Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta’s new research funding agency is putting $750,000 over three years into a “novel water monitoring project.” The project aims to develop best practices “to protect water habitats from crop protection product use,” Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR) said in a release. The research will be done by the Crop Sector Working Group, composed of […] Read more

Water monitoring project funded

Province funds watershed protection
Reading Time: < 1 minute In the midst of the outcry over coal mining and its impact on water, the provincial government is giving $1 million to Cows and Fish for “projects and initiatives that protect creeks and streams along Alberta’s Eastern Slopes.” The organization, formally called the Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society, will work with other groups on specific […] Read more

Will seasonal grain pricing hold this year?
Reading Time: < 1 minute If you’re expecting history to repeat itself, sell some canola soon or wait until post-harvest. Prices tend to follow a set pattern over the course of the year, says provincial crops market analyst Neil Blue. A chart using price data from 2011 to 2020 and a baseline of 100 shows prices rise to above 104 […] Read more

A crystal ball to predict drought
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ag Canada says its new Drought Outlook tool can predict likely drought conditions one month into the future. The tool uses Drought Monitor assessments along with precipitation and temperature forecasts from Environment Canada. It features two side-by-side maps — one showing drought conditions as of a particular date and a linked one predicting the ‘drought […] Read more

Opponents hail decision to reject controversial coal mine proposal
Critics say Grassy Mountain coal mine would have polluted waterways, and a regulatory panel agreed
Reading Time: 2 minutes An application for the highly controversial Grassy Mountain coal mine has been turned down by a joint federal-provincial regulatory panel. “We find that the project’s significant adverse environmental effects on surface water quality and westslope cutthroat trout and habitat outweigh the low to moderate positive economic impacts of the project,” the panel for the Alberta […] Read more
Lethbridge college launches degree program
Reading Time: < 1 minute Lethbridge College will start offering a bachelor of agriculture science degree program this fall. The degree program works in conjunction with the current agriculture sciences diploma program. Students in the two-year diploma program have a common first-year curriculum, before choosing to major in agriculture business, agronomy or animal science in their second year. Students may […] Read more
Innovative agricultural societies recognized with award
Reading Time: < 1 minute Bezanson Agricultural Society, Millarville Racing & Agricultural Society and the Grande Prairie Regional Agricultural & Exhibition Society are the inaugural recipients of the Alberta Agricultural Society Innovation Award. The award was created to find a way to recognize the innovation and resilience shown by Alberta’s agricultural societies during COVID-19. Bezanson’s Ag Society was commended for […] Read more
Funding available for community projects
Reading Time: < 1 minute The UFA Rural Communities Foundation is once again offering $100,000 in grants for community projects in Alberta. “We know this has been a tough year for community groups,” board chair Harvey Hagman said in a news release. “We have seen the difference our grants have made to the communities and their projects. We made the […] Read more

Regina scores another business win with pulp mill project
Reading Time: < 1 minute Red Leaf Pulp says it will build “Canada’s first non-wood pulp mill” in Regina by turning wheat straw into compostable cellulose pulp for use in packaging, tissue and other paper products. Construction of the $350-million facility is slated to begin next year. Red Leaf says the fibre produced by the facility can be used as […] Read more

New federal grain dryer grant program about to launch
Indications are the new $50-million program will look a lot like one launched in Alberta last year
Reading Time: 2 minutes Farmers can start submitting applications this month for a federal program that will cover half of the cost of more energy-efficient grain dryers. Ottawa has set aside $50 million for the so-called “adoption stream” of its $166-million Agricultural Clean Technology Program. Another $10 million will be offered for “powering farms with clean energy and moving off […] Read more