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: Where do you want to go?
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
Comment: Are we going to save or pave paradise?
It was an odd feeling, sitting in the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) environmental committee meeting in Ottawa in March with Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi stuck in my head. Discussions around conserving forage and grasslands triggered the earworm, and lyrics about not knowing “what you’ve got, til it’s gone” seemed apt. Later, in the hallways […] Read more
AUDIO: Pandemic woes push beef industry to collaborate
Bob Lowe reflects on his two-year term as president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, which began just as the country was locked down due to COVID.
Bob Lowe was elected president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) on March 13, 2020. Coincidentally, that was a Friday, and if you’re at all superstitious, you might see that as foreshadowing. By the next week, the country was in lockdown in an effort to slow COVID. Over the next two years, the beef industry […] Read more
Comment: Agriculture and hope go hand in hand
It’s no coincidence that War and Famine ride together as part of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Humans have known for a long time that war breeds hunger, and hunger brings war, so it’s not surprising that knowledge is encoded in a major religious text such as the Bible. Of course, pestilence is also […] Read more
Comment: Managing market risk
We don’t know what 2022 has in store for us — hopefully rain at the right time and good cattle prices all through the fall. But hoping is not planning, and to plan, you need good information. So what should producers be watching in the markets as the year progresses? I asked Brian Perillat, senior […] Read more
Comment: Media 101 – From interviews to photos
Alexis Kienlen and I recently had a chance to connect with the Young Cattlemen’s Council and Cattlemen’s Young Leader program participants and alumni. Near the end of the event, we took the virtual stage to answer questions and share tips for those interested in doing interviews. I thought I’d share some of our ideas in […] Read more
Comment: Toiling in the mines for trade
Given everything that’s happening globally, it must take relentless optimism and determination to maintain existing trade relationships and broker new ones these days. That was my main impression as I watched a trade panel organized by the North American Association of Ag Journalists in late 2021. The panel comprised three trade veterans: Gregg Doud, who […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
