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Why Are Governments Attacking Farmers?

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To approach the massive protests in Germany, especially for those who’ve heard very little about this massive upheaval, it might help to set up the context.

2024 is already proving to be a year of disruption and protest.  64 countries representing half of all people on the planet will be voting in national elections.  Major elections will take place not just in the United States, but in the European Union, Russia, and in the world’s most populous democracy India.

Those conversations you’ve been having with only your most trusted cohorts, where you wonder how former friends and people you admire have become ideological combatants; are taking place all around the globe. We find ourselves identifying more and more people as either “far left” or “far right”. Even though we haven’t changed the way we think, we find we’ve also been identified by others as slipping into one of these “far” groups. Our sense of community and family are suffering and may not survive.

Why is this happening?

It comes down to where we choose to get information.

If you haven’t moved away from the legacy media yet, you’re far more likely to be disturbed by the growing numbers on the “far right”.  You simply can’t understand how so many people you know have fallen victim to conspiracy theories and populist leaders who are trying to take the reigns of power.

If you have moved on to learn about the world through long form podcasts and some of the many new information platforms that have emerged, you’ll most likely be swayed by reams of information ignored by legacy media.

For tens of millions this started with the pandemic. A few months into 2020, podcasters and information sites began to notice that the average age of those dying from covid was older than normal life expectancy, that 86% of those who died were obese, that doctors around the world were successfully treating covid with cheap, repurposed drugs, and that masking, social distancing, lockdowns, and eventually covid vaccines made almost no impact on the spread of covid.

People in this camp tried to persuade those close to them that covid wasn’t as dangerous as they were lead to believe. Many conversations became emotional and annoying. One one side, raised voices of those desperate to share information.  On the other side, perfectly intelligent people, informed by legacy media who had heard none of these things. Often they were told the opposite.  A great example is how legacy media labelled one of the safest, cheapest and most effective drugs in world history (the developers won the Nobel Prize for inventing ivermectin) as ‘horse de-wormer’.

New media and long form podcasters have found the situation surrounding covid is the same for most other urgent situations.  The inflation an energy crisis, the Russian attack of Ukraine, global warming (or climate change) and open border policies have only widened the information gap.

One side sees little reason to slow the movement of millions, or to slow the printing of money by governments unconcerned about sinking much, much further into debt. For this group the most important battles in the world are the fight to reduce carbon emissions and the war against Russia.

The other side sees a self inflicted inflation and energy crisis, a refusal to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, and a massive influx of immigrants beginning to cause societal upheaval.

As elections creep closer, the information gap is growing and the stakes are getting higher.

What does all this disruption and disunity have to do with massive demonstrations by German farmers?  If you are a legacy media follower there is no connection.  Legacy media outlets explain away this nation wide protest as farmers fighting against diesel fuel subsidies. By now, you should at least want to know what the podcasters and new media are reporting.  Jordan Peterson is in that camp.

Last week, the world famous Canadian podcaster spoke with German farmer Anthony Lee and journalist Eva Vlaardingerbroek.

Eva Vlaardingerbroek is a Dutch journalist and Anthony Lee has become outspoken in recent months as he followed news of farmers struggling all across Europe.  In the following videos (especially the longer one) the cause of these massive and spreading demonstrations will be explained by Eva, a new information reporter, and Anthony, a German farmer.

First a shorter video and for those with some more time their entire 100 minute long conversation.

From the YouTube channel of Jordan Peterson

A longer discussion on the ongoing farmers’ protest, the war on efficient agriculture, and net-zero goals creating excess electric vehicles while cutting off the generation of power.

This episode was recorded on January 15th, 2023

Dr. Peterson’s extensive catalog is available now on DailyWire+: https://bit.ly/3KrWbS8

After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

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Agriculture

Lacombe meat processor scores $1.2 million dollar provincial tax credit to help expansion

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Alberta’s government continues to attract investment and grow the provincial economy.

The province’s inviting and tax-friendly business environment, and abundant agricultural resources, make it one of North America’s best places to do business. In addition, the Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit helps attract investment that will further diversify Alberta’s agriculture industry.

Beretta Farms is the most recent company to qualify for the tax credit by expanding its existing facility with the potential to significantly increase production capacity. It invested more than $10.9 million in the project that is expected to increase the plant’s processing capacity from 29,583 to 44,688 head of cattle per year. Eleven new employees were hired after the expansion and the company plans to hire ten more. Through the Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit, Alberta’s government has issued Beretta Farms a tax credit of $1,228,735.

“The Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit is building on Alberta’s existing competitive advantages for agri-food companies and the primary producers that supply them. This facility expansion will allow Beretta Farms to increase production capacity, which means more Alberta beef across the country, and around the world.”

RJ Sigurdson, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation

“This expansion by Beretta Farms is great news for Lacombe and central Alberta. It not only supports local job creation and economic growth but also strengthens Alberta’s global reputation for producing high-quality meat products. I’m proud to see our government supporting agricultural innovation and investment right here in our community.”

Jennifer Johnson, MLA for Lacombe-Ponoka

The tax credit provides a 12 per cent non-refundable, non-transferable tax credit when businesses invest $10 million or more in a project to build or expand a value-added agri-processing facility in Alberta. The program is open to any food manufacturers and bio processors that add value to commodities like grains or meat or turn agricultural byproducts into new consumer or industrial goods.

Beretta Farms’ facility in Lacombe is a federally registered, European Union-approved harvesting and meat processing facility specializing in the slaughter, processing, packaging and distribution of Canadian and United States cattle and bison meat products to 87 countries worldwide.

“Our recent plant expansion project at our facility in Lacombe has allowed us to increase our processing capacities and add more job opportunities in the central Alberta area. With the support and recognition from the Government of Alberta’s tax credit program, we feel we are in a better position to continue our success and have the confidence to grow our meat brands into the future.”

Thomas Beretta, plant manager, Beretta Farms

Alberta’s agri-processing sector is the second-largest manufacturing industry in the province and meat processing plays an important role in the sector, generating millions in annual economic impact and creating thousands of jobs. Alberta continues to be an attractive place for agricultural investment due to its agricultural resources, one of the lowest tax rates in North America, a business-friendly environment and a robust transportation network to connect with international markets.

Quick facts

  • Since 2023, there are 16 applicants to the Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit for projects worth about $1.6 billion total in new investment in Alberta’s agri-processing sector.
  • To date, 13 projects have received conditional approval under the program.
    • Each applicant must submit progress reports, then apply for a tax credit certificate when the project is complete.
  • Beretta Farms has expanded the Lacombe facility by 10,000 square feet to include new warehousing, cooler space and an office building.
    • This project has the potential to increase production capacity by 50 per cent, thereby facilitating entry into more European markets.

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Agriculture

Unstung Heroes: Canada’s Honey Bees are not Disappearing – They’re Thriving

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By Peter Shawn Taylor

 

Canada’s Bee Apocalypse began in 2008. That was the year the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists (CAPA) first reported unusually high rates of winter bee colony losses. At 35 percent, the winter die-off that year was more than twice the normal 15 percent rate of attrition.

“Successive annual losses at [these] levels … are unsustainable by Canadian beekeepers,” the CAPA warned. This set off an avalanche of dire media reports that now appear on a regular basis. Among the many examples over the years: Huge Honey Bee Losses Across Canada” and “Canada’s bee colonies see worst loss in 20 years”. As each of these stories reminds readers, the disappearance of honey bees will doom our food supply, given their crucial role in pollinating crops including canola, soyabeans, apples, tomatoes and berries.

This year the black-and-yellow striped Cassandras are back at work, with headlines shouting “Scientists warn of severe honeybee losses in 2025” and “The Bees are Disappearing Again”. If it’s spring, the bees must be disappearing. Again.

It is, however, mathematically impossible for any species to be in an allegedly continuous and calamitous state of decline over nearly two decades and never actually reduce in number. For despite the steady supply of grave warnings regarding their imminent collapse, Canada’s bees are actually buzzing with life.

In 2007, according to Statistics Canada, there were 589,000 honey bee colonies in Canada,; in 2024, they reached 829,000, just shy of 2021’s all-time high of 834,000. Figuring a conservative summertime average of 50,000 bees per colony, that means there are approximately 12 billion more honey bees in Canada today than when the Bee Apocalypse first hit.

As for beekeepers, their numbers have also been growing steadily, and now stand at 15,430 – the most recorded since 1988. As CAPA’s report acknowledges, “the Canadian beekeeping industry has been resilient and able to grow, as proven by the overall increase in the number of bee colonies since 2007 despite the difficulties faced every winter.”

How is this possible? As is usually the case where there’s a need to be filled, the market holds the answer.

It is true that Canadian honey bees face a long list of threats and challenges ranging from mites and viruses to Canada’s harsh winters. It is also true that they perform a crucial service in pollinating crops, the value of which is estimated at $7 billion annually. However, this underscores the fact that bees are a livestock bred for a particular agricultural purpose, no different from cattle, chickens or pen-raised salmon. They are a business.

And in spite of its alleged status as an environmental totem, the honey bee isn’t even native to North America. It was first imported by European settlers for its honey-making abilities in the 1600s. Since then, it has been cultivated with deliberate commercial intent – allowing it to outcompete native pollinators such as bumble bees and butterflies even though it is poorly suited to the local winter. (This highlights the irony of all those native-plant pollinator gardens virtuously installed in neighbourhoods across Canada that end up supporting an invasive honey bee population.)

The significance of the bee economy means that when a beehive collapses over the winter for whatever reason, beekeepers have plenty of motivation to regenerate that colony as swiftly as possible. While hives can create their own queens over time, this can be a slow process given the cold Canadian climate. The better option is to simply buy a new queen from a warmer country.

In 2024, Canada imported 300,000 queens worth $12 million, mostly from the U.S., Italy, Australia and Chile. That works out to $40 each. In a miracle of nature, each of these new queens can lay up to 2,500 eggs a day, and each egg takes just two to three weeks to reach full maturity as a worker or drone. It is also possible to import entire “bee packages” that include a queen and 8,000 to 10,000 bees.

As a result, even a devastating 50 percent winter loss rate, something that has occurred only rarely in Canada in individual provinces and never nationally, isn’t necessarily fatal to any beekeeping operation. The beekeeper can purchase imported queens in April, split their existing colonies and be back in business by May or June.

And regardless of the honey bee’s apparent difficulties with Canada’s unforgiving weather (efforts are ongoing to breed a hardier Canadian variant), there’s no shortage of bees worldwide. Earlier this year, the German statistical agency reported the global beehive count rose from 69 million in 1990 to 102 million in 2023. Another study looking back to 1961 by New Zealand researchers found the number of honey bee colonies has “nearly doubled” over this time, while honey production has “almost tripled.” As the New Zealand report observes, “Headlines of honey bee colony losses have given an
impression of large-scale global decline of the bee population that endangers beekeeping, and that the world is on the verge of mass starvation.” Such claims, the authors note, are “somewhat inaccurate.” In truth, things have never been better for bees around the world.

Here in Canada, the ability to import queens from other countries, together with their prodigious reproductive capabilities, backstops the amazing resiliency of the bee industry. Yes, bees die. Sometimes in large numbers. But – and this is the bit the headlines always ignore – they come back. Because the market needs them to come back.

If there is a real threat to Canada’s bee population, it’s not environmental. It’s the risk that unencumbered trade in bees might somehow be disrupted by tariffs or similar bone-headed human interventions. Left on their own, bees have no problem keeping busy.

The longer, original version of this story first appeared at C2CJournal.ca

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