I don’t mean to alarm you, farmers, but your job is in danger. Career Cast, a job-hunting site, recently released its “Most Endangered Jobs for 2014” with the role of farmer listed in the No. 2 position, faring only slightly better than the much-beleaguered mail carrier. Two things: this is not shocking, nor necessarily negative…. Read More
Category: Opinion
There are those who would rather not put extra funding towards varietal research, but to Steve Tomtene, a Saskatchewan-based farmer, the return on research and development is entirely worth the investment. “Our farm started back in the late sixties,” Tomtene explains in an interview with Shaun Haney, “and I think when we look back over the course… Read More
The newly-minted provincial agriculture minister for Ontario, Jeff Leal, has not changed policy or regulation on neonicotinoid seed treatments. Let’s get that out of the way right now. Will the government soon step in, requiring more paper work, perhaps a licensing systems and more monitoring or rules around the use of neonics on corn and… Read More
By now, you’ve likely heard about or seen an ‘undercover’ video that shows terrible abuse of dairy cows on a farm in British Columbia. In the disturbing video, cows are kicked, caned or beaten up simply because they were weaker than the young workers. After that video release, dairy farmers across the country did something… Read More
It’s hard to find a political pundit who called the outcome of Thursday’s provincial election. Could anyone have predicted Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals to win a strong majority government with 59 seats? All the pollsters were predicting a horse race, but it quickly turned into a romp as the Liberals broke to the lead and ran… Read More
With great sadness I found out this morning that Dr. Lloyd Dosdall has passed away after a long battle with cancer. See Dr. Dosdall’s bio on the University of Alberta’s website I remember back in July 2010 when I first met Dr. Lloyd Dosdall. It was at the Farming Smarter site on the east side of… Read More
Waking to the clatter of wind against the house, a dark sky and a still-sleeping sun never feels like a good omen. On June 5th, the early morning grey was entirely worth the effort, as I joined the Alberta Farm Writers’ Association on their annual tour. 1st Stop: Lakeland College Our first stop continued the northward… Read More
It’s been just over 20 years since I showed my last 4-H calf at the Lethbridge Northen 4-H show and sale, as part of the Turin beef club. We struggled for years to keep that club going, but we did. It was a very important part of our upbringing. The excitement that surrounded achievement day… Read More
If you have any Farmers Feed Cities memorabilia hanging around, treat it with respect. As of Monday, it became collectible. Just as the first ever Local Food Week was getting underway in Ontario, Farmers Feed Cities, one of the most successful agriculture awareness programs in recent memory, wound down. The Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO),… Read More
Chipotle Mexican Grill — you know them from such controversial advertisements as: “The Scarecrow” and “Farmed and Dangerous” — has been urging American farmers to supply more beef that meets their standards. In fact, similar to A&W in Canada (check out Andrew Campbell’s opinion piece on that decision), Chipotle has decided to cross the globe for beef. “The… Read More
Lynda Raffard is responsible for the health and well being of four children, 30-plus dairy cows, two dogs, two horses, a few barn cats, several chickens and a handful of goats. She is not, however, responsible enough to “adopt” a dog from a shelter. Why? Because the dog will not sleep “with the family.” Rural… Read More
Four years of micro-analysis in Uganda and Ethiopia led up to April’s publication by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at London University: Fairtrade, Employment and Poverty Reduction in Ethiopia and Uganda (FTEPR) Final Report. The report, a detailed account of various plantations in both countries, suggests that perhaps “Fairtrade” coffee isn’t so fair after all. “Fairtrade may… Read More
You see them at election time, in particular — politicians jockeying to get a photo op with a farmer, diving into a plate of homegrown food or trying to support agriculture in some other camera-friendly way, such as driving a tractor. Politicians should be a friend to agriculture every chance they get, not just at… Read More
Drive through any small town across the United States and Canada and you will find a coffee shop, diner or pub where people gather to talk shop and have a coffee or beer. Talking to the neighbors about the latest goings on in the local area or the big news nationally can have its positives… Read More
With incredible yields comes the incredible need for storage. Fortunately, plastics protect much of our agricultural commodities today, in North America — twine and net-wrap secure livestock forage and bags shelter grain and hay. But are we overvaluing these privileges? Are we willing to sacrifice the environment and our own health as balance to protecting the harvest?… Read More