Reading Time: 3 minutes Having a national beef strategy has paid dividends and that’s why the sector has revised and updated it, say beef leaders. “This is an ongoing plan for the industry,” said Anne Wasko, chair of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, one of seven groups behind the strategy. “The vision of the national beef strategy is […] Read more
Having a national strategy is working, say beef leaders
Sustainable beef effort, more funding, and greater industry co-operation cited as examples of progress
The need keeps growing for rural Alberta food banks
Reading Time: 3 minutes Times have been tough in Alberta, and that’s been obvious to volunteers at the Mayerthorpe Food Bank. There are just over 500 homes in the town but in many, it’s a struggle to put food on the table. “We serve about an average of 14 families a week,” said Tammy-Lee Gilroy, the food bank’s administrator. […] Read more
Province eases up on new Class 1 licensing rules but controversy persists
The Humboldt bus crash has thrust training of semi drivers into question but there’s no easy fix
Reading Time: 4 minutes The province is exempting drivers who recently sought to obtain a Class 1 licence from costly new training requirements — but the controversial issue is far from settled. “It’s kind of nice that they’re relaxing it for a few people — I hope they have more coming,” said Kendall Bevans, a Cardston-area farmer who has […] Read more
Film celebrates not just grass, but a special, overlooked habitat
Documentary shines a spotlight on grasslands and why they need to be protected and cherished
Reading Time: 3 minutes Not all superheroes wear capes — some put on work clothes and graze cows. Ranchers are the stars of a new mini-documentary called “Guardians of the Grasslands” and their mission is to protect this fast-disappearing habitat. Three-quarters of the country’s native grasslands have already been lost, and cattle are key to protecting those that remain […] Read more
The behind-the-scenes effort to tell beef’s story
Besieged beef sector aims to fight hyperbole with facts
Reading Time: 4 minutes It can seem like the ‘beef is bad’ crowd is scoring all the points in the battle to influence consumer attitudes. But the beef sector is fighting back — even if its efforts don’t get the same kind of headline-grabbing attention. One of the main initiatives is being conducted by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association that […] Read more
Demand is good for canola — if you can get it off the field
China still isn’t buying but crushers are, and there are seed export opportunities, too
Reading Time: 2 minutes Worries about China’s ban and other market woes have taken a back seat to weather issues for the province’s canola growers. The biggest challenge for many is getting the crop off before snow permanently covers their fields, said Alberta Canola general manager Ward Toma. “They can handle snow coming and going, but snow setting in […] Read more
Airdrie company employs hemp to go green
Just BioFiber’s modular construction blocks look like oversized Lego — but they’re made from hemp
Reading Time: 4 minutes [UPDATED: Nov. 5, 2019] The legalization of marijuana has — oddly enough — been good for business for one Alberta producer of construction materials. That’s because Airdrie-based Just BioFiber makes modular building blocks out of hemp fibre. Prior to pot’s legalization a year ago, people in the construction industry used to jokingly ask if their […] Read more
It came from outer space, but now resides near Camrose
Researchers are trying to find a chunk of an asteroid that likely landed in a farmer’s field near the town
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s not every day that researchers come to your field to look for space rocks. But that’s what happened to Camrose producer Rod Ross, after a meteor flew across the sky towards his farm on the last evening in August. “We had a rock that was about 50 kilograms, that might have been about the […] Read more
Ducks Unlimited Canada goes all in to support cattle grazing
Conservation group wants public to know that cattle are key to saving grasslands
Reading Time: 2 minutes Even though they don’t walk like a duck or quack like one, the country’s leading duck organization is pretty fond of cows. “For years, the backbone of conservation in Western Canada has been our cattle-producing partners because of the need for them to have good grass and good water,” said Ducks Unlimited Canada’s Mickenzie Plemel-Stronks, […] Read more
Cool weather, price drop hits Alberta honey producers
A poor honey crop and low prices spell bad times for the province’s beekeepers
Reading Time: 4 minutes This summer’s cool weather didn’t just have a negative impact on grain crops — it meant honeybees weren’t flying. And that has some commercial beekeepers in the province facing a dire economic situation. Most producers have substantially lower honey yields this year, said Connie Phillips, executive director of the Alberta Beekeepers Commission. That was borne […] Read more
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