Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s called social licence — and farmers will pay a steep price if they lose it. It happened to American logger Bruce Vincent, who offered his story as a cautionary tale to a rapt audience of beef producers at the recent Alberta Beef Industry Conference. “Our social licence to operate was rejected by the public,” […] Read more
U.S. timber industry a cautionary tale for Canadian agriculture
Consumers are beginning to reject agriculture’s social licence to operate, and producers are paying the price
Sylvan Lake aiming for Hockeyville crown
Roof collapse of old arena has sparked an outpouring of support for community’s Hockeyville drive
Reading Time: 2 minutes When heavy snow collapsed the roof of Sylvan Lake’s 40-year-old arena this winter, Jared Waldo and Kevin Putnam saw it as a “timely” sign to enter the town in Kraft’s annual Hockeyville contest. “It’s something that a lot of people in Sylvan have talked about for a few years,” said Waldo. “But if ever there […] Read more
Slim pickings for forage seed this growing season
Reading Time: < 1 minute Anyone thinking about growing forages this year better act sooner than later. Strong cattle values coupled with low grain and oilseed prices is shifting marginal acres back to forages, Kevin Shaw, sales and marketing representative at Pickseed, said at the recent Alberta Forage Industry Network annual general meeting. And there’s not an excess of forage seed around given that yields […] Read more
High hopes for new forage beef centre, but ‘fickle governments’ a worry
Boosting pasture productivity and lowering winter feed costs put money in the pocketbook, but forage research still a hard sell
Reading Time: 3 minutes A deal to finally make the proposed Alberta Forage Beef Centre in Lacombe a reality can’t come soon enough for its backers, who have been pushing government for a funding commitment since 2011. “We’re in the process of getting everyone together in the same room to negotiate the terms of an agreement,” Karen Schmid, beef […] Read more
Alberta girl takes the stage at Carnegie Hall
17-year-old from Gibbons beat out thousands of other candidates
Reading Time: < 1 minute They say you haven’t made it until you’ve performed at Carnegie Hall. Alberta singer Anna Kalisvaart can now say, ‘Been there, done that.’ The 17-year-old farm girl from Gibbons got a once-in-a-lifetime chance to stand on the stage of the famous New York City concert hall last month after being selected for a unique program […] Read more
St. Paul dairy farmers named Alberta’s outstanding young farmers
Nicole and Richard Brousseau will represent Alberta and the Northwest Territories at the national Outstanding Young Farmers competition in Quebec City
Reading Time: 2 minutes Dairy farmer Richard Brousseau said what his visibly moved wife Nicole couldn’t upon being named Alberta’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2014. “At first… we didn’t feel we fit the bill, but when we looked into (the program) and what it stood for, we felt very fortunate to be part of this group,” said Richard after […] Read more
Alta. biosecurity funding boosted under PED pressure
Alberta Farmer Express — As Alberta’s hog industry braces for the seemingly inevitable arrival of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), the province has announced an early opening to a program to boost on-farm biosecurity. “Even though we do have some connections with feed now, biosecurity is still our best tool in preventing the spread of PED,” said […] Read more
Producers urged to lobby feds over railway delays
Grain Growers of Canada urges members to turn up the heat on Ottawa to take action and push the railways to move more grain
Reading Time: 2 minutes Grain Growers of Canada is urging producers across the country to join forces in lobbying their members of Parliament for changes to the broken grain transportation system. The group is urging farmers to call their MP and talk about “the rail service issues that are personally affecting you and your farm.” “This is certainly a […] Read more
Rail delays put Canada four million tonnes behind its grain export program targets
Producers are incurring extra costs while grain vessels sit empty in port, waiting for rail deliveries
Reading Time: 3 minutes Backlogs in the grain-handling system aren’t just hurting growers’ bottom lines — they’re also tarnishing Canada’s reputation as a reliable supplier, according to the CEO of Pulse Canada. “We have to stop talking about railway statistics or country elevator statistics, and start talking about our reputation in markets around the world,” Gordon Bacon said at […] Read more
Agronomist says too many producers are playing ‘farm Vegas’ with inputs
Norm Flore says there’s a place for many specialty inputs but they can add to costs without generating much of a return
Reading Time: 2 minutes Producers have better odds playing the slots in Vegas than they do playing “farm Vegas” with their inputs, says agronomist Norm Flore. “Not all inputs are having the same likelihood of a return,” Flore, manager of agronomic services for Crop Production Services Canada, said in his FarmTech presentation. “At the end of the day, it’s […] Read more
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