Madeleine Baerg

Reading Time: 3 minutes Alberta’s farm leaders may not agree on the decision, but they do agree that if the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly is to end, thinking through the results of the change and working now to prepare for the future is vital. “Let’s take the politicking and passion out of it,” says Wild Rose Agricultural Producers’ President, […] Read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes They don’t share the same view of trade liberalization but the heads of Alberta’s five supply-managed commodities say they are pleased with provincial government’s willingness to support their sector. “We’re always concerned about trade,” Alberta Milk Producers general manager Mike Southwood said after a recent meeting with provincial officials. “But we feel very confident that […] Read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes The recently announced shutdown of XL Foods’ beef kill plant and fabrication facility in Calgary is no surprise to those in the know. “No, it’s not a shock,” said Herb Lock, owner of Farm$ense Marketing in Edmonton. “The packing industry in North America is rightsizing itself. As soon as you have excess capacity, everybody is […] Read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes If you moved just their Alberta holdings to Europe, the Nature Conservancy of Canada would be nearly five times the size of Lichtenstein. And it’s growing – adding nearly 6,750 acres in the past year to bring the amount of Alberta land owned or held under conservation agreements to 180,000 acres. The Nature Conservancy may […] Read more

Reading Time: 4 minutes AF CONTRIBUTOR |CALGARY Farm groups have reacted cautiously to the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP) recommendations released March 25, but even that is in stark contrast to the furor following initial details of land-use legislation last fall. Colin Jeffares, an Alberta Agriculture assistant deputy minister and chairman of the Regional Advisory Committee (RAC) that drafted […] Read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes The Alberta government’s proposed Land Use Framework (LUF) is raising red flags for some farm groups. The LUF outlines a series of steps the government will take to plan the future land use and development needs of the entire province. The intent is to balance social, environmental and economic priorities in order to best address […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes Olds College is becoming a more vital and integrated part of central Alberta’s rural community, and new board chair Barry Mehr wants to keep the college moving in that direction. Mehr said it will be a big job to fill the shoes of outgoing chair Bill Quinney, but he brings with him three years of […] Read more