John Beardsley's Page

Kelle Neufeld Appointed New General Manager of Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Convention

The Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Convention has named Kelle Neufeld as its new General Manager, effective May 1, 2026.

310-FARM – Alberta’s one-stop shop for agricultural answers

Producers have enough to manage already – markets, weather, regulations, input costs and the day-to-day realities of running a farm or ranch. When questions come up, tracking down the right government contact or program information should not add to their workload. That is why the Government of Alberta operates 310-FARM, an information and referral service designed to provide farmers, ranchers, ag businesses and rural residents a dependable first point of contact. 310-FARM is staffed by resource agents who understand the agricultural landscape and can help callers navigate provincial programs, regulatory requirements and available supports. While the team does not have every answer, they specialize in connecting callers with the right people – whether that means transferring you to a subject-matter expert, providing you with the details and a link to a specific program, or directing you to the right department or industry contact. The 310-FARM team will work to guide them toward the m

Stacking Good Decisions to Keep Calves Healthy

Last month’s column laid out some of the recommended practices that 11 large-scale research studies said were the most effective for reducing preweaning death loss in beef calves worldwide. Over half of those research studies had been done in Canada, but only three of those Canadian studies had been done in the past 20 years. Canada’s a huge place, and herd sizes and calving dates have shifted over the past two decades. So, which calving practices work best for Canadian cow-calf producers in 2026? Claire Windeyer of ACER Consulting and coworkers from the University of Calgary and Western College of Veterinary Medicine surveyed producers participating in the Canadian Cow-Calf Surveillance Network (C3SN) to identify on-farm practices that reduced the risk of scours, pneumonia and mortality outbreaks in Canadian beef calves (Benchmarking management practices that impact calf morbidity and mortality in Canadian beef cow-calf herds; (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106725). What

AWC Helps Women Navigate Hard Moments in Agriculture

AWC creates a supportive space where women in agriculture learn to navigate difficult conversations with clarity, courage, and connection.

Essential Pre-Season Seeder Prep Every Farmer Should Do

A well prepared seeder can make or break your planting season—here’s how to get yours running at peak performance before you hit the field.