Are carcass weights too high? Are we not putting enough emphasis on quality feet and legs? These are questions Temple Grandin, well-known cattle handling expert, had ranchers and reporters asking themselves as they filed out of the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association’s 103rd annual general meeting and convention. As part of her presentation, Grandin described a survey… Read More
What’s it like to have 2,000 consumers show up for breakfast at your farm? It’s not that big of a deal if you’re organized and have plenty of volunteers, says cash cropper and dairy farmer Evert Veldhuizen. He and his brother, Jan, hosted the latest Ontario ‘Breakfast on the Farm’ event Saturday morning at their… Read More
Canadians like farmers. There’s no better proof than Tim Hortons’ recent efforts to sell its Farmer’s Breakfast sandwich with a commercial featuring a farmer holding a trusty pitchfork. Canada’s coffee and cultural giant doesn’t leave much to chance. The mountain of eggs, sausage, hash browns and cheese could have called Trucker’s Breakfast or Banker’s Breakfast, but when it… Read More
61% of Canadians have a “very or somewhat” positive impression of Canadian agriculture according to a new national survey released by Farm and Food Care (FFC) and the newly minted Canadian Centre For Food Integrity. That’s the highest ranking Canadians have given farming since FFC started asking Canadians for their impression of the industry 10… Read More
Team success hinges on all members adhering to a credo embedded deep in their psyche. You know some of them: There’s no “I” in team; one dream, one team; we are family, and so on. Pork producer Vincent Breton is a believer in that team mentality. He’s the third generation of a very successful pork… Read More
The media firestorm caused by Earls Kitchen + Bar’s pursuit of the “Certified Humane” standard has quickly become a cautionary tale for both the farm and food industry. It’s a situation a coalition of Ontario farm organizations are hoping to avoid by working with the food and beverage sector to help clarify and streamline sustainability initiatives. Earlier… Read More
Earls Kitchen + Bar made a “really big” announcement yesterday, when they tweeted their decision to shift to 100% ‘Certified Humane’ beef. The chain began as a startup in Edmonton, Alberta in 1982, and has since grown to include 66 locations, 59 of which are in Canada. According to the company’s site, their traditions have long been centred… Read More
Does a cow need to have a calf to give milk? The answer should be obvious, but more than 70% of consumers get the question wrong explains University of Guelph associate professor Mike Von Massow. A majority of Canadians also believe that a chicken is processed for meat when it reaches four years of age…. Read More
How much time should farmers invest in trying to explain modern agriculture to people unwilling to listen? Feedstuffs journalist and commentator Andy Vance believes agriculture stakeholders need to concentrate their communications efforts on consumers who freely choose food produced by modern agriculture and are either neutral or supportive of using efficiency-enhancing technologies to grow food…. Read More
Would consumers watch a farming reality TV show? The ‘Incredible’ Dr. Jan Pol thinks so. Since 2012, the 73-year-old veterinarian has starred in the popular series bearing his name on National Geographic’s NATGEO Wild channel, which features him and his family as they make their rounds tending to the needs of farm and companion animals…. Read More
Register for a RealAgriculture account to manage your Shortcut menu instead of the default.