The Young Cattlemen’s Council (YCC) was officially formed on August 12, 2013 with the election of an Interim board at the Inaugural YCC Meeting (and just when you thought you’d finished memorizing acronyms relating to Canadian agriculture). The meeting was held in conjunction with the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) Semi-Annual Meeting in London, Ontario. Development of the… Read More
Cargill has announced that they will be shutting down its Plainview, Texas Cattle slaughter plant. Cargill cited a shrinking cattle supply as one of the reasons for the decision. Is this a big surprise, not really in terms of the excess capacity that is in North America. For Canada, the near term impact is a… Read More
When the media talks about profitability in the cattle business most times we talk about ranchers and feedyard owners. The other part of the beef value chain that cannot be forgotten is the cattle packer. Packers have not had a real great run as of late which has meant four day kill weeks. As we… Read More
The Manitoba Canola Growers are exploring the opportunity for its members to market canola through the Canadian Wheat Board on a voluntary basis. Pick your jaw off the ground and check the calendar to see if this is an extended April fools joke. I’m sure that many of you had the same reaction as me…..HUH????… Read More
Whether you are talking about your car engines or tractor engines, there is a constant push from manufacturers to increase fuel economy and meet new emission requirements without losing performance. This is not an easy task. In the field, in tough situations farmers need performance and that extra horsepower that is going to get you… Read More
Across North America everyone is talking about the bullish tone of corn and soybeans. Is wheat going to be the weaker sister in 2011? How much higher will the wheat price have to go to buy some acres back from corn, soybeans, canola and lentils. Some farmers and analysts are even saying that the attention… Read More
Managing risk is a major part of running any farm or livestock operation. Alberta recently tried to aid it’s provincial livestock producers by launching the Cattle Price Insurance Program (CPIP). Recently Ontario Provincial Ag-Critic, Mr. Ernie Hardeman, MPP, questioned why the Ontario government was stalling in implementing a similar program to ensure Ontario producer competitiveness…. Read More
By Shaun Haney Few debates in life involve an all or none scenario. Some people try to make things this way but in reality it is not possible. This is similar to the debate of whether organic agriculture and modern agriculture can co-exist. The better question is why not? As I have mentioned many times… Read More
One of the good news items this fall has been the soybean story. Yields in Ontario this fall were outstanding, reaching record highs in some areas of the province while at the same time off combine prices reached seasonal highs. Demand is strong for soybeans from countries like China. Already everyone is speculating on the… Read More
I have never owned a hog or participated in the business at all but from the outside it does appear to be a very tough financial business. I have had several chats with producers that have been in the business for a long time and the concerns are real for the long term sustainability of… Read More
Two weeks ago I interviewed Mischa Popoff who has written a book entitled, “Is it Organic?” This interview initiated several comments and emails directly to me that were both positive and negative. Whenever we have controversial issues I am trying to engage different stakeholders to ensure that you are permitted to form your own opinions…. Read More
By Shaun Haney Who spends less time at a desk than farmers. One of the advantages of farming is the ability to be outside in the elements growing crops and being stewards of the environment. Farming has become a much more complex career in the last 15 years where they need access to information and… Read More
The American market is very important to the Canadian cattle industry. Domestic policies in the United States can greatly impact the Canadian industry. Just think about Country of Origin Labelling (COOL) and the discussion in Canada in terms of mitigating its impact. There are some proposed changes to GIPSA potentially coming and questions and several… Read More
After last weeks two posts on the Canada / EU free trade agreement I received several emails from people saying that they believe that this deal will provide limited benefit to the farmer or livestock producer in Canada. The NFU has been very vocal but I find it hard to take much that they say… Read More
I have almost become desensitized to attacks on biotech crops and food. Quite regularly you can watch the news or read the newspaper and hear negative reports that are unfounded and baseless in much fact. Rarely do you hear someone attack the validity of organic food and especially from someone that is from the inside…. Read More