Hursh Comment

By August, the federal government plans to pass legislation strengthening Plant Breeders’ Rights so that this nation will finally conform to the international UPOV’91 treaty. The National Farmers Union continues to raise alarm bells over the change and their fear mongering resonates with those who like to view farmers as the victims of big business. …

There are no easy answers, no quick fixes to the grain logistics backlog, but make no mistake, the primary source of the problem lies with the railways. They haven’t supplied enough cars and locomotives to match the huge crop that needs to move. Even if they allocated more resources to grain movement, some observers say …

Slowly, but steadily, the anti-GMO forces are winning. For evidence, you need to look no further than the decision by General Mills to make its original Cheerios non-GMO. Social media has become the dominant public relations weapon and the anti-science crowd used it to effectively target Cheerios over the past year. The ramifications may seem …

Notice to A&W. You have lost my business. Even though you have rural restaurants that I’ve often patronized, I’ll try my best to eat elsewhere from now on. Major players in the food business are increasingly making decisions that have no basis in science. A&W says their burgers are better because the beef has been …

“We’re getting old you know,” reminds my long-time friend who is helping with seeding. The comment usually comes at the end of a long day or during a task that’s particularly taxing. “Naw, we aren’t old yet,” I say in response. “In ten or 15 years, we may start to be getting old, but right …

Ask a room filled with grain farmers if their costs are rising and most will reply in the affirmative. Some producers who track their financials very carefully will tell you that despite historically strong grain prices, margins are tight in their 2013 crop budgets. There’s a cost – price squeeze. But most of the traditional …

“Land prices are way too high, far beyond productive value.” How many times have you heard people say this or something like it? As Earl Smith of groPartners Farm and Land Management pointed out in a session at Crop Production Week in Saskatoon, this has always been true. Even when land prices were much lower, …

The number jumps off the page. Saskatchewan’s realized net farm income for 2011 is estimated by Statistics Canada at a record-shattering $2.8 billion. The previous record was in 2010 at nearly $1.8 billion. While Saskatchewan’s farm income has never been better, Alberta is struggling. The difference – Saskatchewan’s farm economy is dominated by grain, while …

As a consultant / journalist / farmer, I’ve offered lots of opinions over the years. Looking back, some have been spectacularly wrong. Farmers naturally want analysis of the current trends in the industry. But they also want to hear extrapolations in an attempt to understand how the future might unfold. In the late 90’s, before …

When you run the numbers, there are some surprises in the profitability of this year’s crops. Flax is more profitable than canola. And lentil returns are in the basement along with barley and oats. Every farm has different numbers – different yields, different costs and often a different selling price. But if you use aggregate …

Throughout the massive beef recall, the largest in Canadian history, XL Foods has had no face and therefore no soul. There has been no company official to face the media and answer questions, no one for the general public to identify with. It’s in sharp contrast to the strategy employed by Michael McCain during Maple …

It’s an exciting time for grain farmers on the Canadian Prairies. Most areas up here have a good crop coming along, while drought conditions across much of the U.S. are causing a dramatic increase in prices. We like to be cautious noting that the crop is a long way from the bin and that high …