Reading Time: 3 minutes The board directors of Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley are staying mum on why they abruptly ousted Tom Steve, their highly regarded general manager. Steve, chief operating officer Syeda Khurram and FarmCash program manager Hasan Kazmi were all dismissed on April 26. The two cereal groups didn’t announce the dismissals, and when the news broke […] Read more
Silence follows in wake of ouster of farm groups’ senior managers
Tom Steve was highly regarded in the grain sector but was abruptly dismissed with no reasons given
Awards not just about achievement but about encouraging others
Reading Time: 4 minutes When Melody Garner-Skiba was growing up on a ranch in southwestern Alberta, her parents gave her the same opportunities as her brothers. “I like to say I was the hired hand when my brothers left the ranch,” she said. “For me, agriculture has always been a part of my life.” That’s doubly true now. Garner-Skiba […] Read more
Despite new deal, the issue of checkoff refunds far from settled
Alberta Beef Producers says beef sector needs to have ‘fully funded’ cattle organizations
Reading Time: 3 minutes The funding deal struck between Alberta Beef Producers and the Canadian Cattle Association earlier this year won’t mean drastic changes for either organization in the short term, says the chair of the provincial cattle group. But his organization won’t be reining in its efforts to dissuade feedlots and producers from requesting checkoff refunds, said Brodie […] Read more
New program offers big dollars for providing eco-services on your land
New ‘resilient’ farm program offers up to $150,000 for items such as rotational grazing and restoring wetlands
Reading Time: 4 minutes Have you always wanted to try rotational grazing or protect riparian areas? Then say hello to a new government program called the Resilient Agricultural Landscape Program (RALP). There has never been a program quite like this one, said Giselle Ulrich, a grant program specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation. “A lot of the best management […] Read more
4-H camps give kids a chance to develop new skills (and s’mores)
Reading Time: 3 minutes Summer is on the way, and so are 4-H camps, which have run every year since 1917 except for a COVID-19 break in 2021. “We get youth who come from all over to camp. A lot of the youth we serve in the camps are rural. This is the one camp that they hear about […] Read more
More hemp processing is now underway in Alberta
Two companies are supplying a growing market for sustainable products ranging from building materials to cat litter
Reading Time: 4 minutes [UPDATED: Apr. 11, 2023] Canadian Rockies Hemp Corporation chief executive officer Aaron Barr says products are finally heading out the door of its plant in Bruderheim, Alta. *The company began construction in 2019 and was ready to start processing about eight weeks ago. “We ended up having about five months of extra additions to the […] Read more
Bighorn deaths attributed to sheep contacts
Wild Sheep Foundation calls for domestic flocks to be tested and kept separate from wild population
Reading Time: 3 minutes There are calls for more separation between domestic and wild sheep following the death of several Bighorn rams in Bluerock Wildland Provincial Park and Sheep River Provincial Park. The animals were infected with Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (Movi), a disease common in the airways of domestic sheep and goats. The disease is bacterial and there is no vaccine for […] Read more
Poultry producers brace for return of avian influenza
It’s hoped that monitoring wild birds and good biosecurity can help prevent another season of the disease
Reading Time: 3 minutes Spring may be a time of renewal and anticipation of a new crop, but for many poultry producers, this year it’s a time of uncertainty about a return of avian influenza. “We prepare every year for bird flu, but knowing what we went through last year, I think everyone is a lot more nervous,” said […] Read more
Sparing grassland from the plow — and from housing developments
A landowner-led group has more than 60 conservation easements covering about 40,000 acres of prime native grassland, foothills and riparian areas
Reading Time: 4 minutes A southern Alberta organization is having success with conservation agreements to keep the environment and cattle ranching intact. “The easement is very pro-grazing and ranching,” said Justin Thompson, executive director of the Southern Alberta Land Trust Society (SALTS). “There’s not a lot of restrictions around the actual operation. What we want to avoid is those […] Read more
New chair takes the reins at ABP
Brodie Haugan says important issues include the decline in the cow herd and the long-term health of the cow-calf sector
Reading Time: 3 minutes The youngest-ever chair of Alberta Beef Producers says he’s excited to bring the voice of the next generation to the organization. “To be honest, when I first got involved with ABP, I had no intent of getting to the top position,” said 32-year-old Brodie Hagen, who ranches near Orion. “I just saw the opportunity to […] Read more