Rebecca Dika

Reading Time: 3 minutes AF CONTRIBUTOR |GRANDE PRAIRIE Drought conditions across northwestern Alberta put paid to any thoughts of high yields and good grades, despite producers getting off to one of their best starts in years, said Dave Wong, Alberta Agriculture market specialist. “We had a heavy snowfall in late May, which really saved us since it brought much-needed […] Read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes When Phillippe and Emma Lavoie came to the Peace country from a small town in Quebec in 1953 with their nine children and seven Holsteins, they couldn’t know the legacy they had started to build. The couple had worked in the dairy industry back east and settled near the hamlet of St. Isidore in northwestern […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes It might be hard for sodden central and southern Alberta producers to believe, but unprecedented drought has spurred 10 municipalities in northwestern Alberta to declare agriculture disaster zones. The counties of Grande Prairie, Saddle Hills and Birch Hills as well as the municipal districts of Big Lakes, Northern Sunrise, Spirit River, Fairview, Clear Hills, Smoky […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes af contributor |grande prairie Peace country grain producers are watching with keen interest as a proposal for a new $59-million integrated rail/ truck container depot picks up steam in the County of Grande Prairie. Project consultant Greg Pichette said construction of the first phase of the Inland Multi-Modal Logistics Park could start as early as […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes There’s been some good news and some bad news for grain producers in the Peace region, with one major grain-handling facility opening but another closing down. Viterra’s new $24-million full-service retail centre in Sexsmith, about 25 kilometres north of Grande Prairie, opened this summer. The new facility will have full blending capability in a high-throughput […] Read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes “We’ve really enjoyed the buffalo,”… “It’s had its ups and downs like any other, but it’s solid.” ROSS ADAM BISON RANCHER, SMOKY RIVER, PEACE COUNTRY The official name is bison, but don’t tell that to Ross Adam. At the Adam Ranch, spanning 8,000 acres on the banks of the Smoky River in the Peace country, […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes “Crops from Grande Prairie west to the B. C. border are faring the best, but we all need a good, decent rain.” DAVID WONG ALBERTA AGRICULTURE MARKET SPECIALIST Peace region producers would have been happy to take some rain off the hands of their colleagues in the south. Crops in northwestern Alberta got off to […] Read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes “You can ask him about his own operation, but the conversation always comes back to the current industry issues and WSGA.” JEANNE HANSON CATTLE FARMER Primary producers hold the key to bring back profitability and sustainability to the Canadian cattle industry, says Western Stock Growers’ Association president Bill Hanson. “Post-BSE, producers disengaged from their industry, […] Read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes “A lot more operations are getting big enough to run their own equipment so it makes it tough for the independent livestock hauler.” KEITH STEPHENSON LIVESTOCK HAULER The slower flow of cattle across the U. S. border is affecting livestock haulers across Alberta, and it’s no different in the Peace region. Keith Stephenson is owner […] Read more