Issues & Insights

For several years, Prairie farmers have been keenly participating in Cleanfarms’ seed, pesticide, and inoculant (SPI) bag recycling pilot project in search of more environmentally friendly alternatives for managing these items once empty. Starting in 2023, Cleanfarms is pleased to announce that SPI bag recycling is launching across the prairies as a full-time permanent program…

By Tonya Lwiwski, Riparian Specialist at Cows and Fish Springtime. Returning birdsong marks the morning hours, the lengthening daylight and the melting snow are all welcome signs of the end of winter. While this season of rejuvenation makes us want to get outside, spring is also a sensitive time for riparian areas. Before turning those…

Many beef and dairy producers in Alberta protect livestock feed by covering it with special plastic film widely used in agriculture today. Whether it’s silage bags or tubes, large tarps that cover the top of the silage piles, or plastic stretch film used to wrap hay bales, once the plastic is removed and no longer…

We are disappointed to see the anti-feedlot bias being shared in some educational materials in Alberta, as reported in a recent Western Producer article: Anti-feedlot bias found in Alta. school materials. One of ABP’s continued priorities in working with government is advocating for accurate and informative agricultural education.  Teachers interested in educational materials around beef…

By Sheri Hathaway, The Western Producer In 1951, the world was recovering from the Second World War, financially and emotionally. People looked for new ways to get ahead. Willi Bruntjen, a 29-year-old farm worker, left his homeland of Germany on Oct. 15 and came to Canada seeking a new life. He wore his only clothes,…

Recycling agricultural plastic pesticide and fertilizer containers 23L and under – a familiar practice to many Alberta farmers – is being updated. At the request of the Agricultural Service Boards (ASB) that have been offering jug collection services in Alberta, Cleanfarms is moving recycling collection locations from municipalities to local ag retailers. The process is…

By Robert Arnason, The Western Producer When Martin Unrau was president of the Canadian Cattle Association about a decade ago, he frequently delivered the same message to politicians and bureaucrats in Ottawa. It was simple: government shouldn’t favour one sector within agriculture over other sectors. Most of the time, whoever was listening would nod and…

The Canadian beef industry breathed a collective sigh of relief to learn a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine bank is on the horizon. As part of the 2023 Federal Budget, $57.5 million over five years was designated to create the FMD vaccine bank within the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and to develop an emergency response plan….

After twenty years of trade restrictions, the last barrier to Canadian beef exports to Japan has been removed. The federal government announced Monday the opening of processed beef into Japan, removing the country’s last BSE-era restriction against Canadian beef and fully restoring Canada’s access into this market. “Cattle producers are grateful for the removal of…

The wise King Solomon suggested “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity…” The Byrds song “Turn! Turn! Turn!” in the 1960s famously alluded to Solomon’s words as a way to draw attention to switching mindsets from focusing on war to focusing on peace. Within Solomon’s verses are also the phrases:…