I am a reader of your paper and a farmer/rancher in Alberta. I enjoy reading Alberta Farmer and am generally happy and pleased with the quality of the paper and articles.
I recently read the May 7 paper and felt that I should send you a comment. (yes, we have been busy farming and are quite behind in our reading this summer). The photo with the article on air emissions around confined feeding operations caught my eye. In the photo, the cattle pictured are in very crowded pens, with no feed or water.
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As a rancher, I know that the photo is an overhead view of an auction market, and the cattle are only in those pens for a few minutes. To the general public, it looks like that is how cattle live in all CFOs. I realize that most of your readers are farmers and ranchers, but I’m sure there are also some urban readers. I know that there are many more urban residents starting to take notice of where their food comes from and are making what they think are knowledgeable decisions based on the “facts” they know.
I hope that this photo out of context did not discourage anyone from buying beef, thinking that the animals lived in these conditions. Everyone who is involved in agriculture has a responsibility to inform others how things are on our farms and the media also has to help with responsible journalism.
Renee Laughlin
Youngstown
