Livestock theft is real and there’s no glamour to it. It affects owners’ livelihoods and carries a high probability of animal abuse. The portrayal of cattle rustlers as anti-heroes, in fiction or even non-fiction, does no one any favours. Farmers and ranchers make up only a couple of percentage points within the population and that […] Read more
Tag Archives WP editorial
Information is power, and producers want some
Western Canadian farmers are asking commodity buyers to hand over export sales information. Maybe they should ask for even more. It is often difficult for farmers to determine whether the price offered for their commodities is a good one. There are a lot of farmers and only a few buyers. It has always been so, […] Read more
Open-pit coal mining needs more review in Alta.
Changes to Alberta open-pit coal mining policies, done without public consultation, could jeopardize agricultural operations downstream and destroy irreplaceable natural habitat. At the least, public hearings should be held into these changes. At most, the current government should abandon its revocation of the previous policy, put in place by the Lougheed government, and forgo its […] Read more
Fewer usually not better, and that includes ag offices
Manitoba might be doing it right. Time will tell, but closing agriculture offices that serve producers in their home regions is never a popular decision. The province announced last week it would close 21 offices, citing it as a way to retain and better use the agricultural budget. Other provinces have made similar changes over […] Read more
Farmers caught in political games over carbon tax
Beginning with the Green Shift policy in the federal Liberal platform of 2008, the party showed that it really didn’t understand the physics of carbon in crop and livestock production or the economics. Or, maybe they do. And now as government, with little to no representation in rural, agricultural Canada, they might be choosing to […] Read more
Bills don’t protect farmers, strong trade agreements do
Supply management shouldn’t need bills of the House of Commons to defend it against further quota erosion due to trade skirmishes. Hard negotiations at the international trade tables are where Canadian agriculture should be protected. And it was, in the fine print. A recently introduced private member’s bill, Bill 216, that would put supply managed […] Read more
The care and feeding of a dragon not for the timid
China is a good customer for Canadian agricultural products but it can be unreliable and even dangerous to Canadian business people. The agriculture industry has been advised to look elsewhere for reliable markets. Easier said than done. Convincing a dragon to change its behaviour will require more than a beaver waving a stick. China is […] Read more
Agriculture transparency requires better education
A recent news release from two agri-marketing agencies says this: “COVID-19 forced Canada’s food industry to lift its veil when Canadians experienced food shortages, likely for the first time in their lives. This further shows the opportunity and need for clearer transparency around Canadian agriculture.” It begs the question: will any amount of transparency be […] Read more
Crop protection guides provide vital information
What is black and white on the inside, often green on the outside and always blue throughout? The Alberta Guide to Crop Protection, that’s what. Also known as the Blue Book, the annual provincial pesticide tome, 628 pages in 2020, contains nearly everything a prairie farmer could want to know about herbicides, insecticides, seed treatments […] Read more
Pandemic should be off limits in war on agriculture
The world’s ability to feed itself is under steady threat from pests, some of them two-legged. Those who wish to halt proven and safe agricultural practices may not understand the damage they could do or the potential they have to leave people starving and their global environment compromised should the items on their wish list […] Read more
