Reading Time: < 1 minute Camrose and Lloydminster are two of the stops on Farm Credit Canada’s Drive Away Hunger tractor tour this year. The Drive Away Hunger campaign collects food and cash donations for food banks and hunger programs. Beginning Oct. 10, tractors pulling trailers will visit communities in five provinces to collect donations, which can also be made […] Read more
Annual Drive Away Hunger campaign now underway
Ottawa urged to quickly pass transport bill
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Alberta Wheat Commission is urging the federal Liberal government to quickly pass Bill C-49, which will overhaul the Transportation Act. In a presentation to the standing committee on transport earlier this month, commission reps also recommended amendments to make interswitching more effective and requiring railways to provide more detailed volume forecasts and operational plans […] Read more
Prairie ag retailers band together
Reading Time: < 1 minute A group of independent ag retailers from the Prairies have banded together under the banner of AgLink Canada. The 14 businesses include three from Alberta — Agro Plus of Lethbridge; Agro Plus Solutions of Dunmore; and McEwens Fuels and Fertilizers of Fort Saskatchewan. AgLink Canada will be allied with AgLink Australia, which is a collective […] Read more
Innovative tour takes cyclists through the Battle River watershed
More than 70 per cent of the watershed is agricultural but it also has a variety of energy providers
Reading Time: 3 minutes An intrepid group of cyclists recently set out to explore the Battle River watershed on an innovative tour, spending three days travelling to small towns and hidden gems in the area. “The intention of the tour has been looking at all of our different energy options,” said Nathalie Stanley Olson, education and outreach co-ordinator with […] Read more
Higher loonie will have many impacts
MARKET WATCH: A low dollar shielded Canadian farmers from lower commodity prices but it also raised the cost of farm equipment and inputs
Reading Time: 3 minutes While you were busy growing crops and raising livestock this summer, a rising dollar has been taking aim at your profits. The growing season started with the loonie trading under the 75 U.S. cents mark — and many analysts sticking to the theory it would stay low as long as oil prices remained in the […] Read more
Worried about federal tax changes? There’s an alternative, say experts
Federal Liberal bid to close ‘loopholes’ will increase taxes on most farm corporations, but there’s a way to avoid that hit
Reading Time: 3 minutes Proposed federal tax changes aimed at ‘income sprinkling’ and other tax reduction measures used by corporations — including those owned by farmers — have ignited a storm of controversy. But there are “a lot of other tax strategies” that farmers can use, say financial planning experts. In July, federal finance officials announced proposed changes to […] Read more
Alberta groups receive funding for community projects
Reading Time: < 1 minute More than a dozen Alberta communities and organizations have received funding from Farm Credit Canada’s AgriSpirit Fund. The fund awards between $5,000 and $25,000 for community improvement projects such as hospitals and medical centres; fire and rescue equipment; playgrounds; food banks; libraries; arenas; swimming pools; recreation areas; and community centres. There were 1,214 applications this […] Read more
UFA to shut down outdoor outfitter business
Alberta farmers’ co-operative UFA is set to get out of an “increasingly competitive” space in the retail sector by closing its outdoor supply chain Wholesale Sports. The co-operative, which bought what was then a seven-store chain in 2008, announced Thursday it would start inventory liquidation sales Friday at all 12 of its remaining Wholesale Sports […] Read more
There are extreme rains, and then the deluge caused by Harvey
Some parts of Texas received more rain in 24 hours than Prairie centres have seen in their wettest-ever month
Reading Time: 2 minutes As fairly quiet weather continues across the Prairies, the big weather story recently has been Hurricane Harvey, which came ashore in Texas late on Aug. 26. Harvey rapidly strengthened in the 12-hour period leading up to landfall and came ashore as a borderline Category 4 hurricane, with top winds of 210 kilometres per hour. It wasn’t […] Read more
Efforts to keep out invasive mussels working — for now
A dozen contaminated boats have been found so far this year and officials warn zebra and quagga mussels are cunning hitchhikers
Reading Time: 3 minutes Zebra and quagga mussels are not in Alberta yet, but the threat continues to grow. “This is becoming a huge issue in our world — the more we travel and carry things around — whether we know it or not,” said Janine Higgins, community engagement lead with Alberta Environment and Parks. The two invasive species, […] Read more
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