Scientists are making great progress in finding new ways to make protein in the lab. But Grainews field editor Lee Hart won’t be having it for lunch anytime soon
Here are two “meat” items I can’t wait to sink my teeth into — petri dish burger fortified with pink slime. Boy, if that combo doesn’t whet the old meat lover appetite I don’t know what will. Sometimes I think science and technology is out to sink the meat industry once and for all. On […] Read moreWho ever thought “pink slime” was a good idea?
New opener means faster seeding, no hairpinning
This farmer is impressed with a disc system that works through all crop residue and adds 25 per cent more acres seeded per hour
Retrofitting one wider seeding tool bar with newer, simpler disc openers has made it possible for Jody Klassen to eliminate a second air seeding system and cover more ground in a day on his north central Alberta farm. This spring will be the second year that Klassen, who crops about 5,400 acres of grains and […] Read moreBIXS is about better marketing
More information on production practices and carcass quality in the hands of cow-calf producers, cattle feeders, and packers is going to change standards in the Canadian beef industry, says a southern Alberta feedlot operator. Knowing a ranch’s production practices, being able to track calves through the feedlot and ultimately to carcass quality at the packing […] Read more
Farmer warns farmers ‘don’t be complacent about Viterra deal’
Peace River region farmer Leo Meyer may be a lone voice in the agriculture wilderness, but he is urging Western Canadian farmers not to be complacent about plans by the Swiss-based Glencore International to take over Viterra. Meyer has always been passionate about the agriculture industry. He is a farmer, sells and trucks grain across […] Read more
Watch out for any Walmart/McDonald’s alliance
As a farm boy it still doesn’t take much to impress me. I grew up near an eastern Ontario community of about 1,200 people — Chesterville. And when I moved West for a job in the early 70s, I landed in Cranbrook, B.C. which at the time had a population of 7,000 or 8,000 people […] Read more
Ranching is a dirty, tiring business
I don’t get much chance to vaccinate cattle or do much else around the farm any more, so when I do I make a point of letting people know just so they don’t assume I am only a pretty face, who happens to be an incredible writer, too. Yes, I am back at my desk […] Read more
Prairie Sapphire — jewel of a flax
From the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Morden, Manitoba flax breeding program comes a new high yielding, high-oil content flax variety, expected to have an excellent fit in crop rotations anywhere flax is grown across Western Canada. Prairie Sapphire Prairie Sapphire, developed by plant breeder Scott Duguid, appears to be a significant improvement over existing […] Read more
The next big buy out
A reader, not too long ago, accused me of having no economics or business sense, to which I took great exception because it was true. So as I comment here today about mergers and acquisitions just keep in mind I know nothing about anything. Maybe these questions have popped up for centuries, but as I […] Read more
Feeder cattle prices surge higher
Feeder cattle prices surged higher in early January as the market contends with tighter supplies, stronger fed cattle prices and weaker feed grain values. Central Alberta auction markets reported Simmental-cross steers weighing 429 pounds sold for $191/cwt; Limo-cross steers averaging 550 pounds moved at $160/cwt and black Angus-based steers with medium flesh averaging 825 pounds […] Read more
Pork part of the puzzle to feed world
The pork industry needs to think both as a leader and an activist at a global level in order to drive economic prosperity while helping the world battle poverty and feed a population set to hit nine billion by 2050, say speakers at the 2012 Banff Pork Seminar. The seminar launched its 41st event with […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
