Differentiating products through marketing has long been a goal of commodity groups. The Alberta Beef Producers have (according to their website) promoted the Alberta Beef brand for thirty years. It featured widely-recognized advertisements like that of three female ranchers leaning on a fence, with text that read, “If it ain’t Alberta, it ain’t beef.” Increasingly, the… Read More

For many involved in the production side of the cattle business, sitting down to office work isn’t our idea of a good time. But, says Sandy Russell of Spring Creek Land and Cattle Consulting, developing a business plan is a critical part of the job. “It’s key for any successful business — doesn’t matter if we’re… Read More

General Mills is voluntarily phasing out the words “gluten-free” from Cheerios packages sold in Canada. The announcement came, according to the Canadian Celiac Association (CCA), in a letter addressed to a Canadian consumer who had filed a complaint against the product. In response to our own email, General Mills Canada said the company will remove… Read More

As part of the Government of Canada’s move to promote the judicious use of antimicrobials, Health Canada is moving all medically-important antimicrobials (MIA) used in food production to the Prescription Drug List, effective December 1, 2018. According to Health Canada, “supervision is a vital part of antimicrobial oversight. Veterinarians have the training to assess and diagnose… Read More

The Canadian cattle industry is seeing an increase in the levies paid to national beef programs, from $1.00 to $2.50 per head on live animals sold in the country. The increase stems from the National Beef Strategy, published in 2015, where all the provinces committed to increasing funding for market development, beef promotion and research… Read More

In 1992, the Canadian Psychiatric Association established Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) to highlight the impact of mental illness to the Canadian public, and promote recovery. The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) now coordinates the week in collaboration with its member organizations and other supporters. This year, MIAW runs from October… Read More

The provisional application of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union (EU) officially started this week, which had the Canadian trade team in Brussels actually jumping for joy. But the work is far from over, as technical barriers are holding the agriculture and agri-food industry back from reaching their full… Read More

Vermeer unveiled a new machine — a self-propelled baler — at Husker Harvest Days in Nebraska on Wednesday. The prototype ZR5 comes with patent-pending suspension technology (for those wondering about all the mole hills, no doubt), zero-turn capabilities, and increased automation. “Our patent-pending suspension technology allows operators to better handle the bumps and jostling that… Read More

Twice in the last few weeks, I’ve heard confusion over the definition of a pulse. The first time was over a meal with friends. It was a vegetarian dining experience which involved a most-delicious bowl of hummus (which saved me complaining about the lack of protein). We got to talking about the merits of ingredients like… Read More

The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) is strongly encouraging countries to partake in an assessment of veterinary services, developed in collaboration with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), The assessment, called the Performance of Veterinary Services (PVS) tool, is designed to assist countries in assessing current levels of veterinary service performance to identify weaknesses and strengths, as… Read More

Besides offering unique craft beers like “Confused Sea Cow,” “Screamin’ Reels,” and “The Salty Buddha,” a small, Florida-based craft brewery is offering a unique innovation to a global concern. Well known for its passion for marine life and the sea, Saltwater Brewery, in partnership with WeBelievers, has developed a six-pack ring that isn’t just biodegradable and compostable, it’s also… Read More

Imagine finding a plate-sized tick on your person. That’s the rather disturbing — and epic — analogy Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs gives to offer a visual understanding of the size of a varroa mite compared to its host, the beloved bee. Though not a tick, Varroa destructor are of the class Arachnida, (along with… Read More

On April 26, Earls Restaurants announced it had taken its beef business to Creekstone Farms, an operation in the United States, in order to source 100% Certified Humane beef. The announcement was met with extreme criticism, and by May 4 the company apologized for the “mistake,” and committed to working with Canadian farmers. Response to the… Read More

Last week, Eric Micheels, assistant professor in the Agricultural and Resource Economics department at the University of Saskatchewan, tweeted a link to his newly-minted dissertation, entitled Market Orientation in Production Agriculture: Measurement, Relationships and Implications. Now, normally, the word “dissertation” would do little to pique my interest, but Micheels has been vocal through the Earls debacle, and… Read More

 

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