Reading Time: < 1 minute Producers casting a ballot in Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley elections can use electronic voting. The two farm groups are using a platform called ElectionBuddy, which its developers say is a secure method for member-based organizations to conduct elections. For Alberta Wheat, go to albertawheatvotes.com (opens as a secure ElectionBuddy link) or albertabarleyvotes.com (opens as […] Read more
Alberta farm groups using online voting
Voting is open until Nov. 6
Opinion: On cereal commissions. Collaboration? Yes. Amalgamation? No
Sharing staff has been good for Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley, but having one board wouldn’t be wise
Reading Time: 3 minutes At FarmTech last month, the membership of the Alberta Wheat Commission passed a resolution to explore the possibility of one governance structure with the Alberta Barley Commission. Alberta Barley passed a similar resolution at its AGM in December. The exploratory process shouldn’t be clouded by turf wars on the employee side of things since the […] Read more
Research clusters fund host of projects
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta’s cereal commissions are helping to fund 30 research projects. Alberta Wheat is giving $2.6 million, part of a $25-million effort called the Canadian National Wheat Cluster. The initiative by Ottawa and several ag groups is funding 22 variety development, pathology, agronomy and pre-breeding projects. Among the recipients are three federal researchers working in Alberta: […] Read more
The Big Wreck: One million unharvested acres
The financial hit will be huge and getting rid of those damaged crops could delay seeding and put this year’s crop at risk
Reading Time: 4 minutes [Updated: March 20, 2017] Ed Tollefson is worried he won’t be able to get 700 acres of snow-buried crop off his field before seeding this year. And the Valleyview-area farmer is not alone. Alberta producers have reported 967,569 unharvested acres to Agricultural Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) — a massive area that would have cost those […] Read more
Farm groups welcome Ottawa’s research funding pledge
Agriculture Canada is giving positive signs that it will continue to invest in wheat and barley research
Reading Time: 3 minutes [UPDATED: Feb. 6, 2017] – Federal dollars are key to barley and wheat research in Alberta. Fortunately, there are a lot of signs that the Liberal government is willing to continue investing in it. “We’ve been happy with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada,” said Jason Lenz, chair of Alberta Barley Commission. The federal government has been […] Read more
Revenues fall but so do expenses at Alberta Barley Commission
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Alberta Barley Commission saw revenues fall by nearly $800,000 but still posted a surplus last year. Revenue fell to $4.1 million in the 2015-16 fiscal year from $4.9 million a year earlier, largely due to a drop in checkoffs and less revenue from the AgriInnovation program. But costs also were lower, including a drop of $360,000 […] Read more
Weather woes not the only concern
The grain transportation system is far from fixed, poor quality will have continuing repercussions, and the world is awash in grain
Reading Time: 4 minutes All that rain and its effect on crop quality is top of mind for Alberta farm leaders, but lurking just behind is the prospect of the railways seizing up again in the face of a huge harvest. “It looks like there’s a lot of crop out there — I’ve heard estimates that this might be […] Read more
Sylvan Lake farmer joins Cigi board at a critical time
Kevin Bender’s new role will involve sorting out funding and trade issues
Reading Time: 2 minutes UPDATED: Aug. 3, 2016 – Governance, trace residues, and falling gluten strength. Those are among the issues Kevin Bender wants to tackle in his latest off-farm role. The grain grower from the Sylvan Lake/Bentley area — already vice-chair of the Alberta Wheat Commission and its representative on Cereals Canada — joined the board of the […] Read more
It’s a family affair: Two commission chairs in one household
Allison Ammeter is the new chair of Alberta Pulse Growers and her husband Mike fills the same role for the Alberta Barley Commission
Reading Time: 3 minutes They don’t keep records on these sorts of things, but Allison and Mike Ammeter are likely the first Canadian farm couple to each chair a provincial crop commission. Allison became chair of Alberta Pulse Growers at the organization’s annual general meeting at FarmTech, six weeks after Mike became chair of the Alberta Barley Commission. The […] Read more
Crop sector starts its sustainability roundtable
As with beef, producers will be asked to document their practices, but carrying the system past the grain elevator may be tricky
Reading Time: 3 minutes The push for sustainability continues — and this time, it’s hit the Canadian crop sector. “End-users are looking to have a certified or verified supply chain that goes to the farm level,” said Kara Barnes, market development co-ordinator with the Alberta Barley Commission and a best practices specialist with the Barley Council of Canada. “Just […] Read more
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