Allocation review None announced yet, but irrigators prepared to respond if one is announced
Reading Time: 3 minutes With drought affecting more than 80 per cent of the continental United States, water — or the lack of it — is back in the news. In southern Alberta, where more than three-quarters of the average natural flow of water is already allocated to users, irrigation farmers are standing up for their water rights in […] Read moreIrrigation farmers prepared to stand up for their share
Pork imports major problem in Canadian market
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canadian pork is a big success overseas, which is a good thing because producers here are having a tough time getting their product on the shelf here at home. “Right now, more than 25 per cent of the pork on Canadian store shelves comes from other countries,” says Darcy Fitzgerald, executive director at Alberta Pork. […] Read more
High grain prices make for a tough time for livestock feeders
Shrinking Already at the lowest since 1973, the U.S. cattle herd will decline again this year
Reading Time: 3 minutes The U.S. drought may not have extended north to Canada, but the financial squeeze on Canadian feeders has. “The North American beef industry was built on $2 or $3 corn,” says Herb Lock of Farm$ense Marketing in Edmonton. “Eight-dollar or $9 corn sure takes the sexiness out of slogging through the mud and feeding it.” […] Read moreExpert says a new era of ag research is on its way
TECH TOOLS With a shrinking pool of public research resources, farmers may need to do more of their own research
Reading Time: 3 minutes Farmers need to step up and get involved in a new era of research, and it needs to be on farm, field scale, farmer driven, and collaborative, says Ty Faechner, executive director of the Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta. “I don’t think traditional research will ever go away,” Faechner told attendees at the […] Read moreNew research: Reclaimed land less productive
NOT RECOVERED ARECA finds land reclaimed from oil and gas lease sites, borrow pits, and gas pipelines can suffer a 10-bushel-an-acre yield drop
Reading Time: 2 minutes Many producers suspect reclaimed industrial sites are less productive than surrounding land, despite claims to the contrary from oil and gas companies. Recent research by the Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta (ARECA) proves that producers are indeed correct, and provides a credible starting place for discussion about compensation. “Because these sites were signed […] Read moreNon-profit agency lowers costs of checkoff collection
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Alberta Barley Commission has become the latest producer organization to entrust its checkoff collection to Saskatchewan-based Levy Central. “The Levy Central service will help us build efficiencies and simplify our existing system,” said Lisa Skierka, the commission’s general manager. “This is a responsible use of producer dollars and, ideally, it will help us increase […] Read more
Big technology leap will be first in North America
Reading Time: 3 minutes Livestock movement tracking is taking a common sense approach by better utilizing Alberta’s livestock manifest. Livestock Identification Services (LIS), the non-profit, industry-owned company that carries out livestock identification and inspection services in Alberta, is in the final stages of developing and testing an electronic livestock manifest. If all goes as planned, livestock producers will be […] Read more
Mixed reaction to provincial budget for agriculture
Reading Time: 3 minutes Good, but not exciting news. That seems to be the main reaction of farm groups to the latest provincial budget. “Overall, it didn’t hurt us. It didn’t take any major things away from agriculture, and, I think there are some good parts to it,” said Wild Rose Agricultural Producers Association president Lynn Jacobson. But he […] Read more
Lack of moisture worrisome for dryland crop farmers
Reading Time: 3 minutes Although much of the province is facing a record-low snowpack, Alberta farmers need not be too worried just yet, says a precipitation expert. “Winter’s not over,” said Ralph Wright, a soil moisture specialist with Alberta Agriculture. “We’ve still got February and March, and this could still turn around.” That said, it is dry out there. […] Read more
Jim Dinning Welcomed As Head Of Rail Service Review
Reading Time: 3 minutes The federal government s recent appointment of former Alberta cabinet minister Jim Dinning to lead a Rail Service Review is good news, say grain-industry leaders. Getting the appointment done and moving forward is huge, said Stephen Vandervalk, the Alberta-based president of the Grain Growers of Canada and vice-president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association. […] Read more
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