The way that democracy, consensus and justice works is very hard-come-by. And all through the history of our country, we have lunged and lurched, sprinted and sauntered through a forest of ignorance, hatred and bigotry and yet hacked out for ourselves a path towards a clearing, a lighted place, which — make no mistake — […] Read more
Comment: A lighted place
No trespass: Rebuilding treaty relationships
This is the fourth story in a five-part series. Read the first, second and third stories here. [Updated Oct. 18, 2022] There is a forest meadow on my family’s lease land that changes constantly through the growing season. It’s one of my favourite places. After the spring rains, lush green grass soon overtakes last year’s […] Read more
No trespass: Cutting wire
This is the third story in a multi-part series. Read the first and second stories here. One of the most infuriating groups of trespassers are the people who travel with wire cutters. It’s something Judy Wilkinson and I chat about before our on-the-record interview. Part of me is always astounded by the nerve of it, […] Read more
No trespass: High stakes
This is the second in a multi-part series. Read the first story here. It started out much like any other winter day, as Phil hauled in wood to heat his home. But then he heard the rumble of snowmobiles. He could tell they were on his land, even though it was posted with “No-Trespassing” signs. […] Read more
Comment: Respect
You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again: Don’t feed the trolls. Or, more specifically to our industry: Don’t bother arguing with animal rights activists online. I thought of this while checking out the Facebook comments on one of our features (Auction marts grapple with a shrinking herd and changing industry). Somehow the animal […] Read more
No trespass: Snarls of barbed wire
If you’ve ever been to court day in small-town Saskatchewan, you quickly learn it bears little resemblance to Law and Order. I found this out for myself several years ago when I was called to testify. Court day was held at the Legion Hall in St. Walburg, a town of around 700 people in northwestern […] Read more
Comment: Where do you want to go?
There is no shortage of problems and issues to try to untangle, but focusing exclusively on obstacles isn’t helpful. We also need to set our sights on the direction we want to go. “Don’t look at the ground, or that’s where you’ll end up,” goes the old equestrian adage. We can chart a course by […] Read more
Comment: Wicked problems and Gordian knots
Charlie Gracey references the Gordian knot in his article on the producer’s share of the retail dollar in our August issue of Canadian Cattlemen, and I’ve been thinking about it since I first read it. The Gordian knot has its origins in an ancient Greek legend. An oracle predicted that the next man to drive […] Read more
AUDIO: Researcher offers tips for figuring out how much water you’ve got in the bank
Think of water as a bank account, says Dr. Phillip Harder. Your moisture balance is what’s been deposited, minus what’s gone out via forage and crop use. Figuring how much water you’ve got in the bank means tracking how much Mother Nature has deposited. Harder is a researcher with the Global Institute for Water Security […] Read more
Pond scum: blue-green algae and cattle
It’s a routine summer day of checking cattle, maybe repairing a bit of fence. Nothing too stressful, at least until you see the dugout you’re using as a water source for your cattle, which has algae in it. Now what? The first question is whether it’s blue-green algae, which can release toxins harmful to cattle, […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
