Food diary A red meat lover finds that when she does the numbers, she’s not eating enough to worry about
Reading Time: 3 minutes Many readers have probably heard of the study recently released by Harvard School for Public Health, warning of the increased mortality risk associated with red meat. I can just imagine packers cringing as they heard the news, retail buyers adjusting their sales projections, and the feeders starting to sweat as they recalled the high prices they […] Read moreRed meat study — perhaps the news isn’t really that bad
Sometimes the old ways are the best ways
Reading Time: 3 minutes When I first moved out west, I fell in love with the cowboy culture. It’s steeped in heritage, hardship and honour, all excellent cornerstones for any compelling story. In that culture, there’s nothing more iconic than the branding ritual. Over the decades, brands have become their own language. Branding irons are passed from one generation […] Read more
Country living that would make your hair curl
No exaggeration A transplant from the east realizes there’s a reason why they set up wind turbines near Pincher Creek
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s been six months since I moved out to the country with my two sons and it’s been quite an adventure. We’re 20 minutes from Pincher Creek, so I took planning for the worst quite seriously when we first moved here. I felt immense pressure to stockpile emergency goods and firewood. I spent most of […] Read morePink slime: An object lesson for the meat industry?
Labelling The beef industry is not doing itself any favours by claiming “beef is beef”
Reading Time: 3 minutes With a long-term decline in per capita consumption — 94 pounds per capita in 1976 to 60 pounds per capita in 2009 — the last thing that U.S. cattle producers need is the current controversy over “pink slime.” And with the controversy in full swing, they certainly don’t need industry and political leaders fighting the […] Read moreShort-sighted solution to the wrong problem
Phosphorus It’s fertilizer, not a pollutant, so why not manage pigs in a way we can use it?
Reading Time: 3 minutes “It would be giving the animal a gene, which nature made a mistake by not giving them.” If there is one sentence that captures why the world’s first GMO pig never made it to market, it would be this comment from one of the lead researchers on the University of Guelph project back in 2001. […] Read moreALMA has proven an asset to the livestock industry
Changed Even critics admit ALMA is a different agency than during its difficult birth
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s now been three years since the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA) was established by the minister of agriculture. Since that time we have seen three different ministers, and ALMA has endured. Perhaps there is a message in that. Also since that time, cattle, hog and sheep prices have all either stayed strong or […] Read moreFinding the balance on the scales of animal happiness
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s been relatively quiet on the animal welfare front lately, at least as it pertains to livestock production. That’s a good thing, but it doesn’t mean the issue has gone away. In fact, two economists with Oklahoma State University believe animal welfare has moved from the fringes to the forefront of discussions over the future […] Read more
Africa needs a brown, not green, revolution
Reading Time: 2 minutes Two Canadian Foodgrains Bank-supported projects that promote conservation agriculture in Zimbabwe and Zambia have been featured in a new book about food security in Africa. The projects, operated together with the United Church of Canada and Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, are included as case studies in The Hungry Continent: African Agriculture and Food Insecurity, […] Read more
Creating a stronger voice for Alberta’s wheat producers
Reading Time: 2 minutes In the past 150 years, wheat has played a significant role in the settlement of the Canadian Prairies and the development of western Canadian agriculture. Canada became the “breadbasket of the world” because of the quality and quantity of wheat it supplied to countries around the globe. In more recent years, western Canadian wheat producers […] Read more
Can we justify our soil-management practices?
Reading Time: 2 minutes Don Lobb, a farmer from Huron County, Ontario was recently awarded the L.B. Thomson award for his long-standing commitment to soil and water conservation in Canada. An early adopter of no-till farming, Lobb has been widely recognized as both an innovator and a leader in soil and water conservation locally, nationally and internationally. L.B. Thomson […] Read more