Insights and Stories of Melissa Jeffers-Bezan

May. 24, 2024 at 12:27 am CDT

In Western Canada, the land aches for water. Drought has plagued parts of the Prairies for years now. Water levels in rivers, lakes and producers’ dugouts have dropped. Grass in the summer looks the same as it does in the fall — brown, crunchy and dead. The concern lingers going […]

By Melissa Jeffers-Bezan

Apr. 12, 2024 at 9:48 am CDT

In 2001, foot-and-mouth disease decimated the U.K.’s beef industry. Millions of animals were culled after foot-and-mouth broke out in the country. According to the BBC, there were 2,000 cases of the disease, which resulted in entire farms having their animals slaughtered. Soldiers dug mass graves and piles of carcasses burned, […]

By Melissa Jeffers-Bezan

Mar. 8, 2024 at 10:17 am CST

Vancouver Island contains a variety of landscapes: beaches with shells and the corpses of moon jellyfish, the frigid water of the Pacific Ocean washing in and out. A rugged, snow-capped mountain range looms over the island. Redwood trees reach high into the sky, the forest floor sheltered and mossy. There […]

By Melissa Jeffers-Bezan

Feb. 2, 2024 at 10:52 am CST

On the second floor of the Queensbury Convention Centre at Agribition, the Grain Expo takes place every year. Around the edge of the room, booths are set up, surrounding the tables attendees sit at. Everyone sits watching the panel of producers walking onto the brightly lit stage. Steve Sanden and […]

By Melissa Jeffers-Bezan

Dec. 22, 2023 at 3:02 pm CST

Trudging through slushy snow in April is a scene many producers know well. One day there’s a hint of summer in the air, with birds chirping in trees overhead as a farmer checks on newborn calves frolicking near puddles. The next day, the farmer is rushing through pastures as hard sleet slashes […]

By Melissa Jeffers-Bezan