As Western Canada’s big packers gear back up, the companies that run them are focused on getting past the crisis and clearing the backlog of market-ready cattle. But there are also fences to mend between management and the union. John Keating, managing director of Cargill’s protein supply chain and business operations in North America, said […] Read more
Relationship between union and plant management suffers under COVID-19
The union and management had a "good working relationship" pre-pandemic, but the coronavirus has ratcheted up tension.
What happened in Canada’s biggest beef plants this spring?
With provinces re-opening their economies and concerns about a second wave, what can other businesses and organizations learn from Alberta's packing plants?
As Alberta shut down schools and banned children from public playgrounds in March, packing plant workers started contacting their union, said Michael Hughes. Those workers saw a contradiction between kids not being able to play on monkey bars and plant employees being told to show up for their shifts. Hughes is a senior communications and […] Read more
Writing the handbook on COVID-19
Packing plant managers, workers and union reps all found themselves responding to a crisis unlike any they’d faced before.
When Cargill has an issue, employees like to figure out a solution and share it so everyone can continue to work on, says a company executive. The coronavirus has challenged that process. “We don’t have a handbook for this,” said John Keating, Cargill’s North American managing director of business operations and supply chain for protein. […] Read more
Comment: Riding towards next year country
If you ride horses, you’ve probably heard the advice about looking where you’re going. It sounds pretty basic, but it’s easy to get in the habit of looking at the ground. However, if you stare at the ground too much, you may end up there. Plus, you need to set some direction for your horse. […] Read more
Farm journalist pens novel about BSE crisis
Conversations with beef producers inspired Alexis Kienlen to research BSE and write about its effect on a fictional ranching family.
As Alexis Kienlen found her stride as an agricultural reporter, one date kept cropping up in conversations with producers: May 20, 2003. That day, when officials publicly confirmed a case of BSE in an Alberta cow and borders slammed shut, was still raw for producers when Kienlen began writing for Alberta Farmer Express in 2008. […] Read more
Comment: The Antonine plague
There has been plenty of chatter about how this pandemic will change society. I don’t have any predictions worth the paper this magazine is printed on, so I decided to turn to history. One of the podcasts I regularly listen to is Tides of History. In April, they ran an episode on the Antonine plague, […] Read more
Lakeland College preparing for continued pandemic disruptions
With the spring semester a wrap, the college’s staff are evaluating their approach to online learning.
As Lakeland College’s School of Agricultural Sciences closes the books on a spring semester interrupted by the pandemic, faculty are simultaneously hoping to welcome students back in the fall and preparing for continued restrictions. The college has several agricultural programs, ranging from ag business to animal science to crop technology at its Vermilion, Alberta campus. […] Read more
Public education, without scapegoating, key to slowing COVID-19
As community leaders in Brooks and High River work to ensure people understand public health directives, they’re also trying to counter unwarranted condemnations
Note: This is the final instalment of a three-part series. Read the first article here. And the second article here. Alberta public health officials working desperately to curtail the spread of COVID-19 must find a way to reach the most vulnerable populations without encouraging racist undertones in online comment sections and the affected communities. Workers […] Read more
Worker safety starts at the plant, but it stops at home
As the communities of Brooks and High River deal with COVID-19 outbreaks, they’re finding that many people don't have the means to self-isolate within their own households
Note: This is the second of a three-part series. Read the first article here. On April 7, High River’s mayor, Craig Snodgrass, took a call from the manager of the Cargill plant, located north of the town, in Foothills County. The plant manager told him that there were six known cases of COVID-19 among the […] Read more
Brooks and High River fight to dampen COVID outbreaks
Community leaders and the provincial government are fighting a multi-dimensional war as the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 climbs in these Alberta communities.
The COVID-19 crisis is cutting a wide swath through two Alberta communities where local economies depend on meat processing plants. Those plants employ thousands of newcomers to Canada. In this special three-part series, Canadian Cattlemen looks at the immediate and longer-term fallout. This is the first article in that series. As I researched this story, […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
