Reading Time: 4 minutes Alberta producers are finding a way to make their marginal lands pay, with a little help from Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC). “Not all parts of a field are created equal,” said Darwin Chambers, head of DUC’s conservation programs in Alberta. “There can be certain areas of a field — often low-lying areas — that just […] Read more
Restoring marginal lands can be a long-term money-maker
New conservation program offers $125 per acre to seed unproductive annually cropped lands to forages
New calculator estimates the dollar value of Prairie wetlands
The USask tool aims to show that wetlands are worth far more to society than usually thought
Reading Time: 3 minutes A new online tool developed at the University of Saskatchewan will help both policy-makers and producers estimate the value of wetlands across the Prairies. “When we push for wetland conservation, sometimes the language that our leaders and policy-makers understand best is the dollar value,” said researcher Eric Asare, who led the project for the USask […] Read more
Award-winning ranch builds conservation into its business plan
Soderglen Ranches South recognized for its environmental efforts with top stewardship award
Reading Time: 3 minutes Good stewardship is good business, say the winners of the 2021 Alberta Beef Producers Environmental Stewardship Award. “Environmental stewardship is simply a way of protecting the environment and our investment at the same time,” Elan Lees, business manager of Soderglen Ranches South, said in an email interview. “If we do it right, we may be […] Read more
Conservation groups rally behind beef sector
If pandemic forces ranchers to exit sector, grasslands will suffer, say conservationists
Reading Time: 3 minutes Government needs to step up its support for the cattle sector — not just for ranchers, but to save the country’s most endangered habitat, say a coalition of conservation groups. Very little of Canada’s grasslands remain and the cattle sector is essential to preserving what’s left, conservation organizations told the federal environment minister in a […] Read more
Confusing canola council tweet ‘bugs’ farmers
Tweet suggested council and Ducks Unlimited were partnering in agronomy project on beneficial insects
Reading Time: 3 minutes A tweet that suggested the Canola Council of Canada and Ducks Unlimited Canada were working together on an agronomy project prompted a firestorm of angry comments. The tweet, posted on Feb. 1, was about a project on beneficial insects in wetlands, shelterbelts, and other insect habitats. The idea of the canola council and Ducks Unlimited […] Read more
Film celebrates not just grass, but a special, overlooked habitat
Documentary shines a spotlight on grasslands and why they need to be protected and cherished
Reading Time: 3 minutes Not all superheroes wear capes — some put on work clothes and graze cows. Ranchers are the stars of a new mini-documentary called “Guardians of the Grasslands” and their mission is to protect this fast-disappearing habitat. Three-quarters of the country’s native grasslands have already been lost, and cattle are key to protecting those that remain […] Read more
Ducks Unlimited Canada goes all in to support cattle grazing
Conservation group wants public to know that cattle are key to saving grasslands
Reading Time: 2 minutes Even though they don’t walk like a duck or quack like one, the country’s leading duck organization is pretty fond of cows. “For years, the backbone of conservation in Western Canada has been our cattle-producing partners because of the need for them to have good grass and good water,” said Ducks Unlimited Canada’s Mickenzie Plemel-Stronks, […] Read more
Winter wheat harvest varies by province
MarketsFarm — Depending where a farmer is located, Canada’s winter wheat crop has varied this year. Ontario has long been the country’s powerhouse for winter wheat. Statistics Canada projected the province’s farmers to seed just over one million acres this year, nearly 75 per cent of Canada’s total winter wheat acres. However, Marty Vermey, senior […] Read more
Beef sector redoubles its efforts to reach out to consumers
The goal is to use solid data and offer to the public in easy-to-digest ‘packages’
Reading Time: 3 minutes A new Beef Cattle Research Council article making the case that beef production uses water efficiently is the latest example of a renewed effort to reach out to consumers. The industry has recognized there is “a gap on the consumer communication side and somebody needed to do something,” said Reynold Bergen, the council’s science director. […] Read more
Wetland conservation a ‘win-win’ in dry ranching country
Wetland conservation has changed a lot since TK Ranch began partnering with Ducks Unlimited in 1957
Reading Time: 4 minutes Making a living off the land in Special Areas No. 2 has never been an easy prospect. During the Dirty ’30s, farmers in this little pocket of southeast Alberta were among the hardest hit in the province. And in a dry year, the area isn’t much better off today. There’s very little topsoil, very little […] Read more
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