Reading Time: 3 minutes The mandates of charitable groups and non-profit societies in the countryside are no different than in the urban centres. A proposal floated by the Alberta government would see some casino charity profits generated in the major cities pooled with profits generated in rural areas. The idea is equalization, since the charity profit share of a […] Read more
Sharing Needs To Apply To More Than Just Resources
Test For GMOs But Don’t Bother With Organics
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Europeans have no shame. They’re backing their resistance to genetically modified crops with lab testing but when it comes to accepting organic shipments they just take everyone’s word for it on paper. According to EU policy, regular flax shipments will all be tested and will be rejected if merely one seed in 10,000 is […] Read more
Minister Has Nothing To Crow About ALMA
Reading Time: 3 minutes As the ALMA machinations unfold I would suggest that its role as the saviour of the livestock industry will be shown to be an expensive sham. When the Alberta Livestock and Meat Strategy (ALMS) and its offspring, the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA) were sprung on the livestock industry over a year ago, they […] Read more
Small-Holder Farmers Key To Next Green Revolution
Reading Time: 3 minutes OCTOBER 15, 2009 Excerpts from remarks by Bill Gates, co-chair and trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to the 2009 World Food Prize Symposium, Oct. 15 When we started our foundation, we agreed that our giving should be guided by our belief that all lives have equal value – that every person deserves […] Read more
It All Comes Down To Choice — The Wheat Board Or Not
Reading Time: 3 minutes The standard explanation in news reports is that AWB Ltd., formerly the Australian Wheat Board, last year lost its export monopoly due to fallout from AWB officials paying nearly $300 million in bribes to Saddam Hussein’s government as part of the “Oil for Food Scandal.” If so, it seems ironic that one of the companies […] Read more
No Easy Answers — ABP Seeks Solutions For All Cattle Producers
Reading Time: 3 minutes The current problems facing producers have not been caused by service charges or the failure of producer organizations. Over the past seven years, the cattle and beef industry in Alberta has been battered by a series of significant and catastrophic events. These events have included drought in 2002, BSE in 2003, R-CALF challenges in 2004, […] Read more
Just Why Is That Flax Variety Named Triffid?
Reading Time: 2 minutes If you grow flax, you are no doubt aware of the nightmarish plunge in prices due to the apparent discovery of prohibited genetically modified material – probably the variety Triffid – in shipments to Europe. However, this is not the first time Triffid has caused nightmares. Many of us on this side of the Atlantic […] Read more
Legislation Represents Another Loss Of Democracy
Reading Time: 3 minutes Alberta is home to the largest wind power industry in the country, but it is built on shaky economics. Alberta landowners, particularly farmers and ranchers, may be becoming familiar with Bill 50, a piece of draconian legislation which could dramatically affect their lives. It will allow the Alberta government to expropriate land for the purpose […] Read more
Farmers’ Share Of Retail Dollar Slips Since 2008
Reading Time: 2 minutes On average, only 27 per cent of the cost of an entire week’s worth of groceries for a family of four goes back to the farms where the food is produced. The rising cost of food was a topic that ranked high in the minds of Canadians this year. As a farmer and first vice-president […] Read more
The Fundamental Challenge For The Canadian Beef Industry
Reading Time: 3 minutes “If this situation does not improve soon, our industry will shrink and become a shadow of what it once was or what it could be” The Beef Industry Alliance (BIA) Roundtable has come together to ask one simple question: Can we as a beef industry in Western Canada do better? Clearly the answer to this […] Read more