For farmer Sean Stanford, talking about his mental health struggles has been hard — but a necessary step toward healing.

Ag industry urged to ‘do more’ about mental health issues

New organization aims to destigmatize mental illness in the agriculture industry by getting people to talk more, ask more, and listen more

Reading Time: 5 minutes Sean Stanford thought he was going to die. It happened one week last winter, and started with a pain in his chest. A heart attack, he figured. A trip to the emergency room turned up nothing. There was nothing wrong with him. And then the pain started again, worse this time. Another trip to the […] Read more

Ducks Unlimited Canada conservation specialist Bryon Wolters points out the benefits of conservation easements to provincial policy specialist Warren Robb (right) and farmer Shawn Jacula (centre) at a real estate workshop this fall.

This ain’t your grandad’s conservation easement

Easements are changing with the times, making it less restrictive for producers to protect their wetlands

Reading Time: 3 minutes Producers can find the right buyers for their marginal lands — if they know where to look. “There is a market out there now for some of these parcels of land that producers might have a hard time off-loading because they’re wet,” said Warren Robb, provincial policy specialist at Ducks Unlimited Canada. And his organization […] Read more


Some Alberta producers may be able to seed their wheat as early as mid-February, but there’s still work to be done, says researcher Graham Collier, seen here in test plots seeded ‘ultra early.’

You might soon be seeding in February or March

Researchers successfully grow ‘spring-type winter wheats’ in 
Alberta and say it could be an option by 2020

Reading Time: 4 minutes What kind of wheat crop might you get if you seeded in February or March? One that’s not half bad, if the preliminary results of a recent federal research study are any indication. “How can you get a little more yield? Well, you can put it in the ground a little bit earlier,” said University […] Read more

With more than 95,000 downloads since October, Farmers 2050 is proving to be popular for people of all ages.

Forget those dungeons and dragons games — you can now go farming

New smartphone game teaches players about sustainable food production — and you can trade points for (virtual) land!

Reading Time: 4 minutes Not everyone is cut out to be a farmer, but thanks to a new game, anyone with a smartphone can get a taste of what it means to feed the world. “There’s definitely a disconnect between consumers and what happens on the farm, and I think people are curious,” said Lindsey Verhaeghe, a corporate social responsibility […] Read more


Although swathing is the ideal time to scout for blackleg, a new lab test can determine the strain of blackleg in your field from any infected residue, even up to three years after harvest.

Canola producers get two new tools in the fight against blackleg

Tools to estimate yield loss and pinpoint the strain infesting your fields can help reduce the economic hit

Reading Time: 3 minutes Blackleg has become an expensive problem for canola producers, but growers will soon have two new tools to reduce the economic impact of the disease. “Blackleg wasn’t a real concern even a few years ago, but now it’s becoming increasingly important,” said Stephen Strelkov, a professor of plant pathology at the University of Alberta. “This […] Read more

You can easily find cannabis products for pets — often treats containing cannabidiol (also called CBD) —  on the internet, but don’t give them to your dog or cat, says the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association.

Veterinarians won’t be dealing doggy dope any time soon

Vets are being asked about giving cannabis products to pets — but there’s no research, it’s not legal, and it could be dangerous

Reading Time: 3 minutes High-strung heeler hounding you day and night? Crazy old barn cat climbing up the walls? You might be tempted to put on some Pink Floyd, dim the lights, and give them a little something to mellow them out. All of the attention on the pending legalization of marijuana has pet owners asking their vets about […] Read more


Two agriculture and food initiatives are contenders for Ottawa’s billion-dollar plan to kick-start the nation’s new economy — but will it pick Big Data or plant-based proteins?

Superclusters: Creating a silicon valley for agriculture and food

Two proposals from Western Canada are vying for backing in Ottawa’s 
bid to put Canada at the front of the new economy

Reading Time: 6 minutes So what would you rather have — new lucrative ‘plant protein’ markets or a way to turn Big Data into bigger profits? Those are the goals of the two agriculture and agri-food proposals vying for a slice of $950 million of federal cash that Ottawa will spend on ‘superclusters’ — business-led collaborations that aim to […] Read more

Mundare-area producer Greg Porozni (l) talks wheat with Essa Al Ghurair, owner of the largest flour mill and canola crush plant in the United Arab Emirates, during a recent trade mission.

Being the best is no longer good enough

Global wheat buyers love our quality but cheaper alternatives have increased the need for building relationships

Reading Time: 4 minutes A recent trade mission to promote Canadian wheat went around the world in 14 days — or at least that’s how it felt to Greg Porozni. “We had a very successful mission,” the Mundare-area farmer said of his travels to Indonesia, Dubai, Nigeria, and Ghana last month. “These are growth markets, and that’s a really […] Read more


Funding wheat research has been one of Alberta Wheat’s top priorities and greatest successes, say founding directors Kevin Auch and Greg Porozni.

Alberta Wheat says goodbye to two founding board members

Kevin Auch and Greg Porozni have been on the commission’s board since its inception five years ago — and have jumped a few hurdles along the way

Reading Time: 5 minutes They say time flies when you’re having fun. But as two longtime Alberta Wheat board members prepare to say goodbye to the commission they helped build from the ground up, another saying seems just as fitting. It’s never too late to make up for lost time. “There was a void for a long, long time,” […] Read more

Clubroot continues to be a force to reckon with for Alberta producers.

The good, the dry and the troubling

Year in Review: Mother Nature threw a curveball and so did governments, 
while the beef sector reached some major milestones

Reading Time: 9 minutes In one sense, the story of 2017 was all about what happened on your farm, mostly about how much rain you got and when — or if — it came. But it was also a year when things that happened in meeting rooms you’ve never visited had a big impact on your operation. If those […] Read more