No year is perfect, but bumper crops across the province and other positive developments made for a pretty good year
Reading Time: 4 minutes When reflecting on the year just passed, you always hope it’s been good for all producers, and everyone else along the marketing chain. Alas, that’s rarely the case as our system continues to be based on the rewards and cruelties of supply and demand. Throw in the trials and tribulations of weather and we have […] Read moreEditorial: It’s been a good year for almost everyone
Editorial: Day of reckoning looms as impact of refundable checkoffs hits home
Alberta Beef Producers has seen checkoff refund requests hit the 30 per cent level, and that will not only impact it but also the effort to battle COOL and gain market access
Reading Time: 4 minutes It feels ominous, but a financial day of reckoning may be coming for the Alberta Beef Producers (ABP). It was predictable, but it seems to be coming a lot sooner than expected. It’s the consequence of the refundable cattle checkoff, a measure that was part of Bill 43, which is now almost four years old. […] Read moreFarmers fare better under right-of-centre governments
Conservative governments talk fiscal restraint but they are pretty liberal when it comes to helping farmers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Anew study shows liberal fiscal policies for agriculture are common under Conservative leadership. Tor Tolhurst and Shuang Li, M.Sc. students, FARE and John Cranfield, professor, FARE examined the seemingly contradictory nature of Conservative fiscal support for farmers. Known for espousing small government and fiscal conservatism, Conservative governments in Canada have instead shown a consistently “leviathan” […] Read morePoor 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 […] Read moreThe 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 moreGetting the mail — and much, much more
Reading Time: 3 minutes Tucked away in various corners of this old house are bundles of letters, held together by elastic bands or stuffed into a big envelope. One of those bundles dates back more than 60 years. It was exchanges between two young people working in different communities the year before they married. That bundle of letters survived […] Read more
Keeping the farm organizations in line
Reading Time: 3 minutes “Hardly a day goes by” may be an overused phrase, but not when it comes to the frequency of news releases from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada — we received 13 for the month of November. There’s nothing wrong with governments communicating with citizens, and some of the releases are pure business, such as brief notices […] Read more
There’s no turning back, traceability is a fact of life
Reading Time: 2 minutes It would seem some issues within the beef industry continue to just simmer with occasional flare-ups. That would be the case with traceability. It caused a lot of consternation when the concept was first proposed, particularly as it was being imposed by the federal government by a certain deadline. If there is one common trait […] Read more
The battle over GM labels drags on, but most consumers couldn’t care less
Reading Time: 2 minutes A Washington state referendum requiring mandatory labelling of food products containing genetically modified ingredients was recently defeated, albeit by a somewhat narrow margin. Millions were spent by both sides in the campaign to convince voters of the benefits or not, of GM labelling.This battle has raged across the U.S. for years with the no side […] Read more
We need at least four cell providers, but two railways are OK
Apparently grain companies reporting a weekly shortfall of between 1,000 to 2,000 cars isn’t evidence of poor service
Reading Time: 3 minutes Just as there’s good stress and bad stress, there’s good excitement and bad excitement. There’s the good excitement you get when watching the Grey Cup, especially if you’re a Riders fan. Then there’s the other kind of excitement (as in riled up) you got watching this year’s Grey Cup commercials about how the Harper government […] Read moreCyber-Savvy Farmer
