Agriculture

As someone who grew up on a farm, and has covered the agriculture sector as a journalist for some 25 years, I have to say I find myself confused over the seeming wavering line between animal welfare and animal rights.

Sometimes a very random event brings a writer to an idea for a weekly column. Recently I was in a local sandwich shop in Yorkton and decided to try the spicy black bean offering.

With the recent financial issues of Broadacre Agriculture, discussed in this space a couple of weeks ago the issue of who owns land in Saskatchewan is back on the front burner for a time.

Canadian farmers have tried to diversify in a list of ways, both in terms of field crops, and livestock.

The evolution of farming is amazing, startling, crazy, and scary.

So the last two weeks I wrote about the retreaded ideas for addressing the concerns of grain transportation at the recent Grain Millers Harvest Showdown.

Who would have thought the humble honey bee would become the sounding bell to raise public concern over a growing environmental effort. The concern revolves around the apparent impact neonicotinoids have on bee populations.

How farmers care for their livestock has become one of the big consumer questions. Or, at least it seems that way. Ask a person on the street if they want drug injected beef and the answer is likely to be no.

It is sometimes interesting how something pops up one day, quite by happenstance and the next thing you know you see it popping up in other places. An example happened to me recently.

The issue of water and farming is one which just won't go away. The reason it persists is simple enough to understand, there is just not an easy solution to the core questions at play.