Lees insight

I read recently that Calgary Co-op food retail chain, then national hog processor Olymel, and mostly recently Tim  Horton’s restaurants are among the latest companies to make it known that hog producers have to change their production practices. These companies, and others have set deadlines where they will no longer accept pork from operations using […] Read more

Charlie Lasser was organic before it was even cool. The Chetwynd, B.C. rancher has had a closed beef herd for 45 years, he has never used fertilizers and chemicals on the ranch. He called the other day looking for information on another matter, but was also able to fill me in a bit on his […] Read more

It took a lot of driving but I finally found a beef animal in Arizona. I saw lots of fenced desert, where I am sure nothing lives, but finally as I traveled through the northern part of the state toward the Grand Canyon, I finally saw some grass growing between the brush and figured there […] Read more

I was sorry to read this week that Eugene Whelan, one of the most colorful federal Agriculture Ministers in the last 100 years had died. He was 88. My one notable claim is that I covered Whelan’s first speaking engagement after he was appointed agriculture minister in 1972. It was in the community of Avonmore, […] Read more

Part of the curse of being a fashion icon is that every farm show or field event you go to people rush up and want to know “who are you wearing?” “And show us your shoes, too….oh, those are fabulous.” And of course my stock, tried-and-true answer “Oh, this? It is by Mr. Mark’s.” For […] Read more

As a kid I use to watch Stampede Wrestling and I remember hearing my dad or my brother tell me how phony it all was as these guys would get in the ring and apparently beat the crap out of each other, and hate each other’s guts, and then after the fight they’d get in […] Read more

I usually don’t make this a classified ad column, but one of our farmer/writers in Manitoba needs a new guard dog puppy for their sheep flock. The breed they had is Akbash/Maremma, which to be honest is a breed I have never heard of. What happened to  the good old Sheep Dog? Akbash/Maremma is a […] Read more

Two news items this week causing me to “glaze over” are the resumption of the NHL season this coming weekend, and the Idle No More protest being staged by some of Canada’s first nations people. I know. I will probably go to hell for being critical of our national treasures, but I can’t help it. […] Read more

Here is one of these reminders that bugs the hell out of me because apparently it is still needed from time to time, but here goes —  “livestock owners, feed your damn animals!” And here is a second reminder, which is just as frustrating because it is still needed sometimes, but here goes — “farmers […] Read more