Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta farmers have asked to have their say on proposed new workplace safety rules — and the provincial government says they will now have their chance. The NDP government is asking Albertans to give their views on two reports on proposed employment standards and labour relations recommendations. Feedback will be accepted until April 3 online, […] Read more
Have your say on employment standards and labour relations regulations
Two reports — one for employment standards, one for labour relations — will be available for public comment until April 3
Low-path bird flu turns up in Wisconsin turkeys
Paris | Reuters — The U.S. has reported an outbreak of avian flu on a farm in Wisconsin, the second in the country in less than a week although the virus found this time is considered less virulent, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said on Tuesday. A strain of low-pathogenic H5N2 avian flu […] Read more
Comments sought on rabbit code of practice
Comments must be submitted by April 1
Reading Time: < 1 minute A draft Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Rabbits is now available for public comment. The draft code was developed by the National Farm Animal Care Council and provincial rabbit groups based on a number of priority welfare issues. These included areas such as pen and cage design; housing enrichments; recognizing abnormal […] Read more
Bird flu found in Tennessee chicken flock
Reuters — A strain of bird flu has been detected in a chicken breeder flock on a Tennessee farm contracted to U.S. food giant Tyson Foods, and the 73,500 birds will be culled to stop the virus from entering the food system, government and company officials said on Sunday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said […] Read more
Taking a seat at the table to share agriculture’s story
Reading Time: 4 minutes The picturesque old barn conjured up stereotypical images of an old-fashioned farm, but the conversation inside was all about the modern world of agriculture. The Seat at our Table event in the old white barn near Olds brought 150 people — mostly millennials — from across the province on Canadian Agriculture Day. But the goal […] Read more
Dry winter is just what’s needed
Reading Time: < 1 minute The so-far dry winter in Alberta is raising hopes that farmers will be able to get onto their fields early in order to deal with more than one million acres of unharvested crops. As of Jan. 31, snowpack accumulations were generally below normal in most areas (save for southern Alberta, where little to no snow […] Read more
‘Change’ is the watchword in a warming world, says researcher
Longer summers and milder winters sound nice, but even the pluses come with some negatives
Reading Time: 3 minutes How will the Canadian cattle industry fare if global temperatures continue to rise? Count a reduced feed demand, a longer grazing season, and higher forage production among the benefits — but also expect more extreme weather, pests, and transport headaches, according to University of Manitoba research scientist Kim Ominski. “We know the future of our […] Read more
WHO says bird flu outbreaks raise alarm
London | Reuters — The risk of sustained human-to-human transmission of H7N9 avian flu in China is low, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, but a surge in human cases there is worrying and requires constant monitoring. Outbreaks of H5 bird flu strains in poultry and wild birds across Europe, Africa and Asia are […] Read more
Inputs and iron: Relentless price hikes squeeze producers
When crop prices soared, so did costs — and they stayed high even as farm revenues fell back to earth
Reading Time: 6 minutes Record-high grain and oilseed prices are a speck in the rear-view mirror, but they’ve left a legacy of higher costs. “When we see higher grain prices, we can expect to pay higher inputs,” said Scott Keller, a mixed grain farmer near New Norway. “All the companies selling crop inputs look at farmers’ margins and then […] Read more
Articles on climate change provoke some readers
Like politics and religion, global warming is a polarizing topic — but it’s one that we should discuss
Reading Time: 3 minutes Over the years, some of my weather articles have provoked or inspired various amounts of comments. What surprised me recently was the number of emails I received about the top weather events from around the world in 2016 — in particular, several from readers who accused me of leaning too heavily towards climate change or […] Read more
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