Reading Time: 3 minutes Agriculture could be a driver of growth in Alberta and offers “mountains of opportunities for growth, investment and jobs,” says a report from a high-profile panel of ag sector players. The panel was one part of a wider group of experts and business leaders asked by Premier Jason Kenney to make recommendations on how to […] Read more
Agriculture can lead Alberta out of pandemic woes, say leaders
Blue ribbon panel offers six-point action plan to make sector a driver of provincial growth
Not the best of times, but farm income rose in 2019
After a big drop two years ago, net income rose last year — and cannabis became a major crop
Reading Time: 3 minutes Alberta farm income more than doubled last year. But it’s not as good as it sounds, even if you have been indulging in some of what is suddenly the province’s third-largest cash crop. Net farm income in Alberta in 2019 was just north of $671 million — which is well above the 2018 figure of […] Read more
Life and its blessings continue during these troubled times
Little joys have new meaning and family time has taken on new significance on farms across the province
Reading Time: 8 minutes Getting ready for the new baby and celebrating the one newly born. Having coffee with your spouse. Checking out some four-legged farm visitors. Getting a bit goofy on social media. Pausing to appreciate the arrival of spring. On farms across Alberta, special moments abound during these stressful and unprecedented times. And they are worth celebrating. […] Read more
Alberta’s cattle sector takes a direct hit from pandemic
Packing plant closures create a backlog that quickly affects the entire production chain
Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s going to be painful, but hopefully COVID-19 in packing plants won’t turn into a nightmare scenario, say the president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and a leading food industry expert. Alberta’s two big facilities — Cargill’s High River plant and JBS’s Brooks plant — process nearly 75 per cent of the country’s beef. Combined, […] Read more
Thrust into the spotlight, the farm sector shines during pandemic
Food supply chain does something extraordinary in unprecedented crisis — keeps things running ‘mostly normally’
Reading Time: 4 minutes Never in our lifetimes has the ordinary been so extraordinary. Take, for example, the simple act of delivering a load of grain. The whole business of receiving, grading, and getting the paperwork to the farmer or truck driver is hands-on work, usually done in close quarters. So you not only have to be fastidious about […] Read more
In the face of this crisis, we will all carry on
Those on the front lines will be in our thoughts but so too will be farmers
Reading Time: 2 minutes As our March 23 edition of Alberta Farmer was being prepared — the paper was printed on March 17 — the COVID-19 situation was changing by the hour. Like everyone on the planet, those who grow and raise food will be wondering how this pandemic will change their lives. So readers may be struck by […] Read more
Alberta farm groups propose new research model
A ‘white paper’ by crop and livestock groups calls for a new way of doing things
Reading Time: 2 minutes The provincial government should “play a role” but needs to work closely with the ag sector to develop a new research funding model, say Alberta farm groups. “Both Agriculture Minister (Devin) Dreeshen and Premier (Jason) Kenney have been vocal about the need to put research back in the hands of producers,” Alberta Wheat and Alberta […] Read more
2019 was a difficult year — but also one of great progress
Lots of things didn’t go right in 2019, but there are many reasons why Alberta is a great place to farm
Reading Time: 5 minutes It could have been so much better. If China hadn’t got mad at us. If there hadn’t been a trade war. If PED hadn’t arrived. If the weather had been a bit more co-operative. But the past year was also a reminder that efforts to make things better do pay off. Look no further than […] Read more
UN report on livestock and climate change gets lost in translation
Panel of climate change experts say meat production must be sustainable — but few noted that distinction
Reading Time: 3 minutes “Eat less meat” was the phrase of choice for describing a new report from the United Nations’ climate change panel. Those three words appeared in headlines in publications such as Time magazine, the National Post, and the Times of London. But the report itself said something different, said the science director of the Beef Cattle […] Read more
One mighty big grain train rolls out of Alberta
With nearly 15,000 tonnes of grain on board, this train was like nothing seen before
Reading Time: 2 minutes In the years ahead, you may find yourself stuck at a rail crossing a little longer as a grain train rumbles by. And you might want to use that extra time to say thanks for modern technology. Paterson Grain recently set a new record when it loaded 147 new high-capacity hopper cars with a whopping […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
