Reading Time: 4 minutes Rachel Gruger and husband Carleton wanted to farm — but their route to achieving that goal was an unusual one. Carleton studied IT, but found that he wasn’t happy working in an office in Edmonton. He wanted to get back to his country-boy roots, said Rachel Gruger. The couple began experimenting by growing food in […] Read more
Unique family-farm mushrooms in Nisku industrial park
The Grugers learned the business from scratch — and also that there’s huge demand for gourmet mushrooms
Flea beetles: more species, more territory
Control options include seed treatment, seeding early and a higher seeding rate
Reading Time: 3 minutes They have been a voracious pest in canola for many years, but their pattern of infestation is changing. “Flea beetles can be a huge economic problem; pervasive and unpredictable,” Jennifer Otani, a pest management biologist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Beaverlodge said during a session at FarmTech. Adult flea beetles can move in and out […] Read more
International politics add to uncertainty for crops in 2019
Canada’s diplomatic spat with China among the factors that may influence demand for canola
Reading Time: 5 minutes [UPDATED Feb. 26, 2019] Some producers are responding to the market while planning their spring planting decisions. Others are going with tried-and-true rotations. But everyone is watching the weather and geopolitical events. “From a pulse perspective, things have improved a lot since the fall of 2017, when India closed its markets. Prices have risen some, but […] Read more
The situation is better, but Alberta’s pork sector not out of the woods yet
After a dreadful summer, prices are better but producers still losing money, says analyst
Reading Time: 2 minutes Hog markets have improved since early fall, but the situation is far from great. “In terms of the current prices, there’s nothing spectacular,” said Ron Gietz, an extension specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. Still, that’s an improvement on the spectacularly bad period last summer when hog prices plunged by more than 40 per cent […] Read more
Even pesticide review agency doesn’t understand farming
It’s really no surprise, and it’s why farmers need to speak up, FarmTech attendees told
Reading Time: 5 minutes Warren Sekulic respects the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, even though its officials knew little about two key pesticides they’re proposing to ban. “Talking to the PMRA, it was very obvious that it was completely unaware of our farming practices and neonic seed treatments,” said Sekulic, who grows wheat, canola, and peas on his family’s operation […] Read more
Court ruling alone won’t fix ‘orphan’ well crisis
There are now more than 3,000 abandoned wells in Alberta, and many more that are no longer active
Reading Time: 3 minutes A Supreme Court ruling that puts cleanup ahead of creditors is a step forward — but won’t “make too much difference” to landowners with abandoned wells, says a director with the Alberta Surface Rights Federation. “The landowners are still going to be in a situation where they have to deal with contaminated land for maybe […] Read more
Rural crime presentation draws a packed house at FarmTech
RCMP superintendent urges audience to let police do their job and to avoid confronting intruders
Reading Time: 4 minutes Rural crime is a topic that everyone wants to talk about. “This is not just an issue in Alberta, but across the country,” RCMP Supt. Peter Tewfik said at a crowded FarmTech session. Rural property crime actually went down by 10 per cent in the province in 2018, he said. This means 480 fewer home […] Read more
African swine fever would be a disaster
There is a ‘clear risk’ the swiftly spreading disease could come here, says leading swine health vet
Reading Time: 4 minutes There is a real risk that the African swine fever virus could enter Canada — and if it did, it would be catastrophic, says one of the country’s leading swine health experts. “If Canada got a single case in our country, our borders would close to all nations,” said Dr. Egan Brockhoff, a partner in […] Read more
Step-by-step stewardship a winner at Coulee Crest Farm
Reading Time: 4 minutes Randy Radau’s philosophy has been to make one or two environmental improvements at his place every year. This approach has proved fruitful for the rancher and grain grower, who runs a mixed farm with wife Sandra and son Luke, the recipients of the 2019 Alberta Beef Producers Environmental Stewardship Award. “We haven’t done anything really […] Read more
Seed royalties: We need to talk — some more
Speakers say more funding is needed for cereal breeding, but how to do that is up in the air
Reading Time: 5 minutes Something needs to be done to boost funding for cereal breeding, but kicking the contentious issue of seed royalties down the road seems to be the preferred option at the moment. That was the message coming out of a discussion on a pair of controversial royalty schemes at the recent Alberta Federation of Agriculture AGM. […] Read more