Reading Time: 3 minutes Paying farmers for stewardship that produces environmental benefits isn’t a new idea, but it’s one that’s been slow to catch on in Canada. Coronation rancher Tim Smith wants to know why — and what can be done to move ecological goods and services into the mainstream of agriculture here. “There are benefits in grassland biodiversity […] Read more
It’s time to reward ranch stewardship, says Alberta Nuffield scholar
Coronation rancher Tim Smith will travel the globe to find ways to bring ecological goods and services into the Canadian mainstream
Schoepp: What’s a more important sector: oil or agriculture?
Take a comprehensive look at the facts and the answer is obvious
Reading Time: 4 minutes As we drove through the blueberry fields and cranberry bogs in southern B.C., I thought of economic generators. What, I wondered, was a bigger sustainable economic generator to our nation: oil or agriculture? An environmental scan of an industry must include the long-term effects on people and the planet. The structures that we employ for […] Read more
Applications for Beef Industry Innovation & Sustainability Award open
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Beef Industry Innovation & Sustainability Award is accepting applications for the 2016 award. The BIISA is presented on behalf of beef cattle producers by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association to recognize industry stakeholders and value chain members for their outstanding commitment to the sustainability of Canada’s beef industry through innovation. BIISA is awarded to any […] Read more
What does farm sustainability mean to you?
Entry deadline for 'Young Guns' contest is midnight, May 30
Reading Time: < 1 minute Youth between the ages of eight and 21 who are involved in Beef 4-H, junior cattle shows or beef production can win cash in the Young Guns essay contest. The theme of the contest is what sustainability means to you and what it looks like on your farm or ranch. An entry may be submitted […] Read more
Guenther: McDonald’s sustainability goals to reach beyond beef
Farmers who want to keep supplying the world’s biggest quick-service restaurant chains can expect more scrutiny of their methods going forward. That’s because the chains’ customers appear to be looking for more sustainably-produced food — so companies such as McDonald’s in turn are looking for third-party verification to prove the ingredients they source make the […] Read more
Federal funding pledged for crop market development work
Canadian crop commodity groups getting federal AgriMarketing funding plan to put the money to work over five years — not just in salesmanship, but in developing their crops’ story for potential customers. Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz made two five-year funding announcements during the CropSphere 2015 conference Tuesday and Wednesday in Saskatoon: over $3.3 million […] Read more
Farmers wanted to test sustainability platforms
Reading Time: < 1 minute Updated Jan.9, 2015 – Alberta’s crops industry has developed its own sustainability project: The Alberta Crops Sustainability Initiative. The plan is to encourage farmers to test some of the sustainability platforms created in Canada and overseas to see how they work on Alberta farms. The initiative was developed by Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley commissions […] Read more
Trust is the key to sustainable beef production
Jerry Wulf says trust, transparency, and finding win-wins were the keys to building one of North America’s largest integrated beef operations
Reading Time: 2 minutes Cattleman Leonard Wulf lived by a simple philosophy before he passed away in 2003: “You can get everything in life you want if you help others get what they want.” That principle still guides his son Jerry as he manages Wulf cattle — one of the largest integrated beef companies in North America. “As we […] Read more
Data from your farm has value and shouldn’t be given away
But under current rules, the end-user of the data is the owner, which means farmers are giving away an increasingly valuable commodity
Reading Time: 3 minutes There are many questions surrounding the use of data for and from farmers. Who owns the data? What is required? How does this benefit me as a farmer? I took to the streets with these questions as part as an ongoing quest to clarify just what it is that farmers may expect and more importantly, […] Read more
Questions and answers on sustainable beef
Reading Time: 2 minutes Just what exactly does “sustainable beef” mean and who is deciding on the definition? The who is the members of the Global Roundtable on Sustainable Beef. There are now several hundred but the key players are companies such as Walmart, JBS, and Cargill, the World Wildlife Fund, and producer groups, including the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. […] Read more
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