The following article was originally from SiemensSays.com. I think it is a very insightful analysis into the recent announcements in the pork industry. Loan guarantees will help some producers. But, what is the criteria for a viable hog operation? The Canadian industry is currently losing $30 million a week. The situation is deteriorating daily. The... Read More
Category: Canadian Agriculture Policy
At the International Livestock Congress I talked to Dr. Alastair Cribb, Dean. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Calgary about the balance between making decisions based on science versus emotion. Sometimes this can be a very grey area and will continue to be in the future as both scientific advancement and emotions increase. See more... Read More
At the International Livestock Congress, I spoke to Dennis Laycraft, Executive Vice President with the Canadian Cattlemans Association about the future realities of MCOOL. Many livestock producers on both sides of the border are very curious at to what will be the impact of this legislation. I have heard several Americans call MCOOL not food... Read More
MCOOL has become a reality for the US, Canadian and beef industry. Sometimes it is beneficial to better understand an issue or situation by stepping back and examining how we got here. I asked Dennis Laycraft of the Canadian Cattleman's Association at the International Livestock Congress to provide me with a history of the MCOOL... Read More
With the event of H1N1 poultry food safety has become a very popular topic amongst the general public not just agriculturalists. At the International Livestock Congress in Calgary, I talked to Barbara Beane of KFC about how KFC is bringing innovative and new products to the marketplace. We also discussed how KFC manages food safety.... Read More
This spring, I met with Lillian Schaer of FoodandFarmingCanada.com , to discuss some of the issues related to the urban pesticides ban in Ontario. I was first exposed to this issue during an interview that I did with Jay Bradshaw, President of Syngenta Canada. The following is an update on the situation. The following was... Read More
Talking to hog producers in Manitoba, there is a real head scratching issue taking place. Hog producers are strongly criticizing the provincial government for not stepping up to compensate hog farmers for this terrible economic environment. The province think that it is a Federal government issue but others disagree. My friend journalism friend Harry Siemens... Read More
Today, Anne Dunford, General Manager, Gateway Livestock Exchange talked to me about the North American cattle industry. This is the first edition of the RealAgriculture.com Beef Market Update. In my continuing effort to increase the content I require your feedback to keep improving the site. When it comes to explaining what is happening in the... Read More
I have been getting a number of calls from feedlot producers to discuss the new Cattle Price Insurance Program (CPIP) that will be launched by AFSC this summer for Albertan cattle feeders. I talked to Susan Crump, Senior Project Manager, Program Development and Policy at AFSC about some of the preliminary details of the coming... Read More
Pigs are a host for the H1N1 virus, and yet while no pigs died directly because of the virus, it was called €œswine flu€ and the news story became focused on food safety. It sprung a lot of attention onto concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) as if the food supply is not safe anymore because... Read More