AGRISTABILITY A return to normal prices could mean big payouts under the current formula
Reading Time: 3 minutes It has gone in cycles over the past 50 years, but it appears the battle lines are again being drawn between the federal government and the agriculture industry over farm support programs. The latest began when federal officials claimed the AgriStability program is too rich. Essentially this support program kicks in when a producer’s income […] Read moreSaving billions is tempting for penny-pinching feds
A really good year for agriculture in Alberta?
Two sides Crop production and prices firing on all cylinders, but buyers are not so lucky
Reading Time: 3 minutes There’s a lot of quiet anxiety in the Alberta countryside at this time of the year — more than in most years. Anticipating the upcoming harvest tends to be top of mind with the usual angst about weather uncertainty. But this year is a little different being most of the province is looking at above-average […] Read moreABP takes pre-emptive strike on directional checkoff
Reading Time: 2 minutes At the recent Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) semi-annual meeting, chairman Doug Sawyer took a bold pre-emptive strike against a topic that has been whispered about in cattle industry circles for years. He bluntly stated that his organization was opposed to the directed or directional checkoff. That took other cattle producer organizations like the Alberta Cattle […] Read more
Would supply management’s demise be good for Alberta?
Tough competition Mega-operations could take over, but they might be in another province — or country
Reading Time: 3 minutes Urban media pundits and self-styled experts are once again expounding on the evils of supply management and why it needs to be terminated. They have been emboldened by the Canadian government’s alleged decision to put supply management on the table as the price of joining the Trans Pacific Partnership trade group. As expected, export-oriented commodity […] Read moreThe goal should be more of consumption of beef, period
Competition It’s from pork, poultry, lamb and fish, not from other Canadian beef producers
Reading Time: 3 minutes At its recent semi-annual meeting in Edmonton, Alberta Beef Producers unveiled its latest promotion slogan: “Alberta Beef — Famous Taste.” It’s another version of a long-running beef consumption campaign that started some 40 years ago. Some of those campaigns, which are revamped every few years, are more successful than others. Perhaps the most successful in […] Read moreAlberta an agrarian hinterland? Not quite
Reading Time: 3 minutes Recently former Alberta leader Peter Lougheed was proclaimed and lauded as Canada’s best premier. I am not sure whether that proclamation was the result of a careful academic analysis or a glorified popularity contest. The folks who judged this “best premier” exercise were mostly from other parts of Canada. I expect if this was an […] Read more
Calgary graduates its first class of vets
Reading Time: 3 minutes This month will see the graduation of the first class of students from the University of Calgary faculty of veterinary medicine. Congratulations to those students. After four years of intensive study in one of the most difficult of professions, they have made a remarkable achievement. Veterinary medicine is sometimes seen as more difficult to master […] Read more
New agriculture minister appointed
Reading Time: < 1 minute For the third time in just one year, Alberta has a new minister of agriculture with the appointment of Verlyn Olson to the cabinet position by Premier Redford. Olson was re-elected PC MLA for the Wetaskiwin-Camrose riding which he has held since 2008. Olson is a lawyer and was the former minister of justice and […] Read more
Will it be negotiation or more alienation?
Reading Time: 3 minutes It would be safe to assume that with the election over we are in for at least four (or 40 more — depending on your political perspective) years of steady government in Alberta. It means that the Land Use Framework (LUF) legislation can now be implemented and enforced by the ruling PC government. By all […] Read more
Rural ministers go downto defeat by Wildrose Party
Reading Time: 2 minutes To the chagrin of pollsters and media commentators, who predicted the demise of the 41-year-old rule of the Progressive Conservative (PC) government, the PCs roared back to power with a whopping 61 seats in the 87-seat provincial legislature. However, some prominent PC government ministers went down to defeat by Wildrose. Agriculture Minister Evan Berger, tourism […] Read more
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