Reading Time: 4 minutes China’s pandemic buying spree has ag commodity prices soaring — but as canola growers (and others) know, Beijing can quickly turn hostile. But the ag sector here needs to be bold and aim to grow its ag and agri-food exports to China, says Canada’s ambassador to the country. “Even when things were really rough and […] Read more
Be bold, go big, and sell more to China, urges ambassador
Leverage the Canada brand, target consumers directly, and get to know the many Chinas, says Dominic Barton
Newer and better malt varieties starting to get some love
Maltsters still smitten with the old standards but the future belongs to new varieties
Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s a slow process to get international maltsters to accept new barley varieties, partly because of unfamiliarity and partly because farmers aren’t growing enough of them. “They do prefer what they know, which are varieties like AC Metcalfe and CDC Copeland,” said Peter Watts, managing director of the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre. “But a […] Read more
There’s nothing like the real deal, students say of farm internship
Reading Time: 4 minutes Animal science students from the city used to have a hard time finding summer work in their field because they had no hands-on experience. It was a chicken-and-egg situation that Frank Robinson, a professor of poultry production and physiology, wanted to do something about. “The No. 1 problem is that most of our students, or […] Read more
Cattle CSI: Big-time wrecks require careful sleuthing
Turns out that all four of the mysterious cases were examples of ‘minerals gone bad,’ says vet
Reading Time: 5 minutes Not all minerals play nice, and some can create serious health problems in cattle. “The thing that makes the phone ring the most are feed- or nutritional-related disease outbreaks,” Dr. Elizabeth Homerosky of Veterinary Agri-Health Services said at the recent virtual Red-Bow Ranching Conference. “The most common thing, especially this time of year, are downer […] Read more
People who dream of being a farmer flock to ‘business bootcamp’
Reading Time: 3 minutes It doesn’t look like there’s any shortage of people who want to be farmers. The inaugural edition of the Young Agrarians Business Bootcamp for would-be farmers quickly filled up and organizers have added a second one with plans for at least two more in the coming year. “There are more new farmers in Alberta than […] Read more
Bruderheim to be home to continent’s biggest hemp-processing facility
Canadian Rockies Hemp says its facility can produce 160,000 tonnes of fibre and hurd annually
Reading Time: 4 minutes [UPDATED: Feb. 22, 2021] The town of Bruderheim will soon be home to North America’s largest hemp-processing facility. Canadian Rockies Hemp Corporation says its under-construction plant in the community northeast of Edmonton is on track to be finished this summer. “Construction started last fall (in 2019), but it was put on hold for the last […] Read more
One thing always leads to another on this multi-faceted Alberta farm
Reading Time: 3 minutes First, Jeff and Coralee Nonay were dairy farmers. Then dairy and seed potato producers. Then they started selling their own branded beef to restaurants and specialty stores. And now they have a cheesery. But the Legal-area farmer says the latest venture is no surprise to anyone who knows him because he thrives on doing things […] Read more
Boosting profits: Running the numbers while running the herd
Tracking data on your ranch makes for better decisions and more money in your jeans
Reading Time: 3 minutes Measuring and tracking your cattle can make a big difference — an extra 60 pounds per weaned calf. “The way you manage your herd all plays into what you have for pounds to market at the end of your calf crop when you’re weaning off your calves,” economist Kathy Larson said during a recent Beef […] Read more
Having cattle data at your fingertips makes for better decisions, says producer
Tyler Fulton says a tool for inputing and accessing data on his smartphone has proven its worth
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ever tweeted out a histogram? Tyler Fulton has — and for the very practical reason that it showed at a glance the weight gain of his latest calf crop from birth to weaning. “When we were marketing some steers in the fall, I actually got on Twitter and shared this information,” said the cow-calf producer […] Read more
Familiar figures in the provincial agronomy scene on the move
Two canola council agronomists leave organization while cereal commissions hire second crop specialist
Reading Time: 2 minutes Two longtime Canola Council of Canada agronomists have moved on while another who specializes in cereals has joined Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley. Dan Orchard, who covered agronomy in Wetaskiwin, is now consulting in the same region, and Greg Sekulic, who was responsible for the Peace Country is joining Croplife Australia. “Nobody was cut, nobody […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
