That’s the basis of a University of Manitoba study looking at the wellness of producers themselves as one of many angles of farm sustainability.

“Nothing functions in isolation on the farm,” said Meagan King, an assistant professor in the University of Manitoba’s animal science department.

King spoke during the Sustainability of Canadian Agriculture 2025 virtual conference, held March 4-6. She’s one of several researchers leading the university’s Leveraging Ecosystems to transform Agriculture on the Prairies (LEAP) program.

WHY IT MATTERS: Farm sustainability includes the wellness of the farming family and its ability to sustain the farm over generations.

LEAP’s overarching goal is to explore agriculture intensification strategies and farming systems that use technology and nature-based tools to reduce emissions, capture carbon and help the ag sector mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change, the project’s web page says.

King’s branch of the project, which she co-leads with professor Kyle Bobiwash, involves talking to farmers to gauge how farming practices affect them, animals and the land, and to get input on producer priorities.

It’s an identity many farmers claim for themselves. It includes production and economics, but also involves things like self-reliance, providing for one’s family, continuing the farm legacy and even relates to the tidiness of the farm.

“There’s a lot of pride that comes with being a good farmer, but there’s also a lot of pressure,” King said. “Feelings of failure can arise if a farmer is unable to manage every single degree of the farm to a certain standard that they’re holding themselves to.”

Perceived failures can feel like a threat to the farmer’s identity. Criticisms of how a farm does things or being forced to change can also threaten farmers’ concept of self.

“A lot of farmers see themselves as stewards of the land,” King said. “If the public is questioning their methods or even if a farmer is having an internal conflict of what they want to, versus what they actually can do, that can create problems.”

Succession and sustainability

Farm succession planning is another human-centred aspect of sustainability, King noted.

“There have been studies that have looked at having a person identified as the identified successor (which) has the ability to reduce the uncertainty for the current farmer,” King said. “It also increases that incentive to make changes, even if they’re laborious ones.”

This could include starting more sustainable farming practices.

Succession is a famously tricky topic. One in five Canadian farms have a transition plan in place, said Heather Watson, executive director of Farm Management Canada, during a talk on succession at the 2025 Ag in Motion farm show in Saskatchewan.

She also noted what she called the succession effect.

When a farm has identified a successor, “you think, ‘OK, all my blood, sweat and tears are going towards this person or these people,’” Watson said.

When a farm hasn’t identified a successor, “maybe you start to feel a little more tired, and you start to maybe not take as many risks because you don’t have that many years to make up for it if something goes awry,” she added.

Farmers care about soil health and water quality, but at the end of the day, investing in these can be expensive, King said in an interview.

Whether a farm is able to establish a succession plan can often come down to family dynamics. It can also be influenced by the farmer’s perceived level of self-efficacy — their belief in their own ability to do what needs to be done to get a desired outcome.

Under the LEAP program, graduate student Jess Goodwin is interviewing farmers about succession and self-efficacy.

Doctoral student Esther Adigun, meanwhile, will explore other areas like mental wellness, social networks and how farmers feel supported through their communities and families.

King said co-leader Bobiwash would also like to put some farmers directly in contact with policy makers.

“One of the roles we could play as researchers is, like, elevate the farmers’ voices and make sure that they are at the table,” King said. “Commodity groups are at the table, but it doesn’t hurt to have a few more … farmers who are being heard.”

To learn more about participating in LEAP program research, farmers can contact Meagan King at meagan.king@umanitoba.ca.

The post Farm sustainability means farmer wellness too appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

But recently, online health critics have put oats in their crosshairs.

So, which is it? Are oats a heart-healthy hero or a dietary villain? Let’s clear up the confusion with a closer look at this Prairie-grown cereal crop.

It all starts with the groat

The whole grain form of oats is dubbed a groat — the point where bran, germ and endosperm are all still intact. The differences you see in the grocery store come down to how much the oat has been cut, steamed, rolled or pre-cooked. Understanding these differences can help you choose the right fuel for your day.

Hulless, or naked oats

Hulless oats, bred to naturally shed their outer hull during harvest, include the whole oat kernel and can be cooked just like rice or barley. They take about 30 to 40 minutes to simmer and have a pleasant, chewy texture, ideal for hearty grain bowls or soups. You can find this specialty oat direct from growers or in specialty or health food stores.

Steel-cut oats

Steel-cut oats are groats chopped into two or three pieces using steel blades. They have a nutty flavour and hearty, chewy texture, even after cooking for 20 to 30 minutes. Because of their dense structure, they digest slowly, providing steady energy and long-lasting fullness.

Rolled oats

Rolling oats into flakes is a century old technique. The first rolled oats were much thicker and less uniform than the large flake oats of today, just what our great-grandparents needed for long-lasting fuel. Modern processing uses precise steaming and rolling techniques to produce oat flakes in three common sizes:

• Large flake or traditional old-fashioned oats: Large flake oats are whole oat groats that have been steamed and rolled the least. These are the thickest, most intact rolled oats you’ll find and take about five to eight minutes to cook. Because of their hearty texture, they tend to digest more slowly, providing steady energy and long-lasting staying power.
• Quick oats: Quick oats are cut into smaller pieces and rolled thinner than large flake oats. They cook in about one to three minutes and create a softer, creamier texture. While they are still a whole grain, they digest more quickly than large flake oats.
• Instant oats: Instant oats are the ultimate convenience food. They are often made from quick oats that have been pre-cooked and dried before packaging. This extra processing allows them to soften almost immediately when hot water is added, but it also means they digest very rapidly. Many flavoured instant oats are also packaged with added sugar and salt.

Size the secret to oats

When choosing your oat, it’s best to consider not only how quickly they cook but also how they’re handled by your body. Think of it like the difference between eating a whole apple versus drinking a glass of apple juice. Both come from the same source, but your body processes them very differently.

The apple requires chewing and time for your digestive system to break down fibre, leading to a slow and steady release of energy. The juice is already processed, so the energy hits your bloodstream almost all at once.

Oats work the same way. The more intact the grain, the longer it takes to digest, providing slow, steady energy.

In addition to choosing larger oats, you boost nutrition further by adding extra fibre, fats and protein with things like a scoop of Greek yogurt, nut butter, nuts and seeds and fresh or frozen fruit. This turns a simple bowl of oats into a balanced meal with true staying power.

Why your heart loves oats

The well-researched magic of oats lies in a soluble fibre called beta-glucan. Since the 1960s, researchers have studied its unique ability to support heart health.

In 2010, Health Canada officially recognized the relationship between oat fibre and lower cholesterol, making oats one of the few foods with a scientifically proven health claim for reducing a risk factor for heart disease.

Beta-glucan works by forming a gel during digestion that slows the movement of food through the gut, helps steady blood sugar, lowers LDL cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein, or the “bad” cholesterol that builds up in blood vessels) and promotes fullness. It’s also a prebiotic, helping to feed the good gut bacteria that keep our digestive and immune systems strong.

Beyond porridge: Five ways to eat more oats

If your only experience with oats is a steaming bowl at breakfast, you’re missing out. Visit the OatsEveryday.com website, run by the Prairie Oats Growers Association, and you’ll find plenty of other meal options.

Oats can be the be star:

• in baked goods,
• as a binder in meatballs or burgers,
• for thickness and added fibre in smoothies,
• for convenient energy balls, great for the truck or hockey rink,
• as a gluten free breading instead of bread crumbs, or
• like barley or rice for delicious grain bowls.

Oats aren’t a villain. It’s a Prairie-grown whole grain with decades of solid research behind it. The key is choosing the right size and building a balanced bowl. Here are some recipes to help you do just that.

Homemade instant oatmeal mix

Try these homemade instant oats instead of store-bought instant oat packs. They’re made with large flake oats, flax and just a touch of sugar for a fibre-rich, budget-friendly breakfast that tastes great and keeps you full longer.

Makes: 14 servings

Ingredients

• 6 cups large flake oats, divided

• 1/3 cup ground flax

• 1/3 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tbsp cinnamon

Directions

Combine 2 1/2 cups of large flake oats, flax, sugar, salt and cinnamon in food processor. Pulse into a coarse meal.

Mix with remaining 3 1/2 cups of large flake oats.

Store mix in a well sealed container.

Preparation

Mix 1/2 cup mix with 1 cup of water in a microwaveable bowl.

Heat on high for a minute. Stir and repeat about two to three times until desired doneness.

Top with nut butter, yogurt, nuts, seeds and fruit for a satisfying bowl.

Source: www.gettystewart.com

Berry and oat smoothie

Healthy breakfast smoothies made with oats are delicious, satisfying and filling. Give your busy mornings a boost with a fibre and protein-packed smoothie that you can drink on the go.

Makes: One smoothie

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup rolled oats

• 1 cup milk (dairy or non-dairy)

• 1 tbsp honey or agave

• 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt

• 1 cup frozen berries

Directions

Add all ingredients to a blender. Cover tightly and pulse to chop fruit, then puree until smooth.

Taste and adjust sweetener, if necessary.

Serve immediately. (Note: smoothies will thicken on standing.)

Source: OatsEveryday.com

Barbecue bean and oat burgers

With bold flavours and a satisfying texture from the steel cut oats, these vegetarian burgers will satisfy the whole crowd.

Makes: Six patties

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp canola oil, divided
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, grated
• pinch of salt
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 cup steel cut oats, cooked
• 1 can (19 oz) black, pinto or kidney beans, drained
• 1/3 cup barbeque sauce
• 1 1/2 cup quick oats

Directions

In a skillet, heat a tbsp of canola oil over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for five to sixe minutes, or until softened.

Add garlic and carrot and sauté for about a minute. Stir in spices and steel cut oats. Cook, stirring, until oats are well incorporated.

In a mixing bowl, mash the drained beans and mix with the barbeque sauce. Add the cooked oat mixture and quick oats. Mix well.

Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes to firm up.

Form into six patties, about a half-inch thick.

Heat remaining oil in a skillet and cook patties for approximately five minutes per side, turning only once.

Serve on buns with your favourite toppings.

Source: OatsEveryday.com

The post In defence of eating oats appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“Millions of people will die,” said Andy Harrington.

Governments are drastically slashing their international development assistance budgets to focus on domestic concerns and military spending.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that global funding for humanitarian aid fell by a third in 2025.

“It’s really quite catastrophic,” said Harrington.

WHY IT MATTERS: Millions of people will die.

Harrington said he was standing outside a childhood malnutrition centre in South Sudan earlier this year where there was a lineup of children suffering from hunger.

“We’re not talking, ‘we missed a meal here;’ we’re talking seriously acute malnutrition with consequences for life,” he said.

As he was taking in that disturbing scene, he was informed that the centre would be shutting down in 24 hours with no prior notice.

It was one of 1,100 centres being shuttered in South Sudan alone, all casualties of budget cuts at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The Lancet, a medical journal published in the United Kingdom, estimates that 14 million people will die by 2030 because of the USAID belt-tightening.

But it is not just USAID. The UK, Germany, the European Union and many other governments around the world are also chopping their humanitarian aid budgets.

The Canadian government announced in its 2025 budget that it will be reducing foreign aid spending by $2.7 billion between 2026 and 2030.

Harrington has been told that most of the cuts will be to long-term development programs rather than emergency assistance.

In the meantime, global hunger is spreading at a pace not seen in decades.

“Gaza crossed into famine, following Sudan, where famine started in 2024 and grew in 2025,” he said.

“These are stark reminders of the human cost of inaction, and how quickly hunger can escalate when the world chooses to look away.”

The number of acutely food insecure people nearly tripled to 295 million people in 2024 from 105 million in 2016, according to the Global Report on Food Crises.

“We get lost in the numbers, but these are real human beings,” said Harrington.

“These are mothers and fathers with children that they’re watching starve.”

Harrington fully expects that the number of acutely food insecure people grew in 2025 and will only get worse in 2026 as more funding cuts take effect.

He believes it is not too late for Canada to reverse course and drop the looming cuts to its international aid budget.

“Before we make these cuts, we have to question ourselves as a country and say, ‘who do we want to be?’ ” he said.

“When others are stepping back, we need to be stepping forward and standing with the world.”

Future funding

Harrington understands that Canadians are facing a cost-of-living crisis at home, but he noted that the average inflation rate in the countries where the Canadian Foodgrains Bank works is 45 per cent.

That is a harrowing statistic for a family living on a few dollars per week.

He worries what impact the government cuts will have on his organization, which receives about 40 per cent of its funding from Ottawa and the remainder from private donations.

In the 2024-25 budget year, the organization provided $74.6 million of assistance to 1.18 million people overseas.

He doesn’t anticipate much of a funding reduction for the upcoming fiscal year, but he is concerned about future years as the proposed government cuts take effect.

Harrington said it is going to be hard for organizations such as his to fill the massive gaps that have been created in humanitarian aid programs because they are already overstretched.

He is grateful that private donors appear to be stepping up to help fill the void.

However, if governments don’t reverse course in a few short years, people around the world will be asking themselves, “what have we done?” when they turn on their televisions.

“The pictures are going to be horrific,” said Harrington.

He is confident those disturbing pictures will trigger a wave of public empathy and support.

However, it will be far more costly in terms of both money and human lives to address the horror at that stage rather than preventing it from happening today.

The Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a partnership of 15 churches and church agencies that works with local partners in 37 countries.

The post Global humanitarian aid slashed by one-third appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The two levels of government will provide $300,000 in total to the program through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

WHY IT MATTERS: Farmer mental health has gained considerable traction as advocates look to spread awareness of both the problem and resources for farmers who are struggling with stress, anxiety, depression and other mental health problems.

The continued commitment means farmers and their families can keep getting free, confidential help when they need support with mental health or stress, Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn said.

“The MFWP has proven its value through measurable outcomes, helping reduce stress, prevent burnout, and provide tools and support for producers to manage the demands of modern agriculture,” he said.

Heath MacDonald, federal Agriculture and Agri-Food minister, noted that farmers and their families often face unique challenges that can prove difficult for their mental health. By supporting the MFWP, he said, more producers can access help when they need it most.

“This investment is about strengthening resilience and helping our agricultural community thrive in an increasingly complex environment,” he said in the release.

Farming keeps getting tougher and farmers today deal with more complicated problems, said Gerry Friesen, the program’s chief administrative officer. That’s why the MFWP was set up.

There’s no cost for counselling, and the support fits around busy schedules, he added.

The investment boost from the federal and provincial governments show just how needed this service is, Friesen said.

“Ensuring timely, confidential access to mental health services is essential to helping farmers, farm families and agricultural workers stay resilient through the pressures and uncertainties of modern agriculture. This continued partnership strengthens our ability to be there for the people who feed our province and our country.”

“I always say that it’s a good news and bad news story. The bad news is that we need it, but the good news is that people are using it,” Friesen said.

“It’s delightful to see the Province of Manitoba step up behind them and give them that kind of support,” she said at the MFWP booth at Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon on Jan. 22. “It’s absolutely critical work.”

With the two-year extension, MFWP will receive $150,000 each year for 2026-27 and 2027-28.

The post Farmer mental health support extended in Manitoba appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“If you think that you need healthcare, we are there for you. Just be patient with us, as we might be running short staffed and dealing with other emergencies,” said Dr. Nichelle Desilets.

Desilets, who practices in Neepawa, is president of healthcare advocacy group Doctors Manitoba.

It’s typical to see reduced healthcare hours and service ability during this time of the year, Desilets said. This may be because staff are taking vacation or because of illness.

“Physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers are humans, and we get the flu as well,” she said.

There isn’t much redundancy in rural Manitoban healthcare, so it often takes just one sick call to destabilize a small hospital.

According to Doctors Manitoba’s analysis, some regional emergency rooms are open more hours compared to last December. That includes some eastern areas like Gimli, Pine Falls and Pinawa. These emergency rooms may still be operating on limited hours, but less so than other regions of the province.

In the west, Killarney’s emergency room is not open 24 hours like it would usually be, Desilets said. It’s operating on limited hours.

Desilets advised people to plan ahead if travelling into a new area where they’re unfamiliar with the healthcare resources — for example, looking up the nearest ER and its schedule and the second-nearest emergency room, or finding alternatives like walk-in clinics or minor injury clinics.

On the road, or if experiencing an emergency at home, people should call 911, Desilets added. However, some areas of the province have an alternative emergency number — another thing to research if travelling.

Schedules for all health regions are posted on Doctors Manitoba’s Ruralcare.ca page.

She noted people can expect longer wait times at emergency rooms.

The post Rural Manitoba to expect lean holiday healthcare appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

For many folks the holidays can be a difficult season. Surrounded by merriment, many people experience loneliness, heartache for previously strong but now broken family connections, or the emptiness felt from the loss of loved ones. Several farming families I have coached have found Christmastime to be difficult as they are still navigating farm transition conversations with some unresolved conflicts. Even for those who have family and friends to spend time with, gatherings focused on desserts and gift-giving can’t distract a farmer who is worried about the price of wheat or how to rewrite the will. Just when things have slowed down and you are reflecting on how stressful harvest was because of the ill-timed rain, someone wishes you “peace and joy.” The last thing you likely need is someone telling you “it’s the most wonderful time of year” while handing you a holiday card full of smiling faces.

What is it about joy that makes it difficult to feel?

I can’t say I’ve met a lot of farmers who have talked openly about moments of joy, I think because farming is so unpredictable in nature. In her book Atlas of the Heart, which is essentially an encyclopedia of emotions, Brene Brown defines joy as a “feeling of deep spiritual connection, pleasure and appreciation.” This is an emotion that a farmer may have difficulty embracing at times, given the challenges of running a business at the mercy of Mother Nature. Brown adds that joy is “the most vulnerable human emotion” because people have a hard time allowing themselves to “lean into good news [and] wonderful moments … because we believe if we allow ourselves to feel joy, we are inviting disaster.” Brown calls this “foreboding joy” — the idea that in a moment of potential happiness, we are waiting for something bad to happen. You may have experienced this at harvest time when your crop is coming in and you are seeing better yields than you expected. You want to feel hopeful in the moment — maybe even happy — but instead you think about and anticipate something bad happening that could affect your bottom line.

What if, this holiday season, we give ourselves a break from the pressure to feel joy if it’s not working for us? One alternative could be focusing on contentment, a state of being that Brown calls “the feeling of completeness, appreciation and ‘enoughness’ that we experience when our needs are satisfied.” Brown explains that “contentment is about satisfaction, and that, ironically, is an unsatisfying idea for a lot of people.” In a world that seems obsessed with over-the-top moments of happiness and seeking out all of the ways to buy and experience these moments, it can be hard to allow ourselves to feel just … fulfilled, not more or less. Think about the time you saw your neighbour’s new combine and thought, ‘Wouldn’t I be happier if I had one?’ Brown concludes with “If we’re not satisfied with our life as a whole, does this mean we need to go and get and do the stuff that will make us satisfied … or does this mean we stop taking for granted what we have so we can experience real contentment and enoughness?”

I have seen many farm families experience contentment together after their second family meeting where we facilitate dialogue. Any tensions felt at the first meeting have decreased thanks to us addressing major conflicts that were previously not being talked about constructively. Everyone has had his or her voice heard, has expressed thoughts and feelings openly and has been able to share a hope or vision for the farm. There are no unrealistic outlooks giving false hope or pressure to be happy with anticipated changes to come. What is felt by those in the meeting is an appreciation for where the farm is at now, even without the new combine, and a sense of sufficiency because the family has realized keeping the farm and family intact is more important than buying the newest model.

Here are some ways to feel more content this holiday season:

Share the tough moments

When someone reaches out to wish you that “Merry Christmas” don’t be afraid to admit that it was a tough year. Just because it’s implied that the holidays are meant to be joyful, you can give yourself grace if that’s not how it feels.

Celebrate the small wins

You may not have figured out the perfect crop rotation for that new seed variety but you got through another growing season in good health. There is so much to appreciate on the farm when things are working well, even when the new or bigger goals are not yet accomplished.

Practice gratitude

I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but research shows gratitude can improve sleep, mental health, physical well-being and more. Robert Emmons, a professor of psychology at the University of California, explains that gratitude helps us appreciate what we have instead of seeking out new things to make us happy. He writes, “Gratitude makes us appreciate the value of something … we’re less likely to take it for granted.” While this practice may seem oversimplified, research has shown that adopting small habits of expressing gratitude, individually or in teams, can have a big impact.

The post Mandatory holiday joy a valid struggle appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“We’ve heard loud and clear from local municipalities that they rely on EMRs (emergency medical responders) to deliver front-line emergency services and keep people in the communities,” Premier Wab Kinew said in a Nov. 26 news release.

WHY IT MATTERS: Rural municipalities say they have struggled for years to recruit and retain an adequate healthcare workers.

Emergency medical responders are “trained healthcare professionals who provide immediate, life-saving care in emergency situations,” according to healthcareersmanitoba.ca. They work alongside paramedics.

The province announced a $5,000 bursary for students who complete the training program. Graduates who receive the bursary will enter a one-year return-of-service agreement to help staff emergency services and “encourage them to put down roots and build a career in rural Manitoba,” the Nov. 26 release said.

The province also committed to working with allied health leadership to support emergency medical responders who want to upgrade their skills to become primary care paramedics and to help recruit and retain more paramedics.

CritiCare Paramedic Academy is conducting in-community emergency medical responder training in Arborg this year.

The post Manitoba to boost rural medical responders appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Without the money though, none of the exciting stuff gets done, and while hours wrestling with numbers may not inspire movie action sequences, the details of funding — where the money comes from, who’s all paying how much, how it’s used and to whose benefit and any vested interests of funders — can easily lead to organizational strife or accusations of bias, if not in the research results, then in what kind of research actually gets done.

We can see this in agricultural research in Canada. There’s public and farm-group spearheaded research. But there’s also a feeling those innovation sources are becoming co-opted. That includes a perception that big name companies increasingly are taking over the research sphere, or that their tendrils increasingly dig into even ostensibly neutral research. On the other side of the ledger, there’s the feeling government and political agenda may have their hands laid too heavily on how research funds are allocated.

Farmers, as the Canadian Wheat Research Coalition recently noted after announcing a third-party review of Canada’s wheat breeding system, put a lot of their own money back into research. They deserve reassurance that the research being done in their name actually serves their farms, without worry about recouping costs or driving profit for the organizations doing the researching.

There’s a burning need for innovation in Canadian agriculture, and corporate names can bring a lot of resources to that table. There’s no doubt big agribusiness has a lot of R&D weight to throw around, and that can result in more targeted attention into cutting edge innovation.

The problem, of course, is that not everything worth doing checks the boxes for potential profit.

‘We choose not to’

Back in September, our reporter Jeff Melchior wrote that progress was finally being made on a vaccine for bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB). MSX-1 didn’t quite convey the protection of the standard BCG vaccine in mice, but it also didn’t twig a false positive during TB testing — a main obstacle for herd vaccination.

In a funny bit of serendipity, the same week Melchior submitted his article, I floated to the top of the library waiting list for Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection. The book, the latest by John Green, outlines the history, changing social perception, medical evolution, societal impacts and current state of tuberculosis.

Green took readers through Robert Koch’s discovery of the tuberculosis-causing bacteria — he’s the same guy who discovered that certain bacteria cause certain diseases — and his late-19th-century development of tuberculin, which a few decades later became the foundation of tuberculin skin testing. Likewise, Green talked about the live vaccine BCG and its development and adoption through the 1920s.

I had just read those terms in Melchior’s article. We still use tuberculin skin tests. BCG, meanwhile, is used in parts of the world, although it isn’t standard for human use in Canada or the U.S. and, because of the aforementioned false positives, has been a problem for livestock vaccination. It also doesn’t work very well, as vaccines go. Government of Canada materials put its efficacy of preventing TB at about 51 per cent, rising to 78 per cent for newborns being protected against meningeal TB.

To sum up, it’s not that effective and has a geriatric pedigree. And for all those flaws, it remains the only vaccine, for human or livestock, that we’ve got.

It seems mind-blowing that, in the technological age of gene editing, PCR tests, mRNA vaccines and artificial intelligence, we are still using tools that date back to the dawn of germ theory.

Why has the timeline been so sluggish? Most in Canada or the U.S. might be forgiven for thinking that new tools are simply not needed anymore. After all, the landscape is dotted by now abandoned sanitariums that emptied out with the advent of antibiotics. Today, with the unfortunate exception of some Indigenous communities, most of us think of tuberculosis as something out of a period drama rather than a real threat.

But the argument that tuberculosis and bovine TB no longer warrant substantial research attention doesn’t hold water. For one thing, as Green notes, it’s not a thing of the past. It has, in fact, historically held the spot as our deadliest infectious disease year upon year, except for the pandemic years of COVID-19.

According to the World Health Organization, tuberculosis killed 1.25 million people and sickened 10.8 million in 2023 alone. The agency also noted it was “a major cause of deaths related to antimicrobial resistance,” a boogeyman that health and veterinary officials worldwide have flagged for human health risk.

In Canada, Indigenous populations still had a TB rate of 26.4 per 100,000 in 2010, according to government statistics.

That doesn’t sound like a thing that’s not worth researching solutions for.

When it comes to bovine tuberculosis, there’s the argument that current monitoring and eradication systems are being effective in keeping infected animals out of the food chain. To be fair, the net of abattoir testing has successfully caught infected animals in recent years, the most recent being found in Manitoba this summer.

For those who have had herds depopulated or operations disrupted by quarantine though — not to mention the general industry anxiety of trade disruptions — they probably would have appreciated a more robust toolbox with some options developed in the last half-century.

Green suggests cost-effectiveness as a much more insidious reasoning than lack of need. There is an obvious, compassionate reason to throw investment at tuberculosis research, but not so much of a profit-based one. Those millions that still die of tuberculosis are largely in poorer countries. Corporately developed solutions have to pay for themselves. The math doesn’t pencil out.

“We know how to live in a world without tuberculosis, but we choose not to live in that world,” Green writes.

Bringing it back to Canadian agriculture, the issue of public versus private funding is an undercurrent in areas like the plant breeding space and dovetails with questions around food sovereignty.

We do need to build an environment where companies feel comfortable investing in innovation and where new companies can find fertile, profitable ground to grow and thrive. At the same time, farmer interest, divorced from motivations of profit, needs to have room to keep at least some kind of hand on the wheel.

Like most things, it’s a balance, one that gets increasingly hard to hold when public budget belts tighten or if public funds start to come with ideological strings. Good farmer-interested research is important, and needs to be protected.

The post ‘Everything is tuberculosis,’ ag funding debates included appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

She was part of a panel discussion at the Animal Health Canada Forum in Ottawa Sept. 25, where panelists relayed their experiences preparing for H5N1 infections in dairy cattle and how those lessons could be applied to foot and mouth disease (FMD) preparedness in the future.

WHY IT MATTERS: Preventing zoonotic disease like HPAI or foot and mouth disease from getting a Canadian foodhold is a major focus of animal agriculture, government and veterinarians.

HPAI has still not reached dairy cattle in Canada, but governments and industry groups want to be prepared if it does. Furness said much of the information coming out of the United States was unreliable, meaning the CFIA had to come up with a “nimble” plan.

She said one of the most important aspects of that plan is communication with familiar, trusted sources.

“I think the one benefit of starting from scratch and then building from the ground up (is) we can bring everybody along together in that awareness journey, in that planning journey,” Furness said.

She said this required “a lot of communication, a lot of patience and a lot of asking questions.”

“At the end of the day, our relationships are strengthened. We have that kind of bonding trust, and we have an ongoing communication that will enable us to work through these together.”

Joining forces against disease

Cheryl Schroeder, senior advisor of animal health at Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC), said establishing contact with stakeholders quickly and forming groups with people who already knew one another helped create a space where everyone could stay up to date and speak freely.

Similarly, Furness said having Animal Health Canada as a facilitator made communication easier.

“For me, that actually took a lot of weight off my mind, because I wasn’t having to say, okay, now, Cathy, you gotta make sure you call DFC, CCA (Canadian Cattle Association). I didn’t have to run through all that because (AHC) took care of it for me.”

The panelists explained how these lessons in collaboration and unity could be applied to future biosecurity endeavours like FMD management.

“I think communication is going to be our foundation of a successful response,” said Furness.

“We’re communicating really positively between government, provinces and territories and industry associations, but now I think we need to really focus on how do we get to our boots on the ground, our private practitioners, our producers, our service providers?”

Andrea Genereaux, director of sustainability and consumer expectations with the Dairy Processors Association of Canada, said prior familiarity with threats like HPAI helps to inform rational decision-making.

“We haven’t had to deal with it, right? And so, foot and mouth disease, it’s the same thing. We know it’s a disease, but it’s new to us. And when something is new, it’s really scary.”

“It’s a lot easier to communicate with people when you’re not in crisis mode and when they’re not having kind of knee-jerk reactions.”

This involves identifying producers’ top concerns and finding as many answers as possible.

She added getting regular, weekly updates from AHC has always been helpful.

Lessons from the U.S.

California Department of Food and Agriculture veterinarian Natalie Ward joined the panel virtually to speak about her experience dealing with HPAI in dairy cattle in California. She said preparation for the disease was initially difficult.

“Dairymen were pretty dismissive about this disease,” Ward said. “Originally, the information coming out of Texas wasn’t complete. Even in other states, we struggled to get pretty good information about what worked and what didn’t.”

Something she said helped was creating a division of responsibilities between the federal and state level.

“What really matters is that (the USDA) were able to take care of the avian side and the state was able to focus on the dairy side.”

In the end, Ward said most dairymen in the state came out with a favourable experience, “with a few notable exceptions.”

Furness said one of the most important steps going forward will be empowering producers and other key stakeholders to take the first steps in communication.

“They need to know how to reach in to either provincial or federal governments,” she said. “They have to understand that it’s coming from a place where we want to help. It’s not punitive.”

The post Bird flu lessons help foot and mouth disease prevention appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

We watched as the miniaturized, fictional mammals scampered across night-time kitchens in the televised public service announcements of our youth, left peanut butter footprints on plates and had confrontations with house cats.

“That looked really real, but you knew it couldn’t be true, didn’t you?” the narrator would break in as the background faded to an African landscape.

It was a message we got from our teachers, parents, cartoons and, yes, the now nostalgia-laced clip from Concerned Children’s Advertisers: Ask questions. Don’t believe everything you see on a screen.

Given how adept artificial intelligence has become at generating text, photos and video, the message is arguably more relevant today than when it was running between BopIt! ads and the Kool-Aid Man.

Sources who spoke to our reporter Jeff Melchior for his recent cover story on misinformation and disinformation would likely agree.

“There’s so much information available, but what is right and applicable? That’s very difficult to decide, given that so much information is there,” University of Guelph researcher Ataharul Chowdhury said.

The very same day as we were preparing that article for publication, major news outlets reported a police raid on the compound of “Queen” Romana Didulo and her faithful — a movement so successful in QAnon-style misinformation and disinformation they’ve convinced followers that Didulo is sovereign of the “Kingdom of Canada.”

Just days prior, a CBC report noted the growing problem of AI-generated or altered severe weather images, leading to Environment and Climate Change Canada getting erroneous reports. Storm chasers cited in that article noted that the phenomenon was impacting their credibility.

Anyone who has dipped a toe into social media has likely seen the proliferation of fake content floating around online. It ranges from blatantly AI photos with too many fingers to online classifieds listings that are actually scams, to “screenshots” of sensational (and very fake) headlines edited with what appears to be the header and format of major news outlets .

A Google search and 20 seconds of due diligence quickly uncovers that no such article exists. On social media though, many keyboards get tapping and share buttons get clicked for every digital literate who takes the extra effort to verify. Each one of those keyboard warriors can spread the proverbial misinformation infection alarmingly fast.

Social media, by its nature, is prone to echo chambers. It feeds you content similar to what you’ve already engaged with and lets you talk to the people you’ve decided you want to talk to.

It also tends to aggregate people with similar interests or worldviews. That’s great when connecting with other people who like hiking, not so much when the common interest in question is an extremist view or a conspiracy theory.

Cami Ryan, who, in her off hours away from her role with Bayer Global, is an advocate warning against misinformation and disinformation was clear: The people seeding disinformation have something to gain from it.

It’s often rooted in ideology, she noted, but it’s also business looking for recruits to exploit.

“People are making money or getting value from disinformation,” she told Melchior. “That’s 100 per cent how it is.”

It’s her view that farmers’ generally pragmatic approach to life might help them sort fact from fiction, but they still live in the online world, she cautioned.

The unfortunate truth is that some groups that thrive on mis/disinformation dangle hooks in the same spheres that farmers, who may have legitimate criticism and frustrations with the federal government, populate. It’s easy to poke holes in something we’re already inclined to disagree with. It’s much harder if the premise broadly aligns with a political, religious or social perspective that we subscribe to. Disinformation creators are well aware of that vulnerability.

Chowdhury, meanwhile, also pointed to a growing lack of trust in science, which he says leaves more room for misinformation to take root.

In agriculture, he linked that to growing corporate interest in things like agricultural research and extension hitting the perceived neutrality of scientific work.

It’s true that farmers may have some cynicism in that regard, although it’s not just corporate interests. Farmers are also miffed at what they see is a politically driven hyperfocus on climate change in publicly funded research.

He’s also right that farmers have seen a contraction in public or farm-group extension. Only weeks ago, the Canola Council of Canada cut its field agronomy team, saying that farmers could seek those services with private agronomists, companies or provincial extension staff (roles that have also been rolled back in certain provinces in recent years).

So what are farmers to do?

Technology is always adapting, and we are adapting in our interactions with it. Many of us have changed our cell phone behaviour, for instance, to protect ourselves from scams.

It is no longer uncommon for someone to say that they don’t answer calls from numbers they don’t know. They screen their text messages. They don’t click unsolicited links or give out personal information and, if they want to check if a message about a bill or account is valid, they contact their provider independently.

In the same way, as Melchior’s sources argue, we need to develop defences against misinformation and disinformation. That includes digital literacy (there are already farmer-facing programs for that on offer in Manitoba). It also involves a conscious decision to pay attention to what we’re seeing rather than taking it at face value.

Does it make sense? Where did it come from? Can you confirm that it came from there? Are there any details that seem out of place? Does a little independent research (from reputable sources) back up or contradict it?

Just like putting on a seat belt or deleting suspicious emails unread, these defences must be automatic, consistent and something you encourage in those around you as well.

The post Guarding against misinformation: Do you believe in house hippos? appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.