Reading Time: 2 minutes Brent Donis would normally be chequebook in hand at the behemoth antique and horse-drawn equipment auction coming up in September north of Grande Prairie. He’s spent the past 30 years collecting similar antiques from all over western North America. Donis will be there, but he won’t be buying. This remarkable collection of antiques and horse-drawn […] Read more
After 30 years of collecting, it’s time for some to go
Valhalla: Tiny community hasn’t just survived, but thrived
renewal With a thriving restaurant, charter school and community centre, Valhalla Centre remains a going concern
Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s named for the afterworld of Norse legend, and Alberta’s Valhalla might have passed into the Great Beyond save for the dogged efforts of a small community group. Valhalla Centre, the tiny Norwegian community west of Grande Prairie, had been in a decades-long decline when the Valhalla Heritage Society was formed in 1988. Their efforts […] Read morePeace-area grain grower diversifies into a unique crop
try fruit Kreg and Leanne Alde will soon be the province’s largest haskap growers, but they predict others will follow in their footsteps
Reading Time: 2 minutes Last year’s closing of Cargill’s Albright facility west of Grande Prairie prompted grain farmer Kreg Alde to try something completely different — fruit production. The elevator closing was not a popular move with area farmers, who will see their transportation costs double as they ship to the next closest site, the Viterra facility in Sexsmith. […] Read morePeace-area beekeeper victim of major theft
SAD AFFAIR Bill Termeer says the thief must have been familiar with his operation and the location of his hives as many were “quite well hidden”
Reading Time: 2 minutes The theft of frames containing more than three million bees from 170 hives has been a “huge hit” for Peace-region beekeeper Bill Termeer — and he suspects it might be someone he knows. “I think it is a local, someone familiar with the hive sites since some are quite well hidden,” said the owner of […] Read moreNew social media is like the old..sort of
Reading Time: 3 minutes The power of a well-told story is timeless, but traditional methods for passing wisdom from one generation to the next must make room for social media, marketing consultant Bill Baker says. Baker told a “strategic storytelling” workshop in Grande Prairie, social media mechanisms such as Twitter and Facebook are excellent new communication tools. “Farmers have […] Read more
Peace Region crops off to a good start
Forage seed High canola prices are taking a bite out of the area’s traditional specialty crop
Reading Time: 2 minutes By all accounts, it’s shaping up to be a good year for Peace Region farmers. Perfectly timed spring rains coming on the heels of a series of heavy late-winter snowfalls have conspired to help replenish dry soils here. Alberta Agriculture market specialist David Wong said given low moisture levels this winter, the snowstorms and rain […] Read moreCollege revives original beekeeping course
Reading Time: 2 minutes Commercial beekeeping is enjoying the spotlight again in northwestern Alberta. After a 13-year hiatus, a beekeeper technician program is being offered in Fairview and a national honeybee diagnostic centre is on track to open this summer near Grande Prairie. Formerly Fairview College and now a Grande Prairie Regional College (GPRC) facility, the campus accepted four […] Read more
Agricultural extension — old and new versions
Progress Communications have brought extension into the modern age, but a retired DHE wonders if there’s something missing
Reading Time: 3 minutes Many remember the glory days of Alberta Agriculture’s extension services, but it’s been nearly two decades since the province moved away from a model that had served the fledgling province well for years. By the mid-1990s, generalists — in the form of the district agriculturist (DA) and the district home economist (DHE) — had outlived […] Read moreNew processing plant will make rabbit sector “a major player”
Reading Time: 3 minutes A new processing plant is just what Alberta’s rabbit sector needs to hop to the next level, says Marion Popkin, who has been the spark plug for developing the sector. Popkin has been raising rabbits at her operation in Valleyview since 2008, one of about 20 producers in the region, and helped form the Alberta […] Read more
Tough Weather Conditions Delay Peace Harvest
Reading Time: 2 minutes Slow and steady will win the race for Peace Region producers this crop season. Heavy precipitation and cool temperatures for the majority of the growing season have put harvest operations about a month behind. We re just picking away at it, says Alberta Agriculture market specialist David Wong. Cool conditions, shorter days and sporadic showers […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
