Reading Time: 2 minutes The Feeder Associations of Alberta Limited wishes to respond to the column by Roy Lewis that appeared in the July 15 edition and was titled “Is there really any need to brand cattle anymore?” Through the Feeder Associations Loan Guarantee Program (FALGP), which is backed by government, the feeder associations finance between 20 to 25 […] Read more
Branding is still a necessary part of the cattle business
Whether it’s accessing the loan guarantee program or deterring theft, cattle brands are still needed
There are many inspirational people — and they live all around us
They are not defined by gender, wealth or their career, but by what they give to the world
Reading Time: 3 minutes Sometimes the inspiration we need is right in our own neighbourhood. And when I think of those who have inspired me, I only have to blink and their faces and stories come to my heart. China was hit by a drunk driver as a child. Paralyzed on one side with slow speech and movement, one […] Read more
Schoepp: Seize, prepare for and appreciate the day
Reading Time: 3 minutes There is nothing quite like a harvest moon. It is made especially memorable when watched rising while having a tailgate supper, or when moving into the next pass without interruption of light or landscape. It is these moments we treasure at harvest time. Everyone on the team should have a moment to stop and enjoy […] Read more
Has the time come again for Canadian producers to go deep into sheep?
Sheep and goats are challenging beasts but they can offer a way into farming for new entrants
Reading Time: 3 minutes The revival of the small farm has created a new interest in sheep and goats. And although Canadians are not known to be big consumers of lamb, mutton or goat meat, there is a much greater demand than there is product. Canada only produces 40 per cent of the lamb needed for consumers. As the […] Read more
Who has benefited from the shift to heavier cattle?
The move to larger animals began decades ago but was driven by packers, not consumers and ranchers
Reading Time: 3 minutes I had given a century-old Stockman’s Manual to a young rancher as a gift. As we leafed through the pages, it was pretty evident how cattle, particularly British cattle, have changed over the years. Once mostly horned, short legged, deep in body, wide in loin and very haired up, they look very little like the […] Read more
Opinion: We need to welcome our new Canadian neighbours
To fill the tens of thousands of jobs in agriculture, we must make the sector more attractive to immigrants
Reading Time: 3 minutes As agriculture faces acute shortages of people at every level, it is a good time to talk about the value in immigration. The federal government has committed to increasing the number of immigrants to 350,000 annually by 2021. What does that mean for Canada? The majority of immigrants currently come from three countries: China, India […] Read more
Opinion: An open letter to Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshen
To be effective, farm safety education must be part of the regular curriculum in elementary schools
Reading Time: 3 minutes Following your appointment as Alberta’s agriculture minister, you were praised for being “smart, grounded, and ‘a stand-up guy.’” Let’s hope everything I’ve read about you will prove true. But based on past experience, I am somewhat cynical, as I have asked your predecessors to take action on embedding effective farm safety within the elementary curricula… […] Read more
Many sources of greenhouse gases are being ignored
Agriculture is singled out while major contributors receive little or no attention in climate change debate
Reading Time: 3 minutes As the discussion on climate change heats up, I find myself defaulting to facts that may surprise you. Climate change is not a new phenomenon. The definition is basically changes in wind patterns, temperature and precipitation that stretches over several decades. With that definition in mind, climate change has been an ongoing challenge for farmers […] Read more
What’s in the engine room of your farm business?
It’s not just the physical assets that power your enterprise and keep it moving forward
Reading Time: 3 minutes My friend Claire Booth from Australia shared a photo of her farm office referring to it as the “engine room” of their business. I like that analogy and am conscious of the fact that we all run with an engine and without that source of power or way of moving forward, we stay in one […] Read more
It’s tough to stand out in the world of commodities
Producing the best beef or grain doesn’t mean your product will be recognized for its quality
Reading Time: 3 minutes Having a point of differentiation is really important when it comes to commodities. Let us start with the term ‘beef.’ You may have been in conversations where someone said, they don’t eat beef — they eat old dairy cows. Which is interesting because technically, those old dairy cows and the Alberta bred fancy show steer […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
