The beef industry is faced with an interesting, yet frustratingly complex riddle: how to help feed a growing world population but still protect the environment and the animals, satisfy the consumer and create a reasonable living while addressing these matters. The answer often put forward is sustainability, but this leads to many more questions. Can […] Read more
Tag Archives sustainability
Benchmark project to measure sustainability performance
National Index on Agri-Food Performance intended to help farmers show progress in cutting greenhouse gas emissions
Farming in Canada may be sustainable, but simply saying it’s sustainable is no longer enough. Buyers of canola oil, pork, beef and other foods now want proof that Canadian food is produced in a way that preserves water, air, wildlife and the natural environment. That’s why a group of 34 partners is working on something […] Read more
Benchmark project to measure sustainability performance
Farming in Canada may be sustainable, but simply saying it’s sustainable is no longer enough. Buyers of canola oil, pork, beef and other foods now want proof that Canadian food is produced in a way that preserves water, air, wildlife and the natural environment. That’s why a group of 34 partners is working on something […] Read more
Producers to defend grazing sector at UN food summit
Canadian producers and conservationists want to reinforce to the world that grazing livestock is a sustainable part of the food system and the environment. The United Nations is planning the first Food Systems Summit in 25 years later this fall. Dialogues to prepare for the summit are going on around the world and the Canadian […] Read more
Sustainability is crucial for prairie farm survival
Sustainability — it’s a word you have heard more often in the past decade. Within the last two years a mention can be found several times in every edition of this publication. But what is sustainability? It’s farming, Prairies-style. As a capital-intensive business with inconsistent returns and oft-needed recapitalization, prairie farming is almost exclusively a […] Read more
The carbon crunch
The world must cut agricultural emissions by an estimated two-thirds by 2050 to help fight climate change while simultaneously producing 50 percent more food, said an American researcher. Serious efforts must be made to put “real money into what I call collaborative projects … where farmers, scientists, the private sector are working together to explore […] Read more
Beef sector’s sustainability defended
It is vital to separate fact from fiction when it comes to climate change and the Canadian beef industry, said an expert. “Really, what we’re talking about here in most agricultural systems is trade-offs,” said Tim McAllister, principal research scientist for Agriculture Canada in Lethbridge. “There’s no one system that’s perfect.” However, he said Canada’s […] Read more
Sustainability focus may benefit canola
Fertilizer is a sustainability risk for the crop, but carbon sequestration may be an opportunity due to no till
Palm oil has a reputation problem. In 2019, 41 percent of respondents in a United Kingdom survey said palm oil was “environmentally unfriendly”. That number was much worse than other vegetable oils — only nine percent said rapeseed oil (canola) is environmentally unfriendly, five percent for sunflower and two percent for olive oil. Sustained campaigns […] Read more
Low carbon footprint seen as marketing edge
Farmers need to flip some of today’s annoying consumer demands into tomorrow’s advantages, says an agricultural representative turned full-time farmer. Embracing those consumer priorities might be one of the few things that can make up for the Prairies’ landlocked position. “What if the new quality isn’t just talking about the protein content of our wheat, […] Read more
U.S. soy sector has high hopes for Biden
The American Soybean Association thinks it may have a receptive ear in Washington when lobbying on some of its key policy objectives. That is because president Joe Biden’s administration is keenly focused on addressing climate change and promoting sustainability programs. Steve Censky, chief executive officer of the ASA, hopes that means the U.S. Environmental Protection […] Read more
