Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Why Is the World Taking Farming For Granted?

Anyone listen to the swinecast podcasts? One the other day featured a guy talking about all the stuff ready to hit the meat industry.

1. now meat takes too much water
2. meat takes too much energy
3. food in the US is too cheap
4. the US uses up too much of the worlds resources (this one's old)
5. we eat too much and we should be vegetarians
6. hsus is getting church's on board with their message
7. we are running out of water, energy and they'll probably find a way to say we're running out of sunlight.

Of course the solution is for us to grow more vegetables and have people give up in town jobs to work in the fields - I can see that happening - not. Maybe it's just a symtom of the type of leadership now and they'll be a significant backlash that stops it in it's tracks, but it feels like 'they' have more traction than ever.

It seems like everything we worked hard to achieve like food previously only available at a king's table know available to everyone cheaply is now a bad thing. Oh yeah, everyone is losing money producing pork and beef right now for these ungrateful consumers...


Does anyone else see it like this?

Views: 73

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Wayne Black on August 28, 2009 at 1:44pm
I hear yah loud and clear!
This past weekend a non-farmer who was touring our farm commented about how bad meat was due to the antibiotics and mistreatment. They want to buy organic produce and meat because their perception is that it is safer. A couple comments was "you do not let your children run in the field when you spray but you let them eat the produce that has been sprayed." Uhm - yeah! Then they carry on stating that there is so much chemical in the soil and within the produce... "You have no quams with feeding you children non-organic food?" Nope. I encourage it. "As long as it is Canadian." Then the lightbulbs started up again.
Yeah - there are some issues about meat and non-organic foods but with all the regulations we have in this country I do not see why we would be concerned about perceptions from activist groups in other countries. It is similar to the "food scare" last year that had some consumers fired up. Did anyone see empty store shelves in Canada? Did anyone go hungry because the food was not there in Canada?
We are not running out of water or energy - other countries are. Hence the reason they are buying our water.
Not saying we should stand in the hot shower for 30 minutes....
Permalink Reply by Joe Dales on August 29, 2009 at 2:52am
Hi Wayne: Consumers think that way because mass media is giving them some info like in Food Inc....

I have not had the chance to see the following movie but here is the trailer and a review from one of our western Canadian farmers from our Agri-ville.com website....


DaretoDiffer Said
"The movie/documentary had some points, especially about Monsanto but all of its puffed up pious outrage didn't go anywhere and I was wanting to respond often with "And your point is .....? The guy from the American Corn Growers who popped up a lot in the film, seemed to be in the employ of the anti-farm business theme of the piece. With friends like this, who needs the urban commentators. And Eric Schlosser the main commentator and author of Fast Food Nation, is not a journalist but an author/commentator with an axe to grind. A real poster boy for PETA. "


The issue is that it is easy to sensationalize our food because consumers do think it is important to them...

Agriculture needs to realize that it has to tell it's side of the story. Groups like AgCare and OFAC are doing the best they can to get the message out but really don't have the budgets of Hollywood or Time.

Big challenges,

Joe
Permalink Reply by Wayne Black on August 29, 2009 at 5:09am
You are correct Joe. When we have a choice between organic, local, imported (whether it is labelled is another story), natural, sugar free, fat free, cholesterol free... instead of the choice between food or no food, we obviously do not have a food shortage. It is easy to "sensationalize" because of this. It was mentioned on Thursday (Aug 27) about Babe the movie and Bambi - makes a person not eat meat.

▶ Reply to Discussion

RSS

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Manitoba Planting Advances; Remains Ahead of Average Pace

Manitoba producers made just minor seeding advances this past week, although overall progress remains ahead of last year and the five-year average.  The weekly provincial crop report pegged seeding at 8% complete as of Tuesday, up 5 points from a week earlier and ahead of 4% last year and 6% on average.   Almost half the spring wheat acres in the Central and Interlake regions have been seeded, the report said, with other regions progressing quickly. Seeding of oats and barley has begun in the Southwest, Central, Eastern, and Interlake regions.  Canola planting has started in the Central region. Sunflowers have also started to be seeded in the Central and Interlake regions. Field peas are being seeded in all regions, while soybean crops are being planted in the Central, Eastern, and Interlake regions.   Manitoba received variable amounts of precipitation over the past four days, ranging from 0 mm to 12.7 mm with most regions receiving less than 0.5 mm.  Southwest:  Good weather ov

Canadian Corn Stocks Hit Decade Low, Soybeans Heavier

Canadian corn stocks as of March 31 fell to a decade low, while soybean stockpiles hit the highest in five years.  Thursday’s Statistics Canada grain stocks report showed total national corn stocks at 7.197 million tonnes, down 13% from a year earlier and the lowest since March 31, 2015, at 6.289 million. In contrast, March 31 soybean stocks were pegged at 2.393 million tonnes, a year-over-year increase of nearly 11% and the heaviest since March 31, 2020.  StatsCan said corn stocks fell amid a more than 50% fall in imports to 1 million tonnes, combined with a doubling in exports to 1.4 million.  Soybean stocks were at least partially buoyed by a larger 2024 Canadian crop, up 8.4% on the year to 7.568 million tonnes.   National on-farm corn stocks as of March 31 decreased 8.5% compared with the same date in 2024, to 4.9 million tonnes, while commercial stocks fell 20.9% to 2.3 million.   On-farm soybean stocks rose 11.1% to 1.4 million tonnes, with commercial stocks up 10.6% to 988

Early Saskatchewan Planting Ahead of 5-, 10-Year Averages

Spring planting is off to quick start in Saskatchewan, with almost 20% of the 2025 crop in the ground already.  The first weekly crop report of the season on Thursday pegged provincewide planting at 18% complete as of Monday. That’s 8 points ahead of the five-year average and 6 points better than the 10-year average. Last year, planting was 12% done at this time.  “Despite multiple storms throughout the province in April, producers were able to get into their fields and make rapid progress over the last couple of weeks,” the report said.  Limited moisture fell throughout much of the province over the last week. The highest reported rainfall was in the Alida area at 16 millimetres (mm) followed by the Lafleche area at 12 mm.  Planting progress is the most advanced in the southwest region, where 43% of the crop was in as of Monday and the first seeded crops starting to emerge. The northwest and southeast regions are also making good progress, at 15% and 14% done, respectively. The we

Understanding Yardage Costs in Cow-Calf Operations

Have you ever wondered where your money goes during the winter-feeding period? Feed costs are easy to spot in a beef cattle operation, but what about the other expenses quietly chipping away at your bottom line? This is where yardage comes in—it is a crucial part of managing winter feeding costs in cow-calf operations.  What is Yardage? Yardage refers to the overhead and non-feed costs incurred while maintaining cattle during the winter-feeding period. These costs include day-to-day expenses such as labor, equipment and building maintenance, fuel, utilities, manure handling and other general expenses like farm taxes and accounting fees. They also include non-cash costs such as machinery and facility depreciation, which represent the graduate loss of value in assets over time. Why Does Yardage Matter to a Beef Producer? Yardage may not grab attention like feed costs, but it significantly impacts profitability. These costs, especially non-cash costs like depreciation, often remain unno

Mother’s Day Q&A with Anna McCutcheon

The hardest part about motherhood is balancing everything, Anna McCutcheon says

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service