Reading Time: < 1 minute Registration is underway for Alberta Open Farm Days. Last year’s event attracted nearly 16,000 attendees with more than 110 host farms participating, and the event’s organizers say 92 per cent of them said they would participate again. They also note a wide range of operations have been part of the event, which takes place on […] Read more
Open Farm Days gears up
New year sees lower hog prices
Reading Time: < 1 minute Hog prices have dipped this year, says provincial livestock analyst Ann Boyda. As of March 10, hog prices had averaged $1.81 per kilogram, down about six per cent from the same period a year earlier, Boyda said in an Agri-News article. However, prices in 2022 (which averaged $2.27 a kilogram for the year) were nearly […] Read more
Made in Alberta food labelling program launched
Reading Time: 2 minutes The province is giving $5 million to the Alberta Food Processors Association to launch and run a Made in Alberta food labelling program. In a news release, the association and the government touted the program as both a way to boost the profile of makers of food products and help keep grocery dollars in the […] Read more
Calculating the benefits of nitrogen fertilizer
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions have developed a calculator to estimate possible economic returns from nitrogen fertilizer. The N rate calculators are developed for spring wheat and feed barley, and are adapted to Black, Brown and Dark Brown soil zones. The grower can determine the N rate that brings the highest net return by […] Read more
Government funds mental health
Reading Time: < 1 minute Federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced $168,440 in funding for the Canadian Centre for Agricultural Wellbeing during the inaugural National Symposium on Agricultural Mental Health in early March. The mission of this new not-for-profit organization is to lead research and roll out initiatives in collaboration with community organizations across the country to address […] Read more
No end in sight for deadly drought
Reading Time: < 1 minute An “unprecedented” three-year drought in the Horn of Africa is affecting tens of millions of people and the region will take years to recover, says the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations and a host of aid organizations. But the latest forecast is for another poor rainy season. “If below-average rains do materialize, the Horn […] Read more
Agronomy update recap available
Reading Time: < 1 minute If you missed this year’s Agronomy Update (or can’t read your notes), PowerPoint slides from the January event are now available at agronomyupdate.ca. Slides from two dozen presentations can be downloaded for free. Among the topics are nitrification and urease inhibitors, micronutrients, fusarium graminearum, bacterial leaf streak, aphanomyces, verticillium wilt, herbicide mixing, flea beetles, managing […] Read more
Tips on battling wheat stem sawfly
Reading Time: < 1 minute A new video from Alberta Wheat offers advice on managing wheat stem sawfly from Scott Meers, the long-time provincial insect management specialist and now a consultant. It covers topics such as when to plant a solid- and semi-solid-stem variety (and lists current offerings for spring wheat and durum), recommended seeding rates (for both solid- and […] Read more
Potato wart survey gives clean bill of health
Fields across Canada with a history of getting seed potatoes from P.E.I. tested negative
A national survey on the watch for potato wart has come back clean. On March 13, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said results from their 2022 potato wart survey had not found any cases of the soil-borne fungus. The agency had tested nearly 1,500 soil samples from fields in British Columbia, the three Prairie […] Read more
Feedlots a big economic engine for Alberta
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association has produced a promotional video highlighting the sector’s economic impact in the province. Based on 2020 data compiled by ag consulting firm Serecon, the sector generates $2.9 billion in economic activity annually. Roughly a third of that comes directly from the sector and the other two-thirds in spinoffs. For every animal […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
