severity of the weather changed in 2002 when the dry areas lost their historic boundaries and covered larger territory.

Schoepp: Wider conversation needed on climate cause

Agriculture has a role to play, but so does society at large

Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s tough being a farmer today and it is easy to be fixed on sky watching, that proverbial hope of rain or snow and even perhaps a wee bit of wind. Even as the farmer watches, there are political and social expectations that we, the keepers of the land, do something to change the course […] Read more


Knowledge is our holy ground and storytelling is the medium in tourism and agriculture.

Schoepp: Telling the farm story

The tourism sector can offer agriculture some lessons on connections

Reading Time: 3 minutes I was thrilled to attend a premier tourism conference in January and I certainly felt at home because tourism loves Canadian agriculture; so much so that the conference theme of regeneration was based on the agricultural model. Regenerative tourism digs deep into the concept of leaving a community better than before you visited – not […] Read more

Ruminant producers, but especially beef producers, have been caught in a vortex of environmental emotion that is not supported by accurate science or informed advocates.

Schoepp: Ruminants in the COP28 crosshairs

There’s been little meaningful engagement with agriculture on this issue

Reading Time: 4 minutes The United Nations Climate Conference, COP28, recently held in Rome, was for the first time focused on agriculture. The outcome seems to be a set of seriously flawed directives for farmers. In the 28-year history of the Conference of the Parties, agriculture has always taken a backseat. The 2023 meetings brought food production forward, not […] Read more


“Pointing a withered finger at agriculture as the culprit doesn’t hold ground because we are only a speck on the landscape. Only 4.3 per cent of Canadian soil is currently arable.” – Brenda Schoepp.

Opinion: Water for our world

Is this dry year going to seem like a wet one in our parched future?

Reading Time: 3 minutes As I flew over Alberta, the brown earth contrasted sharply with the blue sky. It’s an ideal picture in fall or even spring, but this was late November and not a snowflake or raindrop had quenched the open fields. I recalled past seasons, with both bitter cold and massive snow, as well as balmy days, […] Read more

Opinion: I grew this food for you …

Opinion: I grew this food for you …

Limiting waste respects the efforts of farmers and helps limit food insecurity

Reading Time: 3 minutes As the sun set and the dust lingered over the freshly harvested fields, I gave thanks for the abundance. Walking through the orchard with the sweet smell of ripening fruit and the warmth deep on my back, I gave thanks for the diversity. Picking my way home, the sidewalk strewn with chestnuts and hazelnuts, I […] Read more


The plant-based food industry in Canada is worth nearly $1 billion, with an expected growth of eight per cent per year.

Schoepp: From beyond meat to the return of meat

Climate-based policies frequently ignore consumer preference and economic reality

Reading Time: 3 minutes As I walk by a storefront that once housed the city’s largest ‘plant-based butcher’, the irony hits me. The new sign announces that this will soon open again – as a beef burger cafe. It brings to light the complexity of understanding Canadian consumers and their varying wants and needs. Protein in all sources is […] Read more

A pedestrian walkway through Xinglonghu Park in Chengdu in southwestern China in April 2022.

Schoepp: Forced farming

Autocratic regimes seem hell-bent on returning to the scary past by implementing planned agriculture

Reading Time: 3 minutes A troubling trend is creeping up on global farmers as governments control food production and eliminate crop diversity. In China, “non-grain” farming has become the target of the Rural Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Brigade, or nongguan, which exercises agricultural administrative penalties and related inspections for the Agriculture and Rural Development ministries. The areas that farmers […] Read more