Macleans Magazine website has been surveying the general public on the future of supply management. With Primeminister Harper suggesting that all things are on the table, the media has really picked up the debate on the future of supply management in Canada. Vote in the Macleans Poll With Harper suggesting taht everything is on the… Read More
I hear and understand some of the issues that consumers have with the supply management structure. I do at times struggle with other farmers criticizing the supply management structure and saying that “it has to go.” Why would a member of the farmer brethren, a fellow peer, a guy that farms right beside a dairy farmer… Read More
Just when you think you know someone. Open the paper yesterday and it appears that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has offered up the supply management industry in negotiations to allow Canada to be apart of the TPP. I made several calls to members involved with the dairy lobby and trade and the feelings are strongly… Read More
Now that it looks like the Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk is about to be extinguished, it seems that the main stream media has turned its focus to the Canadian Dairy industry. Is the CWB situation the same as the supply mananged dairy industry? Should the Canadian dairy industry be in Gerry Ritz’s cross hairs next? … Read More
I was driving home tonight thinking about some of the most interesting people that we have interviewed since the RealAgriculture.com started in the fall of 2008. One of the first people that popped into my head was Ian Cummings. Ian is a dairy farmer that moved his dairy farm to the US to avoid the… Read More
“Those dairy farmers print money!” That’s what a friend of mine says every time the subject of dairy farms comes up. Drive down many roads in Canada and it’s easy to see how that perception was born. Huge brand new facilities, multi-site operations with finely manicured yards and milking parlors with nicer tile most people’s… Read More
Distiller dried grains (DDG’s) have quickly become a very important part of a beef ration and increasingly at dairies. Created by the ethanol industry DDG’s have allowed many livestock feeders to diversify the feeding ration. When DDG’s first came to the market the supply and delivery logistics of corn DDG’s to Canada was a major… Read More
Whether you have a dairy or a beef operation you have probably had to make the decision between a paddle mixer or auger feed box. Whether you own a Harsh, RotoMix or a Keenan you need to weight the benefits and disadvantages of each. What I tend to find in discussing this issue with many… Read More
Animal activists often criticize that animal agriculture does not care for its livestock in a humane manner. Those of us in the industry realize that this is a ridiculous notion. At a dairy, animal care is ever more important due to the rule of “a happy cow produces more milk.” In the category of providing… Read More
Many times when we compare agriculture in Canada versus the United States we tend to focus on the differences. When in reality there are more similarities between the two countries. This week I went to Indianapolis with Dow Agro Sciences to learn about the things that the company is working on. Before we went to… Read More
I have been thumbing through the Ontario Farmer lately and it continues to strike me that there seems to be a lack of contentious issue in Ontario this year. Are the crops to good? Is the newly created GFO doing the perfect job? Are farmers making so much money they cannot stand the pains of… Read More
To say that last weeks release of the Mercy for Animals video from Conklin Dairy Farm was an outrage is being light. My post last week brought on some high amounts of emotion and ridicule for the people at Conklin dairy farm. In that post we also discussed the needed criticism for Mercy for Animals… Read More
An undercover surveillance video was released this week by Mercy for Animals that is maybe one of the most disturbing things I have ever witnessed in agriculture. Shot over a thirty day period on the Conklin Dairy Farm in Ohio, the video shows the dairy’s hired man pitchforking the stomach of a calf, head stomping and extreme physical abuse. … Read More
When an industry struggles financially, it becomes necessary to re-evaluate how business is done. The beef industry has struggled since the discovery of BSE in 2003 and the pork industry has felt the financial pain from the H1N1 pandemic. One solution being circulated in the coffee shops across the country is to make either of… Read More
I was fortunate earlier this week to meet with the President & CEO of the Alberta Livestock Meat Agency, Gordon Cove. My interview is broken into two parts and I hope that you find it interesting and look upon it objectively. No matter where your meat politics reside you have to admit that the Alberta… Read More