Reading Time: 3 minutes What would you think if Big Oil or Big Tobacco said to you, “Just trust us!”? Are we guilty of the same thing in Big Agriculture? Do we even consider why they paint all of us that way even those we are just family farmers? So what if we use herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers and even […] Read more
Dispelling the myth of Big Agriculture
Putting out the facts is farmers’ best way for discrediting their critics
Alberta Farmer gets its 15 minutes of fame — and it was pretty weird
A story on critic of the Wheat Belly diet prompts online visits from anti-wheat proponents from around the world
Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s a weirdly wired world How is it that a small story in a rural Alberta farm paper is suddenly being viewed by people in Panama, Sweden, Lebanon and Croatia, and inundated by commentators who believe wheat is “a pathogen.” Here’s the story On Jan. 28, soft-spoken dietitian Christine Lowry stood before a couple of […] Read more
Don’t get mad, give your critics something to think about
It’s easy to be offended by critics of modern farming, but there are ways to challenge their thinking and provide new perspectives
Reading Time: 3 minutes “Watch what you eat. Wherever possible, avoid food grown with pesticides, in feedlots, or by agribusiness. It’s an easy way to use your dollars to vote against the spread of toxins in our bodies, soil and water.” This is the fourth principle in the consumption manifesto issued by the World Watch Institute, an environmental research […] Read more
Let’s get the facts right on CWB transformation
The real scandal is how former directors wasted farmers’ money
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Friends of the CWB (FCWB) is attempting to redefine history, court decisions and the various acts of Parliaments. The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) Act of 1998 outlined a corporation with farmers making up the majority of the board of directors. Several lawyers paid by the CWB, clearly defined to these directors, “the CWB and […] Read more
Perception can become reality — which is why we need to understand our critics
Glyphosate foe Don Huber has become a darling of critics of modern agriculture, even though he’s never offered proof for his accusations
Reading Time: 3 minutes Netflix got me hooked on the popular television show “Mad Men.” To be honest, it was kind of boring for the most part, but I ended up watching the first six seasons in a month or so. Being a gen-Xer, it was intriguing to get a glimpse into a time when I was not alive. […] Read more
Poor U.S. wheat markets may be in for more weakness
Exporters in the European Union, Black Sea region, Australia and Canada are all expected to move to protect or gain market share
Reading Time: 4 minutes Reuters/March 2014 Chicago wheat futures started out the 2013 calendar year above $8 a bushel but appear set to end the year struggling to hold above the $6 level. A global pickup in importer demand during late summer had allowed for a brief stint of price strength in early autumn, but the revelation — amid […] Read more
Organic industry gets uncomfortable news
Reading Time: 2 minutes It was just a matter of time before the Achilles heel of organic food production was going to be exposed, and a recent CBC news report hit the issue right between the eyes. The report stated that 45 per cent of organic produce randomly tested by the CFIA showed traces of pesticides. Organic industry spokespeople […] Read more
Ionophores, not antibiotics, mainly used in beef cattle
Danish ban has led to increased use of antibiotics, says BDRC
Reading Time: 3 minutes Antimicrobial resistance has become a highly charged issue. Headlines appear in the news on a regular basis suggesting that antibiotics are becoming less effective in humans and farmers are to blame. Some concerns have been raised that antimicrobial use in livestock leads to antimicrobial resistance and that some of the products used in food animals […] Read more
Editorial: Straw man report challenges the industry to take action
Reading Time: 3 minutes As promised the straw man process delivered its final recommendations in a report at the end of December entitled, “Building a Stronger Canadian Beef Industry.” Now it’s time for the industry to turn straw into gold. None of the straw man team may look like the gold-spinning Rapunzel, but they certainly have provided the right […] Read more
Editorial: The time for EGS is long overdue
Paying landowners for the environmental work they perform would blaze a new trail for a better environment
Reading Time: 2 minutes Once in a while at livestock producer meetings, Ecological Goods and Services (EGS) is on the agenda. The idea was first broached around 20 years ago, but under different names. The venerable Western Stock Growers’ Association, who has championed the cause for many years, has called it Environmental Goods and Services. A past Alberta Environment […] Read moreCyber-Savvy Farmer
