It can be painful to say that a politician is right, especially an American politician. However, I have to say that U.S. agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack made some powerful points at the recent Commodity Classic in Florida when he said the once-mighty U.S. farm lobby has lost influence in Washington. “Unfortunately, what’s happened in Washington […] Read more
Stories by Joanne Paulson
Western Producer wants your input for better website
Newspapers are my favourite things. Whether they are published daily, weekly or moment to moment, I want to read them all. That’s getting increasingly tricky because newspapers — and media of every kind — are publishing more information more quickly and on more platforms than ever before. The Western Producer is no different. Most of […] Read more
MP watchdogs are taking bite out of taxpayer
Once a student of political science, I was generally pretty impressed with the way our government was set up — at least in theory. You have your representative house of elected folks. You have your second house of non-elected folks, who don’t have to worry about pleasing voters, to keep an eye on the elected […] Read more
Belt tightening on the way for provinces
Doug Horner, Alberta’s finance minister, is on the record saying there will be no tax increases and no new sales tax in the province’s March 7 budget. However, he admits this budget is “not going to be fun.” No kidding. Alberta oil has been selling at about $42 per barrel less than U.S. crude, and […] Read more
Snow comes in all shapes and wetness
You may have noticed a whole bunch of “not availables” in the precipitation portion of the weather summary on page 87 of the Jan. 24 Western Producer. It’s not something we wanted to do, but the percent of normal part of the weather summary just didn’t look quite right in the Jan. 17 edition. Everyone […] Read more
U of S cuts should concern ag industry
If you don’t receive the Saskatoon daily news by paper or broadcast, you may not know that the University of Saskatchewan is under duress. The university has recently been saying it must cut $44.5 million in operating funds by 2016, and capital projects are also under review. Forty job cuts representing $2.3 million have already […] Read more
Resistant weeds becoming more commonplace
I learned many things at Crop Production Week, but the thing that slapped me in the head was how widespread herbicide resistant weeds are becoming. It started with Eric Johnson’s cautionary tale about Palmer amaranth, which has been described by some American agrologists as the perfect weed. Of course, that does not mean it’s an […] Read more
Economic fears overstated; future bright?
At the last possible minute, the United States managed to put the brakes on a plunge over its fiscal cliff, theoretically saving itself — and by export connection, Canada — from another recession. Not to be uncharitable, but the Jan. 1 deal does make one wonder if the timing of the whole thing was planned. […] Read more
Serving up an old favourite for a limited engagement, with a twist
Western people are tough, innovative, talented, entrepreneurial and hard-working. Is it the weather? The pioneer mentality? Whatever the personality-forming elements, we’re one amazing bunch, and in this edition of The Western Producer, we are celebrating some of the people who embody the western ethic. We have adopted the name of this edition from a magazine […] Read more
Family time during holidays brings cheer
The tree is not up, most of the gifts are not wrapped — or, for that matter, purchased — and the cards are not written. The nuts and bolts and butter tarts are not made. There is no turkey in the freezer. Sigh. Why do I leave Christmas to the last minute every year? There […] Read more
