I firmly believe that the food system and farmers will always adjust to changes in eating patterns in the world. Dr. Bruce German of the University of California, Davis describes one of these changes. He believes that the notion that there is an ideal diet for everyone is nonsense. Dr. German feels that creating technologies on and off… Read More
MCOOL has become a reality for the US, Canadian and beef industry. Sometimes it is beneficial to better understand an issue or situation by stepping back and examining how we got here. I asked Dennis Laycraft of the Canadian Cattleman’s Association at the International Livestock Congress to provide me with a history of the MCOOL legislation and what could… Read More
In case you have not been following the story very closely, the debate over biotech wheat is about to restart again. Cereal breeding in North America has been on the downtrend. The past three months have brought wheat breeding investments by Dow Agro, Monsanto and Bayer. These strategic moves are quite obviously being executed so… Read More
With the event of H1N1 poultry food safety has become a very popular topic amongst the general public not just agriculturalists. At the International Livestock Congress in Calgary, I talked to Barbara Beane of KFC about how KFC is bringing innovative and new products to the marketplace. We also discussed how KFC manages food safety. Check out additional International… Read More
I had the the opportunity to sit down with Earl Geddes, Vice President of Farmer Services, Canadian Wheat Board at the International Livestock Congress. Earl and I discussed some of the new markets and services being developed by the board for farmers. I also asked Earl about how different demographics are using the boards programs… Read More
At the International Livestock Congress I spoke to Brant Randles, President of Louis Dreyfus Canada regarding his outlook for feed grains and oilseeds in the future. Brant and I also talked about the future of grain handling as it pertains to identity preserved crops and the future of the rail system for handling grain from… Read More
At the International Livestock Congress (ILC), Dr. David Kohl spoke about some of the things the top performing farmers and ranchers are doing to survive in this extreme market volatility and global recession. Dr. Kohl also comments on the differences between Canadian and American farmers. Check Out More ILC 2009 Content
In talking to Glen Hodgson of the Conference Board of Canada at the International Livestock Congress, I felt somewhat better about the economy and the outlook through the next 12 months. Glen is the Chief Economist with the Conference Board of Canada which is Canada’s largest think tank. In this video, Glen comments on the global recession,… Read More
By: Garth Donald of Dynagra The new seeding equipment was hot off the press at the Western Farm Progress Show two weeks ago in Regina. The biggest thing to come out for this next season is from Seed Hawk with their sectional control. Seed Hawk along with Raven industries have come up with a sectional… Read More
The Calgary Stampede is about celebrating our western roots and bringing out the inner cowboy in all of us. The Beef business continues to play a huge role in that history and will play a role in the future. On July 10th I will be attending the International Livestock Congress (ILC), Beef 2009: Firing Up… 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
Last week there was a very unique joint venture formed that will provide additional genetics to the Western Canadian market place. Alliance Seed Corporation is a new seed company formed by Parrish & Heimbecker, Patterson Grain and several inland terminals in Saskatchewan. As Dale mentions in the video, the new company will be focusing in… 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