No collaboration The beef industry is suffering from too many organizations and not enough leadership
Reading Time: 3 minutes The fallout from the E. coli contamination at the XL beef plant is bad enough, but it will be even worse if this single issue diverts the industry from looking at some of its larger long-term challenges. Farmers got cranky enough about the Canadian Wheat Board, so imagine there was a Canadian Beef Board in […] Read moreThe beef industry has bigger problems than E. coli
It’s time for a national debate on the food industry
Reading Time: 3 minutes The XL Foods recall has really got people talking about the food system all across Canada. Concern for the safety of our food unites us whether we are urban or rural, farmers or consumers, regardless of which part of the country we live in. Some people are saying we need a national debate on the […] Read more
History may repeat itself inthe meat marketing business
Lamb co-op The new lamb marketing scheme has good intentions but, so have others in the past
Reading Time: 3 minutes In the agriculture industry, particularly the livestock sector, there is a disconcerting tendency to repeat history. One of those repetitions involves schemes to market meat directly to retailers and consumers. It seems cattle, hog and sheep producers are either fascinated or frustrated by the way the meat they raise is marketed and sold. That’s the […] Read moreNew strategy, collaboration needed for Canada’s beef sector
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s beef sector is at a tipping point. Although the sector generates $6 billion in farm gate sales and represents 15 per cent of the country’s total agricultural production, we are at risk of becoming a net importer of beef with the United States. Our beef and cattle trade with the U.S. is vital but […] Read more
Hog industry needsto root out its own fix
Integration Canadian producers need to follow the Danish model of harmonizing the supply chain
Reading Time: 2 minutes Many factors, most of them foreseeable and manageable, have triggered bankruptcies in the hog industry over the years. These factors include fuel costs, currency fluctuations and access to some markets closing. Big Sky Farms, now in receivership, filed for bankruptcy protection and restructured its business just a few years ago after a similar run-up in […] Read moreLeaked report seems to contain the wrong answer
Reading Time: < 1 minute Areport on the direction of farm safety in Alberta submitted to the minister of agriculture more than six months ago has leaked to the media. By all accounts from the usual suspects, the report contains the wrong answer. It recommends more education and a farm safety certification process, it steers clear of what should have […] Read more
Higher U.S. wheat plantings likely — and needed
STAGE SET Production problems haven’t left markets short yet but that could change if Australian growers continue to suffer from a lack of rainfall
Reading Time: 3 minutes Stubbornly high prices have served to keep U.S. wheat out of contention on the export market in recent months, but a broad jump in winter wheat acreage coupled with growing overseas demand could change that picture. It’s no surprise that farmers in top hard red wheat states such as Kansas are upping their acres this […] Read moreA few suppliers of key inputs have the real power
From the hip Improving infrastructure and reducing food waste can help relieve hunger
Reading Time: 3 minutes Like all weather-related discussions lately, talk soon turns to the drought in the U.S. and Ontario. It is hard to see it from our regional view as we sit on our deck, admiring the green from “a little too much rain.” Most of the social and economic consequences of drought have been repeatedly played in […] Read moreLetters — for 2012-09-10 00:00:00
Reading Time: < 1 minute 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 […] Read more
Ethanol — an agricultural policy that worked perfectly
Hardly new The idea of having some buffer stocks on hand goes back to Joseph and the Pharaoh
Reading Time: 3 minutes Back in the days of $2 corn, someone got the bright idea of turning it into ethanol. Not only would this boost prices by eliminating burdensome carryovers, it would partly diversify the U.S. away from imported energy and create rural jobs at ethanol refineries. Throwing a few subsidies and tax breaks in that direction and […] Read more