Grassland bird species provide a lot of value to livestock producers, say grassland habitat experts Curtis Hullick (left) and Christian Artuso.

The birds and the beef: The facts of grasslands conservation

Grassland bird populations down dramatically, but farmers often don’t appreciate their value

Reading Time: 3 minutes Birds are struggling to survive on Prairie grasslands — but they’re not the only ones in trouble. “The biggest species at risk in Manitoba is beef producers,” said Curtis Hullick, field manager for the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation. “It’s important to have large blocks of habitat for the birds. But with the economic pressures of […] Read more

Little harvest progress made, pasture, soil moisture ratings see improvement

Alberta crop conditions as of October 16, 2018

Reading Time: 2 minutes Overall, minimal harvest progress was achieved this reporting period. Last week the average of Major Crops harvested was 46.7 per cent as compared to this week we are up 3.2 points to 49.9 per cent. Over 95 per cent of peas are in the bin with the exception of Peace Region which has only 66.9 […] Read more


Harvest progress behind five-year average across Alberta

Alberta crop conditions as of October 9, 2018

Reading Time: 1 minute Generally, harvest progress has been slow due to wet conditions across the province and lower than normal temperatures since the end of August. Provincially, about 47 per cent of major crops have now been harvested, up nine per cent from a week ago. Comparing harvest progress over recent years, 2018 has been the most delayed […] Read more

WA Ranches has been donated to the University of Calgary’s School of Veterinary Medicine by Wynne Chisholm and her father Jack Anderson.

Philanthropic ranchers make game-changing donation

Having an entire working ranch will take veterinary program to ‘a totally different level’

Reading Time: 4 minutes A donation of a fully working ranch — worth an astounding $44 million — will transform the University of Calgary faculty of veterinary medicine into one of the world’s top centres for animal health and welfare research. “For us, the gift from Jack Anderson and his daughter Wynne Chisholm and the families of this ranch […] Read more


Plaintiff Dewayne Johnson listens as attorney Brent Wisner, not shown, speaks about his condition at trial in San Francisco on July 9, 2018. (File photo: Josh Edelson/Pool via Reuters)

Bayer likely to get new trial in glyphosate case

San Francisco | Reuters — Bayer’s Monsanto unit was likely to get a new trial on the US$250 million in punitive damages awarded by a jury to a groundskeeper who alleged the company’s glyphosate-based herbicides, including Roundup, caused his cancer. According to a Wednesday court filing in San Francisco’s Superior Court of California, Judge Suzanne […] Read more

Accompanied by her grandson Spencer Boles (front row, far left), Judy Sweet (front row, second from the left) presents her donation to Josie Van Lent, dean of Lakeland’s School of Agricultural Sciences, and Geoff Brown, associate dean. In the rear (from left to right) are: Ethan Winsnes (sheep unit manager), Hannah Olsen (students’ association president), Brantley Wasmuth (crops assistant manager), Connor English (research unit manager), Jonathan Lange (dairy unit manager), Colton Nickipelo (general manager), Jarrett Hargrave (purebred beef unit manager), and Erica Horner (commercial beef unit manager).

Donation to aid Lakeland College farmland expansion

Reading Time: < 1 minute A $500,000 donation will allow Lakeland College to buy more land for its farm operations. The donation came from Judy Sweet, who had previously donated funds to modernize and expand the G.N. Sweet Livestock Research Facility, which officially opened two years ago. Sweet and her late husband, Garth Sweet, raised purebred simmental cattle for more […] Read more


Cold weather, snowfall, slow harvest progress further

Alberta crop conditions as of October 2, 2018

Reading Time: 2 minutes The month of September has been exceptionally cold across the province and, for many areas, unusually wet. Although cool damp weather conditions have halted harvest operations in many areas, this has led to normal precipitation accumulations for most areas of the province. Adding to this was the large snowfall event in the southern and western […] Read more

(BC.RCMP-grc.gc.ca)

AgriRecovery offered for B.C. wildfire costs

British Columbia ranchers and farmers who lost pasture or cropland or had to move livestock out of the path of wildfires this year may be eligible for AgriRecovery funding. The federal and B.C. governments on Thursday announced a new AgriRecovery program worth up to $5 million to help defray “extraordinary costs incurred” due to wildfires […] Read more


Rain, hail, sleet, snow chill harvest progress

Alberta crop conditions as of September 25, 2018

Reading Time: < 1 minute The wet cold front experienced over the last couple of weeks seems to have stationed itself in the province bringing rain, hail, sleet, and snow with it. Much snow has melted on initial contact, while a few grassy areas saw small amounts of accumulation. Optimistically, the early September snowfall experienced in parts of the province […] Read more

Greg Paranich of Performance Seeds in Blackfalds describes some of the advantages of cover crops.

Clearwater County aims to cook up successful cover crop recipes

Cover crops offer many benefits but what’s the right mix of grasses, brassicas, and legumes?

Reading Time: 3 minutes Clearwater County has started experimenting with cover crops, and outlined some of their benefits during its recent West County Ag Tour. “It’s a great year to talk about cover crops because in order to maintain our moisture in the soil, we are going to need organic matter, which cover crops build. We are going to […] Read more