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CFFO Blog's Blog – December 2010 Archive (4)

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The CFFO Commentary: Christmas and the Difference it makes for Farming

By John Clement

December 24, 2010



I'm not by nature a person devoted to creeds and confessions, but every once in awhile something will strike me as particularly meaningful in one of those documents. At this Christmas season, some of the words found in the beginning of the Heidelberg Catechism strike me as appropriate. The question is asked "what is your only comfort in life and death?"… Continue

Added by CFFO Blog on December 24, 2010 at 6:34am — No Comments

The CFFO Commentary:Farm Policy Increasingly Needs to Pay Heed to the “Missing Middle”

By John Clement

The challenges of farm policy used to be simpler. Most farms in most commodities were about the same size and generated somewhat comparable farm revenues. But those days have been leaving us for awhile now, with new challenges emerging about how to deliver public support that is both fair and appropriate to changes in the scale of production. 

 Increasingly, farming and public interest groups are noting that we are starting to experience what could be called the…

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Added by CFFO Blog on December 17, 2010 at 7:00am — No Comments

The CFFO Commentary: Farmers Matter and Need to Build Goodwill with Consumers

By Henry Stevens

There is general agreement in the farm community that a number of our commodities are in serious financial difficulty and face an uncertain future. There is also general agreement on why family farms in those sectors are facing such difficulties. Where there is less agreement is “how do we solve those problems and…

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Added by CFFO Blog on December 10, 2010 at 6:13am — No Comments

The CFFO Commentary: New Agricultural Opportunities in Bio-Products

By Nathan Stevens

There are some industry leaders that would argue that one of the greatest opportunities for farmers in the next 20 years will be the development of the bio-products sector. At a recent information session held by the Wellington…

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Added by CFFO Blog on December 3, 2010 at 4:45am — No Comments

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Water Stewardship: A Ranching Family’s Approach to Conservation and Changing Landscapes

Nestled in the arid South Okanagan, Thomas Ranches is a multigenerational operation that balances ranching with conservation. In 2000, the Thomas family sold their land to The Nature Trust of British Columbia, preserving natural habitat while continuing cattle operations under a lease agreement. Today, Brian Thomas manages 200 head of cattle on 350 acres, with the remaining 1,650 acres dedicated to wildlife habitat. Effective water management is crucial to sustaining both livestock and the surrounding ecosystem in this dry region. Balancing Water Needs in a Shifting Landscape Thomas Ranches relies on a creek-fed storage dam and an extensive irrigation system. This helps them manage water shortages in a dry climate that gets less than a foot of annual rainfall. Frequent droughts have intensified competition for water resources, and the impacts of increasing population growth, tourism and conservation efforts place additional demands on an already limited supply. Wildfires also pose o

International Association for Food Protection Elects Maria Hoffmann to Executive Board

Members of the International Association for Food Protection elected Dr. Maria Hoffmann to the Executive Board as Secretary. Dr. Hoffmann will take office at the conclusion of IAFP 2026 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and will fulfill a five-year commitment to the Association, serving as President beginning in July 2029. Dr. Hoffmann is a Genomics Research Scientist in the Human Foods Program at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Washington, D.C., where she leads national- and internationally-recognized initiatives to advance the genomic epidemiology of foodborne pathogens. Over the past two decades, she has worked at the intersection of science, public health, and food safety policy, developing advanced genomic methods, building global networks, and strengthening outbreak detection through whole genome sequencing (WGS). She began her public health career at the Institute for Hygiene and Environment in Hamburg before joining the FDA in 2007. An active IAFP Member since 2014, D

Canadian government commits to national soil health strategy

The federal government will work with a national organization to support soil health across the country

Nebraska fires burn grazing lands, threaten plans to grow US cattle herd

Wildfires burn nearly 775,000 acres in Nebraska Land is a grazing resource for about 40,000 cows Producers look for alternative pasture lands, feed Massive wildfires have burned vast swaths of grazing lands in Nebraska, endangering cattle producers' plans for production increases that could help ease record-high U.S. ?beef prices. The loss of grasslands in the second-biggest cattle-producing state removes a feed source for herds and could delay ranchers ?from expanding as they struggle with widespread drought, state and industry officials said. Fueled by fierce winds, fires have burned nearly 775,000 acres since last week, covering an area about the size of Rhode Island, according to data from the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency. It added the causes of the fires are undetermined. The largest Morrill Fire was ?about 67% contained as of Thursday after being first reported on March 12, the agency said. That amount of land is a grazing ?resource for about 40,000 cows, said Sherry

Canada offers financial aid to farmers and companies affected by Iran war price spikes

Canada's federally backed farm lender is offering financial aid ?to farmers, agricultural businesses and food ?companies hit by the spike in fertilizer and energy prices, it said on Friday. Borrowers from the ?Farm Credit Canada program will be ?able to receive a new or additional ?credit line of up to C$500,000 ($364,670.70), ?to modify terms and to defer principal ?payments on existing loans. The money will come from an expansion of the Trade Disruption Customer Support Program, ?which was introduced in March 2025 to ?help agriculture and food borrowers hit by U.S. tariffs. It will ?now ?also provide support to help producers and agribusinesses "manage financial pressures caused by unexpected market shocks," Friday's statement said. Fertilizer prices have soared ?since the Iran ?war began ?at the end of February and led to the closure ?of the Strait of Hormuz to ?most ?shipping, disrupting urea and sulphur supplies from the Gulf. As a result, farmers around the world are ?strugg

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