There’s been renewed talk recently about grain company power and concentration. This is due to Bunge’s proposed takeover of Viterra, which has elicited concern from farm groups, brought alarming analysis from agricultural economists and provoked an investigation by the federal Competition Bureau. All grain farmers should read the bureau report. It lays out the elevator […] Read more
Ed White
Stories by Ed White
German study highlights wild pigs’ wandering nature
Research that tracked three animals highlights how far they will travel and the lengths they will go to keep moving
BRANDON — Rudiger, Dietmar and Cindy teach much about the wanderings of wild pigs. These three eastern German wild boars were tracked as one crossed back and forth between Poland and Germany, all three wandered far from where they were first spotted and tagged and all were unfazed by natural barriers that would put off lesser […] Read more
VIDEO: Shooting not the answer with wild pigs
BRANDON — Don’t shoot. That’s the plea from virtually all wild pig experts who are fighting the reasonable — but wrong — assumption among many hunters, farmers and other gunowners that shooting a wild pig helps control the growing problem. “You’re not going to shoot your way out of a pig problem,” said Aaron Sumrall, […] Read more
Ont. faces unique wild pig challenges
BRANDON — Like commandos, the gunmen arrived by airboat, slipping into the swamp while their targets slept, guided by two drones and approaching quietly to point blank range. One of targets bolted and charged past, taking a shotgun blast from less than two metres, so close that the wad from the shell was embedded in the […] Read more
Harnessing public opinion can help sway policy-makers
In the dying days of the Roman republic, Claudius was having a tough time obtaining the power he craved. So he gave up his aristocratic rank, dropped from senator to plebian, changed his name to Clodius, got elected as Tribune of the People and successfully managed to act like an out-of-control eggbeater in the wild […] Read more
Academics worry about ag economist shortage
Fewer U.S. high school graduates over the next decade could mean a drop in the number of students entering the field
WINNIPEG — Agricultural economists are in danger of becoming an endangered species if the academy and the profession don’t find ways of attracting future students to the field. That’s the conclusion and the alarm sounded by a paper in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, highlighting the “looming demographic cliff” as well as other factors […] Read more
Wild pig experts divided over extent of the problem
Officials working to eradicate the invasive species disagree with a researcher’s belief that populations are widespread
How big is Western Canada’s wild pig problem? It became obvious at Canada’s first Wild Pig Summit that experts are split on the issue, divided over almost every aspect of the situation. Recent wild pig stories: “They’re not super-pigs,” complained Darby Warner of the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. after hearing a presentation by the University […] Read more
Wild pig control gains momentum on Prairies
Eradication efforts face obstacles and experts disagree over the extent of the problem, but much progress has been made
BRANDON — Canadian wild pigs are furtive, rugged and mysterious beasts roaming and rooting in unknown numbers across the parklands of Western Canada. Understanding them, catching them and eradicating them is now a crusade across Canada and other regions where the animals are a problem, Canada’s first ever Wild Pig Summit revealed. Recent wild pig stories: […] Read more
Producers deserve transparency from gov’t, ag groups
Farmers benefit when agricultural issues are debated out loud, in public, with different sides of an issue presented for them to consider. That’s the fundamental operating principle of this newspaper, and it’s an approach we have followed for the 100 years we have been published, and for the nearly 30 years I have been here. […] Read more
Meat sector must help unlock the value of shunned cuts
The pig’s head is impressive: those wing-like ears that make one question the skeptical saying about “when pigs fly,” that sensitive snout, the flat forehead that protects a prodigious intelligence, those squinty eyes that remind one of Lyle Van Cleef, those muscular cheeks. All this beauty is lost on 90 per cent of Canadians and […] Read more
