Pioneers. You’ve seen them in faded sepia-toned photographs. Early settlers in covered wagons, blazing trails westward in the face of adversity – disease, weather, food supply, hostile parties – in search of freedom, available land, open spaces, opportunities, and a better life.

There are also pioneers who’ve overcome different types of stumbling blocks, who today can be found on farms across the country, many in communities their predecessors established.

Betty Brown is one. She has been raising beef for decades in Carleton County, New Brunswick. With resilience and determination, she was able to withstand the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) crisis and other impediments that threatened her farm and family’s livelihood, by modifying her operation to meet market demands.

George Fullerton writes on page 29 that although Brown no longer sits on executive boards, she continues to raise her voice in support for – and in defence of – agricultural issues, the agricultural community, and farming.

Bill and Karen Bennett and their daughter Amanda have pioneered a new industry in Newfoundland and Labrador. They dug in and plowed their way through reams of red tape to sell goat’s milk products made on their Cormack farm.

Emily Leeson explains on page 22 that the Bennetts have set precedents for sheep and goat producers and other farmers to follow.

The Canadian Sheep Federation (CSF) has developed Agro Ledger technology. It applies blockchain technology to digitally certify value-added data-points of sheep. As New London, Prince Edward Island, sheep producer Harry Elsinga explains on page 16, it’s immutable information that allows consumers to know where their food is coming from.

He tells Atlantic Beef & Sheep that this traceability technology has support from federal agencies, processors, auction marts, and others, but the CSF has been unable to meet with Agriculture and Agri-Food minister Marie-Claude Bibeau to discuss it.

Expansion

The marketplace continues to plead with sheep breeders to expand their industry.

And there’s a growing demand for local beef in the region. That message appears in a number of Ribs (page 7). It’s delivered by the Maritime Beef Council, by Atlantic Beef Products, and by a Nova Scotia producer and butcher.

Farmers may have to alter production programs to make the grade and satisfy consumer appetites. New Scotland, N.B., farmers Peter and Marlene Gaunce point out that buyers are looking for bigger carcasses (“Breed Notes,” page 50). “And that’s going to make a difference for purebred breeders.”

While coronavirus and other challenges have created uncertainty in the global marketplace, ABS is hopeful the growing demand for beef and sheep will be reflected at the bull sales, steer sales, and in market prices all year long.