Reading Time: < 1 minute The 2022 calendar from STARS is now on sale. The calendar campaign, now in its 29th year, is the second-largest fundraiser for the air ambulance service, which operates 24-7 from bases in Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg. Viterra is a major sponsor of the fundraiser, which sees tens of thousands of calendars […] Read more
New edition of STARS calendar takes flight
Research leader’s passion for soil health proves infectious
Reading Time: 4 minutes Nora Paulovich developed a passion for soil health during her years leading the North Peace Applied Research Association. Her legacy is that so many other Alberta farmers now share her belief that building soil health needs to be Job 1 on their farms. Cover crops, integrating livestock into crop production, and regenerative agriculture were among […] Read more
‘Community Challenge’ helping community groups
Reading Time: < 1 minute This year’s BASF Community Challenge features a $25,000 grand prize for a community organization along with $5,000 each for eight other community groups. Farmers who have grown InVigor hybrid canola can nominate an organization and must either say how the organization made a difference in their community or “share their BASF success story.” Details and […] Read more
Growing garlic a tasty retirement project
Reading Time: 3 minutes Lorraine and Kevin Bannister just knew there was something different about the garlic they sampled at a farmers’ market in British Columbia one day 15 years ago. “It was so different from the garlic we got in the store,” said Lorraine Bannister, who operates Garlic Goodness with husband Kevin near Innisfail. “My mom was a […] Read more
The pandemic brought profound, and lasting, changes to our farms
Reading Time: 4 minutes Alyson Katerenchuk, 20, is the senior winner in this year’s Alberta Young Speakers for Agriculture competition. She grew up on a grain operation in Smoky Lake County and is currently obtaining her B.Sc. in mechanical engineering at the University of Alberta. Here is her slightly abridged presentation on how the pandemic changed Canadian agriculture. Almost […] Read more
Is there a charity in your community you’d like to help?
Reading Time: < 1 minute New monkey bars at a school in Lacombe, more fresh food for clients of an Okotoks food bank, and support for a kids’ mental health training program in the Vermilion area are three examples of how Alberta communities are using grants from the Canada’s Farmers Grow Communities Program. The 10-year-old program, which gives farmers a […] Read more
A classic scene from Alberta Open Farm Days
Reading Time: < 1 minute SherryAnn (on left in hat) and Kurtis Hoogland (on the tractor) transported visitors on a “tour trailer” to show off their operation in Lacombe County. The Hooglands produce grass-fed lamb and beef and raise pigs and poultry on pasture. The first-generation farm family was participating in Open Farm Days for the first time, one of […] Read more
Foodgrains Bank has a new representative
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ary Vreeken is Alberta’s new representative for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Vreeken had been teaching community development at the University of Calgary’s faculty of social work and has an extensive background with humanitarian organizations such as Samaritan’s Purse, World Renew and the Foodgrains Bank itself (including a stint as international program director from 2007-09). He […] Read more
Getting food seems like such a simple thing, doesn’t it?
Reading Time: 4 minutes Christopher Mills, 14, of Vauxhall, is the junior winner of the Alberta Young Speakers for Agriculture competition. In his speech, he addressed the question: Food waste, food security and food policy: What is agriculture’s/aquaculture’s role? It’s 4 o’clock in the afternoon and I just came home from school and I am starving. I decide to […] Read more
Scholarship season is a reminder to mark your calendars
Reading Time: < 1 minute With the return to school just around the corner, it’s the season of scholarship announcements — and a reminder that students planning to go to college or university a year from now should mark their calendars for when applications open again. For example, three Albertans (Catharina Brosinsky, Jessica Hadwin and Torann Mecham) are among the 15 […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
