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
The Alberta Way For Farm Worker Safety – for Aug. 16, 2010
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
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
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
Canola Growers Aren’t Happy About Freight Costs
Reading Time: 2 minutes Prairie canola grower organizations have written to Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz expressing concern about his statement regarding their view on freight rates made during Question Period in the House of Commons June 17. During an exchange with Liberal MP Wayne Easter regarding a call by Prairie farm groups for a railway costing review, Ritz said […] Read more
Wildrose Alliance Agriculture Policy Seems Familiar
Reading Time: 3 minutes For the first time in 40 years voters are being presented with a real choice in political parties and they are sharing their affections almost equally with both. The recently held Wildrose Alliance (WA) party convention was by all accounts big and professionally run, but was a rather mundane affair with no embarrassing resolution gaffes. […] Read more
Food Vs. Fuel— Either Way, No More For Farmers
Reading Time: 3 minutes A recent flight over the southern Canadian Prairies brought home the very nature of agriculture. Though always alluring, being in food or feed production comes with an element of risk and uncertainty. This most certainly has played out in the recent months with excess moisture in many regions, and drought and cold in others. It […] Read more