Reading Time: 3 minutes This year’s weather calamities have already picked their victims and there may be more to come. Alberta has fared better than Saskatchewan – at least most producers were able to get the crop in here, albeit delayed in many cases. But drought in the Peace area, excess moisture in some southern areas and sporadic hail […] Read more
Who Will Be The Winners And Losers This Fall? – for Aug. 30, 2010
Mixed Signals From Data On Beef Consumption – for Aug. 30, 2010
Reading Time: 3 minutes There is good news and bad news in the recent data released from the Beef Information Centre’s research into consumer preferences for beef. The good news is, the vast majority of consumers likes to eat beef. Ninety-six per cent of Canadian households and 93 per cent of individuals consume beef, which places its popularity close […] Read more
Farm Groups Appeal To The Prime Minister – for Aug. 16, 2010
Reading Time: 2 minutes GroupsrepresentingPrairie farmershaveappealedtoPrime MinisterStephenHarpertodo somethingaboutexcessiverailway profitsattheexpenseof farmers.Thisisthelettertheysent June29. We, the undersigned, call on the Government of Canada to immediately undertake a full costing review of the railway revenue cap on grain transportation. Further to earlier meetings with both Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Minister of Transportation (State) Rob Merrifield, we are bringing this request directly to […] Read more
The Alberta Way For Farm Worker Safety – for Aug. 16, 2010
Reading Time: 3 minutes If there is one issue that seems to drag on forever it is the Alberta government’s reluctance to address farm worker health and workplace rules. We have written on the topic before, suggesting that Alberta get in step with the rest of the country and perhaps even take a great leap forward by implementing the […] Read more
Catalogue Shopping Is Back, With A New Twist – for Aug. 16, 2010
Reading Time: 3 minutes As the Internet continues to evolve, so does usage by consumers who wish to buy food online. The world’s largest Internet grocery distribution system is in Britain. In the single largest warehouse space designated for this service, over one million food items are stashed in delivery baskets every day. According to theEconomist,the tonnage represents five […] Read more
Great Price, If You Have Any To Sell, That Is – for Aug. 16, 2010
Reading Time: 3 minutes By John morris It’s always fun watching the futures market when things are hot and the price is rising. Fun while it lasts, that is. That caution applies to the run-up in the wheat market for the last few weeks. These prices look wonderful, especially if you have wheat to sell. But as farmers well […] Read more
Will Farmers’ Actions Improve The Ethanol Energy Balance? – for Aug. 2, 2010
Reading Time: 2 minutes NDSU EXTENSION SERVICE Several years ago, there was substantial debate on whether corn ethanol produced more net energy relative to the amount of fossil energy required to manufacture it. This ratio, the amount of energy produced divided by fossil energy input needed, often is referred to as ethanol’s energy balance. For years, scientists argued whether […] Read more
Livestock ID: Consumers May Not Care, But Buyers Do – for Aug. 2, 2010
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s sometimes rather intriguing where one learns the most fascinating bits of information on vexatious topics. Recently Livestock Inspection Services (LIS) hosted the annual meeting of the International Livestock Identification Association (ILIA) in Calgary. Basically, this group is composed of brand inspectors and regulatory officials from the western provinces and western U. S. states. This […] Read more
U. S. Packers Seek To Dominate Livestock Markets – for Aug. 2, 2010
Reading Time: 2 minutes Watching Big Pork and Big Beef respond to proposed USDA rules to “clarify conduct that violates the P&S (Packers and Stockyards) Act” is like watching Wall Street bankers: they find it impossible to pull their hands out of your pockets long enough to pull themselves out of the mess they’ve made. That’s a good explanation […] Read more
Controversial Wheat Variety Comes To An Official End – for Aug. 2, 2010
Reading Time: 3 minutes Periodically, the Prairie grain industry faces controversy when wheat growers find varieties which offer apparent agronomic benefits, but with quality characteristics which don’t fit official classes. The deregistration of the wheat variety Garnet earlier this month reminds that such controversies are not new. Licensing of Garnet prompted national political discussion in the 1920s and 1930s. […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
