Broken There’s no obvious solution of how to repair the value chain in the pork business
Reading Time: 2 minutes George Matheson, a pork producer who sells directly to consumers from his farm in Stonewall, Man., gave his view of the state of the hog sector at a Keystone Agricultural Producers meeting last month. The futures say that it’s going to be deep into 2013 that we’re going to remain in the red. Short term […] Read moreHog processors need to help Canadian producers stay in business
After beef’s biggest recall: Is the cattle industry “headed south?”
Turmoil The reopening of the XL beef plant at Brooks is not the end of troubles for the Canadian beef industry
Reading Time: 3 minutes The past two months have seen considerable turmoil in Alberta’s beef sector because of the XL beef recall. Although there has been some relief with the JBS takeover there could still be a long way to go. Canada’s beef sector has been influenced by a number of factors: Grass. Western Canada’s cow-calf sector grew because […] Read moreNew ag education support group is most welcome
Reading Time: 2 minutes If there is one universal annoyance that virtually everyone in the agriculture industry shares, it’s the blissful ignorance of the urban public about where food really comes from and agriculture in general. Many city folks either believe food appears magically at grocery stores, or they just don’t care as long as it’s cheap and always […] Read more
Feds change much abused legislation
Reading Time: 3 minutes Sometimes a government decision comes completely out of the blue, and much to the surprise of many, actually turns out to be a wise decision. I refer to the recent federal government decision to change the Navigable Waters Act to the Navigation Act. In the process the new act will only cover waters that actually […] Read more
The beef business has changed and producers will have to change, too
From the hip Those who prosper in the future will excel in risk management, understand the consumer, and provide detailed data on how their cattle were raised
Reading Time: 4 minutes Recent events in the beef sector feel like a raw deal for cattle producers, although there are ways to not only cope but excel in these situations. Year to date, the fed beef cattle industry in Canada has not seen any marked improvement despite volatile action on the live cattle futures and a perceived shortage […] Read moreIs JBS the white knight that can save XL?
Smart operators JBS didn’t get to be the world’s largest by paying too much for labour or cattle
Reading Time: 3 minutes There seemed to be a collective sigh of relief from the western Canadian cattle and beef industry when it was announced that JBS would be taking over management of the XL Foods Lakeside beef plant in Brooks. The reality is that there was a very good possibility that the plant was not going to reopen […] Read moreBeef industry report almost tells the whole story
Reading Time: 2 minutes An agricultural think-tank called the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) has released a study on the direction of the cattle industry and its future ramifications. The future it seems doesn’t look all that promising, since the study brings to light some of the inherent weakness and challenges of the present industry. The study, which was […] Read more
Calling the XL Foods E. coli alert a crisis is irresponsible
Response When the problem was detected, the system went into action the way it’s supposed to
Reading Time: 3 minutes What is it about people that we’re so attracted to economic panic and alarm? Are the business pages and economic news stories so bland and lifeless that we need to stir up crises out of nothing? Consider one of the biggest news stories this fall in Alberta: the E. coli situation. Several weeks ago, there […] Read moreInvestigation needed to clear the air in E. coli case
Reading Time: 3 minutes At the time of writing last week the fate of the XL Foods beef plant in Brooks was still undetermined. By now it may have reopened or may still be closed to buying new cattle. Either way, there is a genuine concern in the industry that XL Foods may not have the financial willingness to […] Read more
Premier confirms promise, but when?
Reading Time: < 1 minute At a recent news conference in Edmonton, Premier Redford stated that she intends to keep her leadership campaign promise that farm workers will be covered by OHS legislation. According to a Calgary Herald report she said, “I’ve made a commitment. What we’re going to do is continue to do that work to ensure that we […] Read more