Editor’s Note: The following column was sent to us by the writer, Paul Beingessner, on June 22. On the afternoon of June 25, Beingessner, 55, died in a farming accident near his home at Truax, Sask. His final column, which we publish here by way of tribute as well as comment, is typical of the […] Read more
Stories by Paul Beingessner
P.11: Cheap food not good answer – Opinion
Beingessner writes and farms near Truax, Sask. I recently saw a story about farmers reducing fertilizer use in response to high prices. The story warned that this was dangerous, as farmers should not be reducing inputs in an age of food shortages. It went on to argue that farmers will benefit from maximizing production. Another […] Read more
Where the deer play, and eat too – Opinion
Beingessner is an agriculture columnist who farms near Truax, Sask. Hay was pretty scarce in my part of southern Saskatchewan last fall. Then came a cold winter that went on forever. Hay supplies were stretched to the limit, and many farmers fed extra grain and purchased hay. This spring looks better, with lots of rain, […] Read more
Romance of small farms is fine – Opinion
Beingessner is a farmer and a columnist in Truax, Sask. The Jan. 15 Western Producer editorial entitled “Banish romantic notion of small farm” left me a trifle uneasy. While it seems to be a critique of very small farms in poor countries, it implies that North American romantic notions about small farms constitute some kind […] Read more
Livestock support sorely needed – Opinion
Beingessner is a farmer and columnist from Truax, Sask. God help the beleaguered cattle producers of Canada. As prices plummeted like the proverbial stone in 2007, we were told it was because of the high cost of feed grains and the soaring Canadian dollar that briefly took on the American greenback and pummeled it. Now […] Read more
Government rewards railways – Opinion
Beingessner is a farmer and columnist from Truax, Sask. Shades of Brian Mulroney. In the last few weeks of his government’s 10-year reign, before the Liberals under Jean Chrétien officially took power, Mulroney signed an agreement with the railways that gave them renewed control over the hopper cars the federal government had purchased for the […] Read more
Low reform expectations realized – Opinion
Beingessner is a farmer and a writer from Truax, Sask. I have written frequently about problems farmers have experienced with rail service. Though my friends who work for the railways are quick to tell me I’m unfair to them (what else would they say?) I have always maintained the problem is not the railways. The […] Read more
Much confusion around WTO – Opinion
Beingessner is a writer and farmer from Truax, Sask. There has been a torrent of news reports lately about the World Trade Organization talks and the role they may play in a variety of agricultural issues. The so-called Doha Round of these talks is supposed to reach agreement on agriculture at its Hong Kong meeting […] Read more