Reading Time: < 1 minute It’s an unwelcome honour, but Alberta has two of the top three spots in Environment Canada’s Top 10 weather stories of the year. The June 13 hailstorm in Calgary caused an estimated $1.3 billion in damage – $386 million in smashed or cracked windshields alone along with pummelling “hundreds of thousands of hectares” of grain […] Read more
Alberta weather disasters make Top 10 in 2020
Strike a better deal with U.K. on beef, says CCA
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association is hailing the interim trade deal with the U.K., but says a new long-term agreement needs to “resolve trade barriers” when it comes to the trade in beef between the two countries. “A glaring inequity that remains to be resolved is that Canadian beef producers face far more hurdles to export […] Read more
Weevil and plot trial lessons from the past year
Results from the 2020 pea leaf weevil survey and the Plot2Farm trials are now available
Reading Time: 2 minutes Producers in the area around Edmonton as well as in southern Alberta may be at greater risk of seeing pea leaf weevils this spring. In a recent blog post on the Alberta Pulse Growers website, provincial insect survey technologist Shelley Barkley provided a summary of the annual survey for the pest. The survey, taken in […] Read more
Smart Farm partners with Telus Agriculture
Reading Time: < 1 minute Olds College has struck a $1-million partnership with Telus Agriculture that will see the school’s Smart Farm serve as a “living lab to conduct applied research and test the real-world application of new technology in a commercial-scale agriculture setting.” This includes evaluating technology such as internet-connected weather stations and field sensors in live conditions. Telus […] Read more
Coffee, Cows & Crops podcasts launched
Reading Time: < 1 minute Peace Country Beef and Forage Association is creating podcasts to “share ideas supported by sound science and practical wisdom.” The Coffee, Cows & Crops podcasts can be found at peacecountrybeef.ca. One is on continuous cropping and adaptive management in which Jay Byer (soil conservation analyst, Gateway Research Organization) talks about management systems on marginal land. […] Read more
Farmer input sought for new grain code of practice
Consultations on the new voluntary program start in January, with a rollout planned for spring
Reading Time: 3 minutes Grain farmers are being asked for their views on a new code of practice being created by a coalition of farm groups and industry associations. Consultations begin next month on the proposed code, which covers practices such as fertilizer and pesticide use, and management of soil and water. “The intent of the voluntary code of […] Read more
Two new programs aimed at Class 1 licensing problems
Farm groups welcome reduced training option and grants for those wanting to be truck drivers
Reading Time: 2 minutes The provincial government has opened a pair of avenues that will make getting a Class 1 driver’s licence easier for some. New training rules — called Mandatory Entry Level Training (MELT) — were brought in following the Humboldt Broncos bus crash, which killed 16 people in April 2018. The accident prompted reviews of driver training […] Read more
Grasslands Conservation Guide available
Reading Time: < 1 minute Birds Canada has produced a 69-page guide to help landowners learn more about financial incentive programs available to preserve, enhance, or restore grasslands and important prairie habitats. The guide outlines available programs, including ones available in Alberta. Some offer funding for projects while others offer assistance in protecting habitat and species that rely on grasslands. […] Read more
Pulse Canada podcast focuses on grain transport
Reading Time: < 1 minute Pulse Canada has launched a new weekly podcast on transportation of grain in Western Canada The podcast features Greg Northey, Pulse Canada’s vice-president of corporate affairs, interviewing Milt Poirier, who manages the AgTransport Coalition, which was created nearly six years ago to monitor the performance of railways in terms of grain movement. The coalition produces […] Read more
Half the province on the dry side heading into winter
It’s a long time until spring, but soil moisture reserves are sharply lower compared to a year ago
Reading Time: < 1 minute Much of the province’s farmland is dry, according to the latest soil moisture update from Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. “Soil moisture reserves at freeze-up are highly variable across the province with about 50 per cent of the agricultural areas estimated to have below-average reserves at fall freeze-up,” said the Nov. 8 report. “Large areas that […] Read more
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