Reading Time: < 1 minute It was another sold-out FarmTech as the annual crop production and farm management conference celebrated its 20th anniversary. The three-day event at Northlands’ Expo Centre features several dozen speakers and presenters.
Choices, choices: Which presentation to take in next?
Court ruling alone won’t fix ‘orphan’ well crisis
There are now more than 3,000 abandoned wells in Alberta, and many more that are no longer active
Reading Time: 3 minutes A Supreme Court ruling that puts cleanup ahead of creditors is a step forward — but won’t “make too much difference” to landowners with abandoned wells, says a director with the Alberta Surface Rights Federation. “The landowners are still going to be in a situation where they have to deal with contaminated land for maybe […] Read more
Grants available for hiring students
Reading Time: < 1 minute Farmers planning to hire a student this summer can apply for the Summer Farm Employment Program. This program gives youth the opportunity to gain farm work experience and provides farm employers with a grant of up to $500 per month for July and August. The student’s work must be directly related to the farming operation; […] Read more
It’s Home Economics 101 — and a lesson for our time
It’s time to bring back those skills that made the kitchen tables the centre of our homes
Reading Time: 3 minutes I made a quick evening stop at the grocery store while near Edmonton. It was late and cold. Tired moms filled the aisles, getting their shopping done. Men filled baskets with food for the next day. Babies cried. Children were restless. This was not an ideal end to a long working day. I thought about […] Read more
Rural crime presentation draws a packed house at FarmTech
RCMP superintendent urges audience to let police do their job and to avoid confronting intruders
Reading Time: 4 minutes Rural crime is a topic that everyone wants to talk about. “This is not just an issue in Alberta, but across the country,” RCMP Supt. Peter Tewfik said at a crowded FarmTech session. Rural property crime actually went down by 10 per cent in the province in 2018, he said. This means 480 fewer home […] Read more
Even as tariffs fall, new trade barriers arise
Protectionists don’t give up when their government signs a free trade deal
Reading Time: 4 minutes Donald Trump might not get his wall — but other invisible walls are going up around the world. “We’re in an era of protectionism, and in an era of protectionism, we have governments and regulators that are looking for any excuse to block trade,” said Cam Dahl, president of Cereals Canada. “So we can’t give […] Read more
There’s more vegetarians, but also more meat eaters looking for change
‘Flexitarians’ still want to eat meat but they also want to ‘feel good about eating,’ says marketing expert
Reading Time: 2 minutes The number of vegans and vegetarians is growing, but confirmed meat eaters will remain and possibly look at higher-end cuts of meat, says an international food-marketing expert. But the middle is where it gets interesting — with “flexitarians” looking for good sources of protein and willing to have a mix of plant and animal proteins, […] Read more
Farm Forum event returns to Saskatoon
Reading Time: < 1 minute After a three-year stint in Calgary, the Farm Forum Event will return to Saskatoon next year. The decision to again hold the three-day farm conference, which connects farmers with the latest agricultural research and innovation, in Saskatoon was based on feedback from attendees and to hold it in a more central location for western Canadian […] Read more
Three killed in grain train derailment in B.C.
Train had been parked with air brakes when it ‘began to move on its own’
Reading Time: < 1 minute A failure of airbrakes may have been the cause of a grain train derailment that killed three crew members near Field, B.C. on Feb. 4. A new crew had boarded the train, which had been stopped at the entrance to the Upper Spiral Tunnel for about two hours with airbrakes on, the Transportation Safety Board […] Read more
Farm income falls in 2018, but holding for now
Canadian farm income fell on market volatility, but export growth is still likely, says FCC
Reading Time: 2 minutes Final figures aren’t available yet but all signs suggest farm income in 2018 was clipped by several factors and will likely stay at that level through this year, said Farm Credit Canada’s chief economist. “Price volatility, higher input costs and weather-related challenges in many parts of the country over the past year took a toll […] Read more
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