The H1N1 virus is really causing an issue with the global pork consumers with the weekends announcement that a hog farm in Alberta has been quarantined. Many are asking why a person just returning from Mexico was ever let in the facility in the first place but the biggest concern is restoring consumer faith in… Read More
While the demographics of farmers and ranchers generally follow an aging trend, there are still many young people getting, and staying, involved in the livestock industry. A prime example is a new group I have the privilege of helping to develop between the US and Canada. The Canada/US Young Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Forum is… Read More
If you don’t follow the beef industry very closely then you have been missing the battle of the beef check off dollars. Traditionally all the check off dollars have gone to the Alberta Beef Producers but there was growing dissent within the industry as to what the ABP was doing with that money for the… Read More
A couple weeks ago I did an interview with Dave Russell (@russfarm) of the Brownfield Network (twitter feed) on the concerns that the Canadian Agricultural Industry has regarding the potential protectionist agenda of the United States through this economic crisis. The Brownfield Network is a great agricultural news resource with diversified news feeds as well… Read More
Last week while I was in Edmonton I listened to Stan Blade, Executive Director of the Alberta Agricultural Research Institute (AARI), talk about where Alberta is focusing cereal research in the long term. Currently in Alberta the three biggest products in terms of value are beef (3.104 billion), canola (1.216 billion) and wheat ( 1.251… Read More
I just listened to Bill Lapp, an economist with Advanced Economic Solutions speak about the outlook for commodities in Edmonton. Lapp was very interesting, candid and provided great insight into the commodity market. The key points that Lapp focused on were: Brazil, Russia, India and China have led the world growth over the last 10… Read More
Yesterday, Rick Cassson, MP Lethbridge hosted Federal Agricultural Minister, Gerry Ritz in Lethbridge. On top of serving at the Farm Credit Canada Breakfast at Ag Expo and meeting with a farmer round table, Ritz also announced 15.5 million in funding for the Canadian Triticale Biorefiniery Initiative. I participated in the farmer round table where all twenty of the… Read More
I have no problem debating with the NFU over whether or not the Competition Bureau should approve the sale of Lakeside to XL. I definitely have my opinions on it and so does the NFU but boy have they wore out their welcome by spending collaborative time with R-Calf. From the moment that the story… Read More
Today, President Obama visits Canada and sits down with Prime Minister Harper. Currently, the Democrats are using the poor economy as an excuse to push their protectionist agenda forward. Canada and Mexico need to be very aware of what is transpiring and how it will affect agriculture in the future. Please do not think that… Read More
While looking at fields on a country back road we spotted a silage pit. Immediately I was interested because of the look of the pit. It was made very low to the ground due to small equipment owned by the farmer. The other key characteristic was that the pit was covered in dirt and plastic and not tires. The dirt… Read More
I will be in Chile until February 14th. I am going to try and post to the blog as much as I can while I am here but I will probably be able to add the majority of the content after I get back. So far on my trip I have toured several canola fields… Read More
The final speaker of the day at the Tiffin Conference in Lethbridge was Melanie Mainquist of Cargill Meat Solutions in Guelph. Melanie spoke about the real beef consumer, a fictitious character named Zoe. Zoe is not unusual or weird, she is real for the majority of female consumers. She eats beef once to twice a… Read More
At the Tiffin Conference in Lethbridge yesterday, Rick Paskal, Chairman of Canada Gold Beef discussed the need and benefits of a truly Canadian branded beef product. Rick passionately told the crowd how Canada Gold is trying to change the way money is distributed through the value chain. The key point being to make sure that… Read More
Larry Hicks of Cattlehedging.com was one of the keynote speakers at the Tiffin Conference yesterday in Lethbridge. Larry spoke about the necessity of risk management in the beef business. Larry very clearly outlined what hedging is and that there is much more involved than calling your broker to buy or sell futures contracts. He emphasized… Read More
Alberta Agriculture Deputy Minister, John Knapp, spoke to producers about how Alberta Agriculture is putting a strategy in place to reconnect with rural Alberta and help to enable success for members of the livestock value chain. Two examples that he gave were: Creating an irrigation department that focuses on improving the efficiency of water application… Read More