I don’t like the stories going around about agriculture right now — especially the ones about farmers poisoning America. I suspect you don’t, either. But the reality is that political opportunists with antifarming agendas have turned up the jets on their rhetoric like never before.
Photo credit: Ontario Federation of Agriculture, ofa.on.ca
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Aaron Richardson was surprised and honored when his pastor asked him to bring a special guest to Sunday’s service: his tractor. The pastor planned to recognize the importance of agriculture to the rural community of Dunnville, Ontario, and believed that having Aaron’s tractor parked outside the South Cayuga Community Church would send a clear message to the congregation.
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Gone are the days when men were the only ones who counted statistically as farmers.
Through the agricultural census, we’re seeing more women identify as farm owners or co-owners, a nod to the equal partner role they’ve long had on farms.
Photo credit: Angie Koch
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In this era of misinformation and mistrust, it’s easy to understand why modern foundations like government, the media and science are viewed with skepticism. Many people on the receiving end of information don’t know what to believe and whom to trust (other than farmers — more on that later), so they side with whomever makes them feel the safest, facts aside.
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This year, global tourism is on track to recover to pre-pandemic levels. Restless travelers are fed up waiting for COVID to disappear (it won’t); they’re spreading their wings and seeking adventures.
That’s great news to world leaders such as Francisco Betti, head of the Global Industries team at the World Economic Forum. At a forum meeting in May, he gushed about this encouraging milestone and its potential impact.
The most compelling stories to come from your farm this fall and winter will not be how you’re getting walloped by external forces, but rather, how you’re fighting back.
You’re facing a real Hydra, a multiheaded monster that has its eyes on your operation. The anticipated drop in farm income, the stalled farm bill, astronomical input costs, record trade deficits and wrong-headed, misguided politicians trying to convince America that the crops you raise are poisoning them and their kids are but a few of the issues beating down your door.
Photo credit: Canadiangeographic.ca
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Farm labour, food production and immigration are inextricably joined, maybe more than ever. The North American agricultural sector is keenly aware of the critical, chronic labour shortage it’s facing. It’s making the problem as clear as possible to elected officials, along with an ultimatum: import labour, or import food.
Photo credit: thegrower.org
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CANADA’S CONNECTION WITH ONE OF ITS FAVOURITE TOURIST DESTINATIONS, CUBA, MAY BE POISED TO REACH A NEW LEVEL — one that could be a changing market opportunity for Ontario specialty grain producers and help save the struggling Caribbean country from economic and humanitarian disaster.
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Running ahead of the crowded pack vying for public attention will be tough over the coming months. With every vote expected to be crucial in the race to the White House, Americans will be consumed by people telling what they consider to be important stories.
Photo credit: Farm Journal
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With increasingly fierce competition from nearly all corners of the planet, Canadian growers are anxious to have access to new technology. After all, technology uptake has long been one of their defining characteristics, and helps them compete against growers who enjoy larger economies of scale.
Photo credit: thegrower.org
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The farm sector is being unfairly targeted as a result of changes that kicked in last month to foreign worker rules, says the country’s meat sector.
And now, it wants the changes rolled back.
Photo credit: (IP Galanternik D.U./E+/Getty Images
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Jack Link’s meat snacks invite you to feed your wild side
Fittingly, Jack Link, founder of Jack Link’s Meat Snacks, was out hunting when the idea of making jerky came to him, back in the 1980s. After all, jerky is a convenient way to get a protein boost when cravings hit during outdoor activities like hunting, hiking, kayaking, biking or just walking.
Photo credit: Jack Link’s Meat Snacks
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Grilling season arrived early last weekend in Ontario. The gorgeous weather had many shoppers headed for the meat counter to check out beef for the BBQ, a summer tradition. And although it’s still early, it looks like beef producers will have a lot to smile about with the best grilling months still to come.
Photo credit: Lone Star Steakhouse, Mount Pleasant, Facebook
We have five grandchildren; three of them are what you’d call “farm kids.†They live on a family grain and livestock operation near Thamesville (by Chatham), and I suspect that’s where they’ll be until they leave home.
Photo credit: The Western Producer
Owen Roberts is a faculty member in the Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications program at the University of Illinois. As an agricultural journalist, he is the past president of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists and a lifetime achievement award recipient from the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation. His programs and research papers have been recognized nationally and internationally through awards from the Journal of Applied Communications, the National Agri-Marketing Association, the Association for Communications Excellence, and others.