Reading Time: < 1 minute Just before press time it was learned that the federal Competition Bureau has approved the sale of the Tyson Foods Lakeside beef processing plant at Brooks, Alberta to XL Foods. In an interview, Lee Nilsson, one of the principal owners of the company, said that they can now proceed with the final details of the […] Read more
Competition Bureau Approves Sale
Glory Days Of Livestock Production May Be Over
Reading Time: 3 minutes As the livestock industry has learned over the years, political circumstances have shown that the free market is not really free. A recent report by the USDA noted that the U.S. cattle herd was down to numbers last seen in the 1950s. The Alberta cattle herd may be down by 1 million head by this […] Read more
Start stockpiling money and technical expertise
Reading Time: 3 minutes “Canadian producer groups will be well advised to begin stockpiling their financial ammunition, battles in the endless trade war are looming just over the horizon.” American trade policy has been much discussed by the mainstream media in Canada over the past month. Dire predictions of protectionism were ruminated over by alleged experts of all kinds. […] Read more
NFU Holds Producer Meetings In Alberta
Reading Time: 2 minutes The depressed cattle market price situation was the theme that drew more than 80 farmers and ranchers to attend a producer meeting held here at the end of January. It was the first in a series of meetings organized by the National Farmers Union (NFU) in Alberta. These meetings follow others held by the NFU […] Read more
Cattle Feeders Hear Message For Change
Reading Time: 2 minutes RED DEER More than 400 cattle producers came from far and wide to attend the 2009 Feeder Associations of Alberta (FAA) conference here in January. The annual event sees delegates gather from associations across the province. Feeder associations were first established in Alberta over 70 years ago to provide government-guaranteed financing to producers who wanted […] Read more
New Alberta Liberal leader reflects urban values
Reading Time: 3 minutes Alberta Liberals have once again chosen a new leader to fight them out of the political wilderness. Good luck to them – they will need it after 23 consecutive losses at the polls. There is a message in all those losses, particularly for rural Alberta. But don’t expect the Alberta Liberal party to understand our […] Read more
2008 — a year to remember — or forget
Reading Time: 3 minutes All it took were above-average crops to see the crisis disappear from the urban press. As 2008 comes to a close we can look back wistfully at the issues that have come and gone this year. Agriculture politics and public opinion dominated much of the year, some of which was unanticipated, some of it self-inflicted. […] Read more
ALMA ready to roll — almost
Reading Time: 5 minutes The Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA) has been mandated by Alberta Agriculture Minister George Groeneveld to help turn the hog and cattle sectors around and onto the road to profitability. Alberta Farmer recently asked chief executive officer Jeff Kurcharski some questions as to how the agency is getting established. Q:Is the agency now fully […] Read more
Is age verification pushing another agenda?
Reading Time: 3 minutes One is always apprehensive when commenting on cattle industry politics in Alberta. Its guaranteed that someone will take offence to some words and will want to bite back with their wallet. But Alberta Farmer has a mandate to be as outspoken as its Alberta readers, so I will go where others fear to tread. Let […] Read more
Democrats may be the cause of trade mischief
Reading Time: 3 minutes The election of Barack Obama as U. S. President is now a reality and Canadians who favoured his candidacy are probably feeling somewhat smug. According to most surveys, Canadians tend to favour the Democratic party because they appear more liberal than their Republican opponents. They see Democratic party ideals as more Canadian-like. That’s part of […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
