Reading Time: < 1 minute Farmers are being asked to share their strategies on how to manage weed, insect and disease resistance. The contest offers prizes (iPads and Tim Hortons gift cards) for winning entries. “The Pest Management Challenge is an opportunity to get people talking and to encourage the adoption of resistance management best practices,” said Jennifer Hubert, an […] Read more
How do you manage resistant pests?
Environmental stewardship award nominations open
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Beef Producers is now accepting nominations for the 2023 Environmental Stewardship Award. The award recognizes a beef producer “who best exemplifies environmentally sustainable cattle production.” Producers can be nominated by an individual or organization, or apply themselves. A panel of representatives from conservation and agriculture assess the candidate by examining the stewardship goals and […] Read more
Community groups get a helping hand
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Farm Credit Canada organization awards between $5,000 and $25,000 for “improvement initiatives that enrich the lives of residents” in communities with populations of less than 150,000. Among the groups receiving funding this year are the Grassland Ag Society in Athabasca County ($15,000 for hall upgrades), Millarville Racing and Agricultural Society ($12,000 for electrical upgrades […] Read more
Book celebrates farmers who ‘never gave up the fight’
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Western Barley Growers Association has produced a coffee-table book on its history and how the organization, headquartered in Airdrie, has made a difference. The book, titled Western Barley’s Legacy, covers more than four decades of the group’s history, from its formation in “a small community hall in Carseland” to its efforts to “challenge the […] Read more
Indo-Pacific plan wins kudos from cattle group
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Canadian Cattle Association is hailing Ottawa’s plan to boost trade with the Indo-Pacific region. About 20 per cent of beef exports already head to the region, with Japan, China, South Korea, Vietnam and Hong Kong being the top markets. The prospects for increasing beef exports are good, it said. “The Indo-Pacific region holds the […] Read more
No leadership change prior to grain groups’ merger
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Barley’s senior leaders are staying on as the farm group heads toward amalgamation with Alberta Wheat. Following its AGM earlier this month, the organization said Acme producer Tara Sawyer is staying on as chair and Roy Newman, who farms in the Blackie area, will continue to serve as vice-chair. “During this critical time period […] Read more
Iconic Alberta tree needs some help from cattle producers
Endangered limber pines are besieged on many fronts, including by grazing cattle
Reading Time: 2 minutes Cattle producers in foothill country in southwestern Alberta are being asked to look out for — and help protect — the iconic but endangered limber pine. “The rugged, twisted trees usually grow on dry, rocky ridges and are thought to be some of the oldest trees in Canada,” the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation of Canada […] Read more
Refundable checkoff for lamb producers stays
Reading Time: < 1 minute A bid to make the checkoff for lamb producers non-refundable has been defeated in a plebiscite. “Most producers that voted were in favour of the status quo, a refundable service charge model,” Alberta Lamb Producers said on its website. Just over 15 per cent of eligible producers voted, with 147 in favour of keeping the […] Read more
Stubble in crop rotations might surprise you
Reading Time: < 1 minute A new tool from Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley can help producers with rotation planning. The tool, a table that uses 10 years’ worth of AFSC crop data, “provides a breakdown of the average percent yield of certain crops when seeded into specific crop stubble.” The table, which has 12 crops (six cereals, three pulses, […] Read more
Lehr new BCRC chair
Reading Time: < 1 minute Medicine Hat area rancher Craig Lehr is the new chair of the Beef Cattle Research Council while Fred Lozeman of Claresholm will serve a second term as finance chair. Lehr’s family owns and operates Short Grass Ranches, which has a 1,200-head cow-calf herd, 7,000-head backgrounding feedlot and a crop operation. Lehr was previously vice-chair and […] Read more
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