Judy Wilkinson was planting potatoes on Thursday when she had a bad feeling: the dry weather was just right for a fire. “It’s scary out there. The buffalo don’t want to eat hay anymore,” said Wilkinson, who with her husband Kevin raises bison on the forest’s edge near Turtle Lake, Sask. “They’re on the move, […] Read more
Guenther (video): Northwestern Sask. fire hazard looms over farms
U.S. bill to repeal COOL advances
Washington | Reuters — U.S. legislation to repeal country-of-origin meat labelling (COOL) laws, which the World Trade Organization found discriminate against Mexico and Canada, passed a congressional committee on Wednesday and moved one step closer to becoming law. The House of Representatives’ agriculture committee approved the bill on a vote of 38-6, clearing the way […] Read more
Russia may allow food imports from three EU states
Moscow | Reuters –– Russia may allow around 20 firms from Hungary, Cyprus and Greece to return to its market after it orders the lifting of an embargo on food imports from the European Union, Interfax news agency quoted a senior official as saying on Tuesday. Russia banned foods from the 28-nation EU last year […] Read more
WTO panel rejects final U.S. appeal on COOL
Canada is set to ask the World Trade Organization to allow a long list of retaliatory tariffs against U.S. agrifoods and other goods, after a WTO panel shot down Washington’s final defense of its country-of-origin labelling (COOL) law on meat. The WTO Appellate Body on Monday released its report on the U.S. government’s appeal of […] Read more
Former Man. agriculture minister won’t run again
Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger’s first agriculture minister plans to exit the provincial political arena. Stan Struthers, the MLA since 1995 for what’s now the Dauphin riding, and agriculture minister from 2009 to 2011, announced Wednesday he won’t seek re-election when the next provincial vote is held in April 2016. Struthers, a high school principal at […] Read more
U.S. honeybee losses soar over last year, USDA finds
Reuters — Honeybees, critical agents in the pollination of key U.S. crops, disappeared at a staggering rate over the last year, according to a new government report that comes as regulators, environmentalists and agribusinesses try to reverse the decline. Losses of managed honeybee colonies hit 42.1 per cent from April 2014 through April 2015, up […] Read more
Irrigation investments, programs playing a big part in water conservation
A soon-to-be-published study estimates 170 million to 200 million cubic metres were saved from 1999 to 2012
Reading Time: 3 minutes Alberta producers and irrigation districts are making great strides toward conserving water, with both grants and individual investment producing tangible water and energy savings. Those efforts produced overall water savings of 170 million to 200 million cubic metres in Alberta’s 13 irrigation districts from 1999 to 2012, said Rod Bennett, director of Alberta Agriculture and […] Read more
Alarm bells ringing in Alberta as invasive mussels move west
The arrival of the devastating invaders in Manitoba has led to mandatory inspections here
Reading Time: 3 minutes Alberta introduced tough new legislation last month requiring mandatory boat inspections — a ramping up of the effort to keep zebra and quagga mussels out of the province. But officials admit that what’s really needed is public buy-in — and a little luck — to keep these devastating waterway invaders at bay. “If we ‘miss […] Read more
Alberta Agriculture’s 2015 information catalogue now available
Topics cover crop and livestock production, new ventures, agri-tourism and more
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development’s 2015 Information Catalogue is now available. The catalogue lists over 600 free and priced books, DVDs and CD-ROMs distributed through the department’s publications office. These materials provide up-to-date information on a wide range of agricultural subjects. “We’ve got products on just about every subject you can think of,” said information […] Read more
New food distribution fact sheets available from AARD
Sheets contains practical tips for agricultural food producers and processors
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development has four new fact sheets on distribution. “These fact sheets present innovative thinking and practical tips to help agricultural food producers and processors transport their goods to market,” said new venture specialist Kathy Bosse. The fact sheets are Distribution Partners: Working with Regional Carriers; Distribution Logistics: Getting Your Products to […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
