Reading Time: < 1 minute Sandy Bell describes her company’s business as “horses helping humans reach our full potential,” and her three horses — Alaska, Target and Dixie — as her “co-facilitators.” Bell, owner of Windhorse Retreat, puts on workshops and learning events at her Rimbey-area farm, with interaction with her horses — or “equine-assisted learning” — playing a central […] Read more
Team building takes on a new meaning at Windhorse Retreat
Stay calm, stick to the facts, and tell your story, says communications expert
Reading Time: < 1 minute A&W’s Better Beef campaign holds a lesson for farmers — although they might not like it, says a communications expert. The fast food chain’s ad campaign touting its switch to hormone-free beef has been “massively successful,” Shawn Brook, president of Issues Ink, told FarmTech attendees. “Their job is to sell hamburgers, and this makes them sell hamburgers,” he said. “What makes it wrong is that we haven’t been […] Read more
In one end and out the other — feeding your horse without hurting your land
Horse owners can reduce their environmental impact — and save a bit of money — by adopting some easy feeding strategies for their horses
Reading Time: 3 minutes Some horse owners may pooh-pooh environmentally friendly feeding practices, but the risk that “road apples” pose to ground- and surface water is real, said an equine researcher from the University of Florida. “You know that what you feed in the one end will eventually come out in the back end,” Lori Warren said at the […] Read more
Wild oat herbicide resistance is on the rise
Moving to longer crop rotations and reducing herbicide use will help manage the rapid rise in herbicide resistance in wild oats
Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s already bad, but the problem of herbicide-resistant wild oats in Alberta will get a lot worse in a hurry if farmers don’t change their ways, says an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada scientist. Today, 37 per cent of Western Canada’s cropland has herbicide-resistant weeds, with resistant wild oats in 28 per cent of fields, Neil […] Read more
Canada Beef charting its own course
Rob Meijer says straw man report offers an ‘interesting perspective’ but Canada Beef has its own plan for boosting the fortunes of the beef industry
Reading Time: 3 minutes The newly formed Council of Beef Leaders may be missing a key player when it meets later this winter. “The beef industry has enough structures and organizations and committees,” said Rob Meijer, president of Canada Beef Inc. “We’re not of the view that we need yet another one. “We are nowhere near accepting of an advisory council.” The council is one of the key recommendations […] Read more
Clogged rail network could impact last-minute fertilizer deliveries
The fertilizer bill should be lower this year, but the transportation system may not be able to accommodate a late surge in delivery orders
Reading Time: 2 minutes Cash flow or storage concerns causing you to hold off on booking fertilizer? That could be a costly move if you wait too long. “With the way the commodities have tailed off in the last few months, some guys may be looking to push (fertilizer purchases) back a bit due to cash flow concerns,” said […] Read more
Winds throw snowballs
Reading Time: < 1 minute Strathmore-area farmer Matt Gosling was looking out his office window one morning in mid-January when he saw something he’s never seen before — snowballs rolling across his yard all on their own “like a herd of elephants.” “It was an awesome morning, and then all of a sudden, the wind started blowing from the northwest, […] Read more
Hurricane force winds leave trail of damage
A Bonnyville-area farmer had an empty bin roll 150 feet across his yard and had to shore up full ones to keep them from toppling
Reading Time: < 1 minute They were later described as “hurricane force,” and Bonnyville farmer Taylor Snyder experienced the winds’ full fury. “The bins were tied with cables to anchors in the ground,” said Snyder, who was helping a neighbour unload canola on Jan. 15. “The bins started rocking back and forth till they finally broke the cables and fell […] Read more
Prairie shinny like it’s never been seen before
Remote-controlled helicopters are coming to the farm, and not just for filming backyard hockey games
Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s the good old hockey game with a bird’s eye view. Standard grain farmer Jay Schultz has carved out his own little slice of hockey history by filming a Boxing Day shinny game in nearby Rosebud with a remote-controlled helicopter. In the video, the small DJI Phantom helicopter equipped with a GoPro — the lightweight […] Read moreForget the ruler — a new electronic grading system will provide the true measure of Canadian lamb grade
Lamb producers will receive real-time feedback on their carcass quality through a new electronic grading system
Reading Time: 2 minutes A new electronic grading system will move Canada’s lamb industry from grading with a ruler in a cold room into the 21st century. “It’s hardly a way to run an industry,” said Terry Ackerman, chief executive officer of the Canadian Lamb Producers Cooperative, of the current system. Ottawa is giving the co-op $1.4 million to […] Read moreCyber-Savvy Farmer
