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
The bear facts: Farming with grizzly bears in your area
Some simple measures can reduce the odds of bears becoming an issue on your ranch or farm
Reading Time: 3 minutes Jim Duncan has his bear stories, but so do all of his neighbours. The Clearwater County rancher has seen bears in his yard looking in the calf sheds, but has never had a calf taken. Wolves, however, have taken two or three animals while cougars — which are out there but rarely seen — have […] Read more
Too close for comfort: Farmers recount grizzly bear encounter
Bear makes sheep farm its hunting ground and wreaks destruction before being snared
Reading Time: 2 minutes Bears can wreak havoc on a farm — Norm and Irene Korth learned this the hard way. The couple has a sheep farm in Clearwater County and lamb about 200 head. “About four years ago, we had a grizzly here, but we never did catch him,” said Irene Korth But things escalated this April, on […] Read more
Pork producers slammed by tariff war call for government aid
The bottom fell out of the pork market this summer and Alberta producers are suffering huge losses
Reading Time: 4 minutes Canadian pork producers need “immediate help” from government to deal with a price plunge sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff wars with China and Mexico. “What we’re seeing right now is really bad,” said Darcy Fitzgerald, executive director of Alberta Pork. “And a lot of it has to do with what’s going on with […] Read more
Province-wide farm aid unlikely, says Alberta Beef Producers chair
While many producers are in dire straits, feed shortage is not technically ‘a disaster’
Reading Time: 4 minutes Alberta Beef Producers is gathering the facts on the feed shortage in the province and preparing a case for government aid for drought-stricken ranchers. But although the federal government has now made much of the province eligible for its tax deferral program, direct aid is unlikely, said ABP chair Charlie Christie. “My gut feeling right […] 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
You’re only human — but are you willing to admit it?
The odds of an accident during the gruelling harvest season go up sharply if you don’t take these safety precautions
Reading Time: 4 minutes Are you getting worn down by the harvest grind? If you didn’t answer ‘yes’ to that question, then you’re either not being honest or you’re missing the signs of fatigue. “It’s not a badge of honour to say how long and how hard and how many days it’s been since you’ve taken a holiday,” said […] Read more
Price plunge spells disaster for Alberta hog farmers
Demand is strong, Canadian packers are short 70,000 hogs weekly, but prices have plunged
Reading Time: 5 minutes A crash in prices — fuelled by Washington’s tariff war — could spell the end for many of Alberta’s dwindling number of hog operations. The sector has already lost half of its hog farms in the past decade and with producers losing $50 on every animal they ship, more are looking at throwing in the […] 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
Researcher offers ‘gospel’ to control clubroot before it spreads
If the infected area is small, mark it and give it special attention — which may even include hand-weeding
Reading Time: 3 minutes When the world’s top clubroot researchers gathered here earlier this month, a hot topic of discussion wasn’t cutting-edge science but an old-fashioned way of controlling a crop infestation — hand-pulling diseased plants. Once a field is heavily infested with clubroot spores, there’s virtually no economical way to deal with the infestation. But at the International […] Read more
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