Reading Time: 4 minutes It was another big year for Alberta and Canadian farmland prices, according to Farm Credit Canada’s annual survey. On average, provincial farmland prices jumped by 11.6 per cent, the ag lender said in its 2015 Farmland Values Report while nationally they rose 10.1 per cent. But there are a lot of variations across the province, […] Read more
Alberta land prices continue to soar
Farm cash receipts were a ‘pleasant surprise’ last year and that kept upward pressure on land prices
Sheltered from the storm — Canadian farm sector doing well
Low dollar and a robust demand for pulses, canola, and specialty crops has spared Prairie producers from troubled times
Reading Time: 3 minutes As the U.S. enters a dark period for its farm economy, there’s cautious optimism in the Canadian agricultural outlook. “The net income and the overall situation in the United States is not looking good,” said Craig Klemmer, senior agricultural economist with Farm Credit Canada. “When we look at the net income expectations for 2016, there’s […] Read more
ALMA a casualty of provincial government cuts
Agency has proved its worth, industry leaders say
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency is being dissolved — and its demise is being mourned by many in the industry. “We were surprised and disappointed,” said Dave Chalack, a rancher and veterinarian who is chair of ALMA’s board. “I know we had a great organization and one that has evolved in a significant and […] Read more
Increasing demand has Alberta’s rabbit industry hopping along
But the sector could be expanding more rapidly if there were more slaughter capacity
Reading Time: 2 minutes The rabbit industry is moving more like the tortoise than the hare — but with good reason. “Because rabbits are small, they lend themselves to surviving in unhygienic and unsatisfactory conditions for them,” Marion Popkin, a member of the Alberta Rabbit Producers Association, said at the recent Livestock Care conference hosted by Alberta Farm Animal […] Read more
Group wants to help new farmers find success
Young Agrarians in B.C. aims to meet the needs of new farmers
Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s no secret that there’s a need for new farmers to join the aging agricultural industry, but new entrants have their own unique challenges. That’s where Young Agrarians, a group designed to meet the needs of the new farmer, comes in. Young Agrarians, formed in B.C. in 2012, launched an Alberta chapter in February. It’s […] Read more
Canola crush is thundering along at a record rate this year
Crush production records have been falling like flies, and both producers and the wider economy are benefiting
Reading Time: 3 minutes This year’s canola crush is on pace to be the highest ever, which is good news for producers. “It’s great for farmers,” said Renn Breitkreutz, vice-chair of the Alberta Canola Producers Commission. “Our product is in demand and we’ve seen significant investment in crush capacity over the past couple of years and now it seems […] Read more
Look at your farm the way a consumer would, says animal welfare expert
The term ‘producers’ is a problem, and so are a host of common practices
Reading Time: 3 minutes Producers need to talk and think about animal welfare differently to gain the trust of consumers, says an official overseeing animal welfare at one of the largest dairies in the U.S. “Everything happens through people,” Jennifer Walker, a veterinarian and director of dairy stewardship at Dean Foods, said at the recent Livestock Care conference hosted […] Read more
A ‘celebration’ of women in agriculture
About 560 women — two-thirds of them farmers — attended the Advancing Women conference
Reading Time: 3 minutes They came from every province in Canada and five American states. They cheered, laughed, cried, tweeted, talked and networked. About 560 women — two-thirds of them farmers — filled the banquet halls of the Hyatt Regency Hotel at the Advancing Women conference at the end of March. Now in its third year, the two-day conference […] Read more
Hairy Hungarian heritage pigs find a new home in Alberta
Reading Time: 3 minutes People often do a double take when they see Malorie Aubé’s pigs. The heritage breed sports a thick woolly coat of black hair (white on their bellies), with piglets having horizontal white striping along their sides. Mangalitsa pigs — which originated in Hungary in the 1830s — are also a “lard breed” with a lot […] Read more
Antibiotic resistance threat can’t be dismissed, say experts
Antibiotic use in cattle doesn’t appear to be a threat to human medicines, but their use must still be curbed
Reading Time: 3 minutes Despite intense scrutiny, there’s little evidence that antibiotic use in the cattle industry is increasing resistance to human medicines. But it could be causing increased resistance to antibiotics used to treat cattle, say two experts. There’s no question that using antibiotics increases the odds of bacteria becoming resistant, said Reynold Bergen, science director of the […] Read more
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