Reading Time: 3 minutes In our last edition, AF contributor Madeleine Baerg reported on the status of UHF (ultra-high-frequency) RFID ear tags for the cattle industry. She noted ongoing research by facilities such as SAIT are clearly showing the superior readability and reliability of this ear tag technology compared to the low-frequency (LF) ear tags in use today. This […] Read more
Editorial: CCIA procrastination is setting industry back
Editorial: Conference a great forum for young ag people
Reading Time: 2 minutes Some of us on the verge of retirement wonder at times who will be taking over the reins of leadership of ag organizations, ag academia, the ag government bureaucracy, and the industry in general. It’s a real concern as the never-ending efficiencies in ag production mean fewer and fewer people are needed to produce more […] Read more
Editorial: Farm worker issue seems stalled as government procrastinates
Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s an ongoing issue in the Alberta ag industry, but the declaration of August 20 by the Alberta Federation of Labour as “Alberta Farm Worker Day,” brought it back into the news. I refer to the lack of mandatory Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) and Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) standards and programs for those working […] Read more
The world’s agriculture youth descends on Calgary
Reading Time: 2 minutes Last month’s “Feeding a Hungry World — Youth Ag Summit” conference in Calgary saw an outstanding display of youthful exuberance, enthusiasm and commitment to agriculture on a global scale. The seminar was held to celebrate the 100th anniversary of 4-H in Canada and the 150th anniversary of Bayer, which sponsored the event. “What better way […] Read more
Editorial: Flood mitigation should be simple — except for procrastination
Reading Time: 2 minutes Just as the floods receded in southern Alberta, and right on schedule, various politicians earnestly declared that steps will be taken to avoid this problem in the future. To show their determination to take action — myriad committees, task forces, expert panels, senior officials and other suspects have been ordered into motion to come up […] Read more
Editorial: An enjoyable glimpse at a dying art — in North America
Reading Time: 3 minutes The recently held World Ploughing Match in Olds perhaps highlighted the growing gap in world agricultural production. That gap is starkly evident in western North America where king-size, commercial agriculture continues to expand. At the Olds College event, competitors from over 50 countries were using modest, mid-size tractors pulling two- or three-bottom plows. That size […] Read more
Age verification may quietly disappear — or not
Reading Time: 4 minutes It was one of those government programs that was unwanted, even detested, by most cow-calf producers, but it was a darling of senior department bureaucrats. In fact it was so much loved by those folks that the government threw millions of taxpayer dollars at the program just to prove it was going to be good […] Read more
Barley has a lot of catching up if it’s to compete with corn
Reading Time: 3 minutes Two recent announcements by the federal government and private industry show different research approaches to a couple of crops grown in Alberta. Both have announced the investment of millions of dollars into barley research by the federal government on the one hand, and millions into corn research by Monsanto on the other. From the outside […] Read more
Flood raises some questions about more mitigation projects
Flooding is a fact of life is much of southern Alberta and the practice of building residential subdivisions in flood plains needs to be questioned
Reading Time: 3 minutes In this edition, we feature some stories on the impact of the southern Alberta floods and rain deluge on the ag sector. Clearly the impact has been most severe in Calgary and a number of smaller centres. Individual farms and ranches were affected, but they are few compared to the widespread devastation in residential areas. […] Read more
Report spreads the blame
Reading Time: 2 minutes A select committee of experts has released a report on the E. coli outbreak at the former XL Foods beef plant in Brooks. The committee was created by the federal government to find a cause for the outbreak and to make some recommendations to avert such a fiasco in the future. This investigation was demanded […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
