Barb Glen reports from the farm & food care conference in Ottawa about public opinion and agricultural policy OTTAWA — Half of Canadians surveyed in a recent poll are unsure that agriculture is headed in the right direction. Some 93 percent say they know little or nothing about farming, and 60 percent would like to […] Read more
Barb Glen
Stories by Barb Glen
Program aims to eliminate child fatalities on the farm
More than half a million rural Alberta schoolchildren have been taught about farm safety through the efforts of the Farm Safety Centre Safety Smarts program. The milestone was celebrated in May in Raymond, Alta., where the non-profit organization is based. Formed 18 years ago, the centre is on track this year to deliver the farm […] Read more
Most consumers see farmers as trustworthy: survey
But consumers don’t know much about agriculture and aren’t convinced farmers are good environmental stewards
Barb Glen reports from the farm & food care conference in Ottawa about public opinion and agricultural policy OTTAWA — Farmers make a favourable impression among Canadian consumers. A recent survey of 2,500 people, weighted to represent the non-farming Canadian population older than 17, showed 69 percent view farmers in a warm and friendly way […] Read moreMore PED cases found in Man.
Two more Manitoba cases of porcine epidemic diarrhea were confirmed June 2 and June 4, creating worry among hog producers, particularly in the southeastern part of the province where one-third to one-half of Manitoba’s hogs are raised. The June 2 case occurred in a finisher barn and the June 4 case in a sow barn. […] Read more
Trust issues: consumers more apt to trust opinions of friends, family over scientists
Barb Glen reports from the farm & food care conference in Ottawa about public opinion and agricultural policy OTTAWA — Amid concerns about pesticide, antibiotic and hormone residues in food, there’s one additive the public embraces: adjectives. Organic, new season, free range, environmentally friendly, heritage — all these descriptors are used on food products to […] Read more
Alberta farmers to be surveyed
The phones in Alberta farmhouses will be ringing later this month as a survey gets underway on behalf of Alberta crop commissions. The Alberta Barley, Alberta Canola Producers, Alberta Pulse Growers and Alberta Wheat commissions want to learn more about their members’ sustainability and best management practices so they’ve commissioned a survey through Ipsos Reid. […] Read more
Sheep producers happy with average results at ram sale
FORT MACLEOD, Alta. — Organizers of the annual Pound Maker ram sale in southern Alberta may have to change the name of the event to the Rain Maker ram sale. It rains almost every year on the day of the sale, and on May 19, the rain was particularly welcome as the first measurable precipitation […] Read more
PED case follows change in biosecurity
Manitoba’s sixth case of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus was confirmed May 26 in a batch farrow sow barn on a farm in the southeast. It is the first incident in the province since January 2015, and all previously infected barns had since been rid of the virus. The new case comes weeks after the Canadian […] Read more
New digs for Alta. wool co-op
The Canadian Co-operative Wool Growers building, built in 1945, doesn’t owe much to its tenants. The wool growers have occupied their current Lethbridge location since 1950, when wool was delivered in one-ton trucks and railcars and left the same way. The city grew up around the building on First Avenue South, making modern access by […] Read more
Cattle feed additive could boost immunity
A Canadian company has developed a potential alternative to prophylactic antibiotic use in livestock. Avivagen president Cameron Groome said the product’s development is well timed, given ongoing concerns about antibiotic resistant bacteria, antibiotic use in livestock and food company initiatives to use meat from animals never given antibiotics. The feed additive, called OxC-beta, is derived […] Read more
