Reading Time: 2 minutes When you graze cover crops, you have to look at things differently, says provincial beef and forage specialist Karin Lindquist. “Management means leaving behind enough of a residue on a light graze versus a heavy graze,” she said during a recent West County Ag Tour. “It’s not just the above material that tells you a […] Read more
Specialist offers tips for grazing cover crops
Stocking rates are going to be fairly similar and be alert to nitrate and bloating potential
Rain, snow continue to mess with harvest, now well behind five-year average
Alberta crop conditions as of September 18, 2018
Reading Time: 2 minutes Cold, wet weather has been the norm the past several days in almost all areas of the province, halting harvest progress. In addition to the rain/snow mix, frost has been highly variable. Alberta’s harvest as a whole is down 23.4 points over last year at this time for binned crops. With the exception of North […] Read more
Animal health firm Elanco surges on trading debut
Reuters — Eli Lilly unit Elanco Animal Health’s shares jumped as much as 41 per cent on their stock market debut on Thursday, adding to investor enthusiasm for the fast-growing animal healthcare market. Elanco’s shares opened at $32.25 on the New York Stock Exchange, higher than their IPO price of $24 per share, giving the […] Read more
A little bit of Iceland thrives in central Alberta
Icelandic sheep are rare in the province but the hardy breed does well in its new homeland
Reading Time: 3 minutes When Stuart Somerville first started researching Icelandic sheep on the internet back in 2009, he never realized he would fall in love with the animals. He and wife Kayla ended up purchasing two ewes and a ram and bringing them to their farm near Endiang, 150 kilometres southeast of Red Deer, in 2009. Somerville had […] Read more
Rain, snow mix freezes harvest progress
Alberta crop conditions as of September 11, 2018
Reading Time: 2 minutes Favourable weather conditions at the beginning of the past week led to harvest progress of about 11 per cent in Alberta, before the cold arctic weather brought a mix of rain and snow later in the week, which halted harvest. Provincially, about 28 per cent of crops have now been harvested, up 11 per cent […] Read more
Ontario plugs holes in wildlife compensation plan
Ontario’s agriculture ministry has patched a glitch in its wildlife damage compensation program, in which farmers’ claims risked rejection over the validity of their farm business registrations. “We heard livestock farmers’ concerns with the program so we’re making the first changes effective immediately,” Agriculture Minister Ernie Hardeman said in a release Monday. “We’re also continuing […] Read more
Tories’ junior ag critic promoted in shuffle
The federal Conservatives’ associate critic for agriculture and agri-food has been shuffled into a new post in the opposition’s shadow cabinet. John Barlow, MP for the southwestern Alberta riding of Foothills, was appointed Friday as lead shadow minister for employment, workforce development and labour by party leader Andrew Scheer. In a post on Facebook, Scheer […] Read more
Have you been affected by drought?
Reading Time: < 1 minute Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is currently collecting information on conditions and impact of the drought in Western Canada. It’s asking producers to take an online survey, which takes about three minutes to complete. “This information helps justify and document the necessity for programs such as Livestock Tax Deferral,” it said, adding the results will be […] Read more
Wet weather slows harvest pace
Alberta crop conditions as of September 4, 2018
Reading Time: 2 minutes Wet weather over the past week has slowed down harvesting operations in most areas across the province, especially in the North East, North West and Peace Regions. Frost was reported in some areas, but it is still early to estimate any potential damage. Currently, the quality for all crops are estimated higher than their short […] Read more
There’s a reason why stem-mining weevils are the priciest livestock in Alberta
The insects are mowing down Canada thistle across the province, and attracting lots of eager buyers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Tens of thousands of weevils have been pouring into Alberta from Montana — and producers are clamouring for more. “It’s a biological control and it’s been going great,” said Rachael Nay, conservation agriculture extension co-ordinator with the West-Central Forage Association. The association began the project to import stem-mining weevils four years ago as a way […] Read more