Reading Time: < 1 minute ALUS Canada has been given a $720,000 grant from Alberta Environment and Parks’ Watershed Resiliency and Restoration Program for flood-prevention work. “We are excited to start putting this funding to good use on the ground in the Modeste subwatershed,” said Lara Ellis, the organization’s director of strategic initiatives. “ALUS will quickly establish new natural infrastructure […] Read more
Eco-services group to capture flood waters on farms and ranches
Open Farm Days a sweet deal for everyone, says new participant
Honey producers meet lots of their customers at farmers’ markets but are excited about hosting farm visitors
Reading Time: 2 minutes Richard and Amber Ozero have never been part of Open Farm Days before — but can’t wait to participate this year. Operators of any sort of farm are being encouraged to sign up for the Aug. 18-19 event, and for the Ozeros, it was an opportunity to introduce their honey business to a new audience. […] Read more
‘Do More Ag’ mental health initiative for farmers receives grant
Reading Time: < 1 minute A new non-profit focused on destigmatizing mental illness in the agriculture industry and offering resources designed specifically for farmers has received a $20,000 grant from Bayer Canada. The Do More Agriculture Foundation was co-founded by Saskatchewan farmers Lesley Rae Kelly and Kim Keller earlier this year. “The support from Bayer will allow The Do More […] Read more
Tick season now underway
Alberta isn’t yet a hot spot for ticks carrying Lyme disease, but they are here — and farmers should be on guard
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ticks may be unavoidable in farming, but getting bitten isn’t. The blacklegged tick, or deer tick, has become infamous for transmitting Lyme disease (which counts muscle aches, joint, heart and neurological problems and fatigue among its many symptoms), babesiosis (also causing flu-like symptoms and ramping up to anorexia, joint pain and a possible hospital visit), […] Read more
Forget the jokes about millennials – the kids are all right
Yes, this new generation can be confounding but take a closer look at what they bring to the table
Reading Time: 3 minutes You are staring at your millennial child as though they just dropped from the sky. You don’t get them. They don’t get you. It’s the first week of the millennial employee’s job. Things are going OK. They talk a lot, snack a lot, and generally hang around. Somehow the project gets done, you have not […] Read more
Latest Alberta wildfire info available at one website
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Agriculture and Forestry has a dedicated website with news and information on wildfires. The Alberta Wildfire website has a Wildfire Status map that is updated throughout the day and provides an overall look at the current wildfire situation across the province. The map also includes links to updates from the province’s 10 forest areas. […] Read more
Plenty of jobs in budding cannabis industry
Spots in Olds College cannabis program snapped up in hours, with hundreds of jobs in Alberta beckoning
Reading Time: 3 minutes Olds College’s new cannabis production program isn’t some half-baked idea — it’s high time. “We’ve been offering horticulture programming for over 50 years, so it makes sense for this new facet of the horticulture industry to come our way for training,” said Debbie Thompson, the college’s vice-president academic and student experience. “It’s a new industry […] Read more
The rules are still being written for genome editing
Reading Time: < 1 minute Researchers are excited about genomic editing’s potential to develop new crop varieties without the controversial genetically modified label. However, the regulation of genome edited crop varieties is still up for debate. In March, the U.S. agriculture secretary said his officials won’t regulate plants that could otherwise have been developed through traditional breeding techniques. “With this […] Read more
Where to turn for help when dealing with local government
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Farmers’ Advocate Office has a new publication to help Albertans better understand municipal processes relating to development permits, subdivision applications, appeals, property assessments, and petitions. “Engaging With Your Municipality provides a plain language overview of what rural landowners might want to know if they are preparing for an appeal and some of the tips […] Read more
If you like cold, the first half of April delivered in spades
Most forecasts predicted it would be chilly, but they’re split on what May and June have in store for us
Reading Time: 3 minutes After dealing with a cold and snowy March, most of us across the Prairies were hoping for a little better weather in April. Just how good or bad you saw April’s weather depends on what you wanted. For example, the cross-country skiers were more than happy in my region as the cold start to the month […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
