Reading Time: 3 minutes Taylor Ranches wins 2024 Environmental Stewardship Award from Alberta Beef Producers.
Taylor Ranches win 2024 Environmental Stewardship Award
Family earns Alberta Beef Producers annual accolade
Saving a jewel — and the setting it’s placed in
Easement protects pristine valley — and the farmland above it
Reading Time: 4 minutes There’s a little slice of paradise nestled in the Rosebud River Valley. Along its craggy cliffsides, golden eagles and peregrine falcons nest, while moose and deer leave their own marks on the native grassland that surrounds the river’s edge. But these lands are home to more than just the wildlife. On top of the river […] Read more
Lift carbon tax on grain drying, say farm groups
Fuels used for drying grain have not been exempted from the federal carbon tax
Reading Time: 2 minutes Farm groups have fired off urgent appeals for government financial help for producers struggling with a weather-disrupted harvest made worse by the imposition of the federal carbon tax on fuel used to dry grain. A coalition of Alberta commodity groups as well as the Grain Farmers of Ontario sent requests directly to Prime Minister Justin […] Read more
Double whammy: Second dry year hits forages hard
With pastures suffering and hay supplies tight and expensive, fallback strategies are needed
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s already a tough situation for forages, and fears are mounting that it will get worse. “We went into the winter in very dry conditions. We have had some rains as of late, but with perennial forage crops, their production is pre-set from the year before,” said Ed Shaw, president and chief executive officer of […] Read more
Underwear campaign fun with a serious purpose
The goal is to promote awareness that soils are living, breathing entities — and need protection
Reading Time: 2 minutes It seems like just a fun, even silly, thing to do — bury a pair of underwear made of white cotton, and then dig them up a couple of months later to see what soil microbes have done to them. But the Soil Your Undies campaign has a very serious purpose: To show people that […] Read more
More wildfires and changes in run-off a challenge for irrigation district
A lack of tree cover can boost run-off volumes but they come sooner and with much more sediment
Reading Time: 4 minutes As wildfire experts peer into the future, they see more — and more severe — forest fires because of a changing climate. But some are also looking to the past and measuring the impact that forest fires have on the quantity and quality of run-off — two factors that could have major implications for Alberta’s […] Read more
Grant to reduce ag societies’ energy costs
Reading Time: < 1 minute The government of Alberta has announced a $10-million grant program to reduce energy use in facilities operated by agricultural societies, which operate more than 700 facilities including hockey rinks, curling rinks, community halls and facilities that serve rodeos and fairs. The new program will support technologies that help them reduce greenhouse gas emissions and facility […] Read more
What happens up north also affects southern Canada
Melting polar ice and a warming north will have an effect on agriculture elsewhere in the country
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada has the most extensive coastline in the world, and much of that is in the Arctic. That place we know near the North Pole is not however, governed by Canada alone. The Arctic is governed by eight nations: Canada, Russia, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, U.S. and Iceland. This group, known as the Arctic Council, […] Read more
When it comes to food waste, the system is broken
An astonishing amount of food spoils or is thrown out — it’s time to take action
Reading Time: 3 minutes Between my home and the Victoria airport is a big sign urging “Let’s reduce food waste.” If you are reading this column from your farm table, you may already be an expert at the preservation of food and the use of leftovers. Typically, we eat all we grow on the farm. In the store however, […] Read more
Grants preserve grasslands and wildlife habitats
Provincial funding funds conservation easements to protect 13,000 acres from development
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Alberta Land Trust Grant Program is giving more than $7 million to support 24 different projects that will conserve 13,000 acres of private land containing watersheds, grasslands and wildlife habitats. The grants will support projects by the Alberta Conservation Association, Ducks Unlimited Canada, the Legacy Land Trust Society, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, the […] Read more
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