Reading Time: 4 minutes Trying to ensure that your rural community survives is an actual skill. It takes work to prevent a great little town out in the sticks from turning into a ghost town. “It’s really about the people and how optimistic and enthusiastic they are and how well they work together,” said Dee Ann Benard, executive director […] Read more
Working together is the recipe for creating a great community
4-H clubs receive $114,000 in grants
Reading Time: < 1 minute Sixty 4-H clubs in Alberta have received $29,585 from Farm Credit Canada 4-H Club Fund. The fund awards up to $500 for a wide range of projects including achievement days, skill-building workshops, field trips, public speaking competitions, and the purchase of club supplies. In total, the fund gave grants totalling $114,250 to 233 4-H clubs […] Read more
Alberta insect forecast maps for 2019 available
Reading Time: < 1 minute Forecast maps for wheat midge and wheat stem sawfly are now available… Forecast maps for wheat midge and wheat stem sawfly are now available as well as results from the pea leaf weevil survey. Wheat midge numbers are down “quite substantially,” but sawfly numbers are up in many areas, said insect management specialist Scott Meers. […] Read more
The future looks bright for today’s agriculture grads
A decade and a half ago, ag programs were struggling to attract students — that’s changed dramatically
Reading Time: 5 minutes Alot of young people — and their parents — weren’t so keen on farming’s prospects 15 years ago. “Fifteen years ago, enrolments were low in ag programs across Canada,” said Josie Van Lent, dean of agricultural sciences at Lakeland College. “Farmers didn’t want to send their sons or daughters into agriculture because they thought there […] Read more
Stop fighting Mother Nature — because you’re going to lose
Most farmers in Alberta still love tractors more than biology and are heading for big trouble, says Dwayne Beck
Reading Time: 3 minutes Like a voice crying in the wilderness, Dwayne Beck has been beating the drum of soil defence as the foundation for a healthier farming system for decades. To some, the longtime research manager of the Dakota Lakes Research Farm is a wise prophet and caretaker. For others, his message is radical and uncomfortable — something […] Read more
New chairs for Alberta Barley and Alberta Wheat
Reading Time: 2 minutes Dave Bishop is the new chair of Alberta Barley and will soon be joined by another new chair of the commission’s sister organization, Alberta Wheat. Bishop, who farms near Barons and has been a director since 2015, was elected chair at Alberta Barley’s recent AGM, replacing Jason Lenz, who has been chair for the past […] Read more
I have been blessed in the company of rural women
Rural women look to each other for help, inspiration, and empowerment
Reading Time: 3 minutes Perfect winter travelling weather on rural Alberta roads led me in November to the village of Plamondon. It might be a small place but her heart is huge, and it was a joy to laugh, cry, and simply ‘be with’ the more than 200 women in attendance. These days are gifts to me. To be […] Read more
Another new elevator for Alberta
Reading Time: < 1 minute The investment in Western Canada’s grain sector continues to grow. G3 Canada recently announced another new elevator, this time in Morinville. The news came just two months after the company announced plans to build an elevator near Carmangay. Construction on that elevator is underway as well as at a third G3 facility at Wetaskiwin. The […] Read more
Ag tech tackles the next frontier — the people shortage on farms
The labour shortage has gone from problem to crisis — and that’s prompting a new tech revolution
Reading Time: 5 minutes Advances in farm equipment over the past 15 years have focused on one thing — allowing farmers to do more with less. Bigger equipment to cut the time when seeding and harvesting. GPS to minimize overlap. Precision tech to make every seed and input count. No till to capture snow and retain moisture (with less […] Read more
Then and now, the times they keep on changing
Reading Time: < 1 minute While digging around in the Stockmen’s Memorial Foundation Library and Archives in Cochrane last summer, reporter Jennifer Blair came across something she described as “a little bit of history,” namely Volume 01, Number 01 of this newspaper, bearing the date January 2004. Back then it was called The Alberta Express — the word Farmer wouldn’t […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
