Reading Time: < 1 minute What kind of Alberta research should get funding? That’s a question the province’s independent research funding body is asking farmers. “Our vision is to see Alberta’s agriculture and food sectors reach their full potential — we are inviting you to help shape what that full potential looks like,” RDAR chief executive Mark Redmond said in […] Read more
Farmers asked for views on research
Schoepp: Unshakable faith and unrelenting hope in the face of adversity
Farming is full of stories of people who find ways to move ahead despite incredible challenges
Reading Time: 3 minutes James Brown is Australia’s Farmer of the Year. He and wife Sarah were selected because of their sheer determination to survive a huge market collapse, widespread disease and a flood that took them from four million growing units down to 70. Their product? Pearls. Pearl farming is an ancient practice and each seeded pearl takes […] Read more
GM to cut North American production, citing chip shortage
Both GM, Ford cutting truck production
Washington | Reuters — General Motors will reduce production at most North American assembly plants this month because of the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage, hitting its profitable truck and sport utility vehicles, it said Thursday. The largest U.S. automaker will halt production next week at its Fort Wayne plant in Indiana and its Silao plant […] Read more
AgCanada rolling out $200-million initiative to cut agricultural emissions
Cover cropping, reducing nitrogen use, and rotational grazing to be promoted by new program
Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal government is looking for partners to help farmers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions — and is putting $200 million on the table for three “target areas.” The three areas are cover cropping, nitrogen management, and rotational grazing practices, the government said in a release issued a few days before the federal election call. […] Read more
Foodgrains Bank has a new representative
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ary Vreeken is Alberta’s new representative for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Vreeken had been teaching community development at the University of Calgary’s faculty of social work and has an extensive background with humanitarian organizations such as Samaritan’s Purse, World Renew and the Foodgrains Bank itself (including a stint as international program director from 2007-09). He […] Read more
There’s a mountain of plastic waste but Cleanfarms aims to conquer it
Organization says 62,000 tonnes of ag waste is created annually and only a tenth is recycled
Reading Time: 3 minutes A mountain of plastic waste comes off Canadian farms each year — nearly 62,000 tonnes annually. But even though Cleanfarms currently diverts only a small fraction of that pile into recycling, the organization wants to one day see all of it collected and recycled. That’s why it commissioned a study to identify the types and […] Read more
U.S. reports world’s first deer with COVID-19
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. government said Friday it had confirmed the world’s first cases of COVID-19 in deer, expanding the list of animals known to have tested positive for the disease. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported infections of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in wild white-tailed deer in the state of […] Read more
Scholarship season is a reminder to mark your calendars
Reading Time: < 1 minute With the return to school just around the corner, it’s the season of scholarship announcements — and a reminder that students planning to go to college or university a year from now should mark their calendars for when applications open again. For example, three Albertans (Catharina Brosinsky, Jessica Hadwin and Torann Mecham) are among the 15 […] Read more
Washington state eradicates first ‘murder hornet’ nest of the year
Nest found in northwestern county near B.C. border
Reuters — Washington state eradicated its first Asian giant hornet nest of the year by vacuuming out 113 worker hornets and removing bark and decayed wood near the nest, Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) officials said Thursday. The so-called stinging “murder hornets,” the world’s largest hornets, can grow to five centimetres in length and […] Read more
When using canola for forage keep these factors in mind
Nitrates and sulphur are concerns, as are bloat and scours — and regrowth can be perilous
Reading Time: 3 minutes Poor canola stands not worth harvesting can be an alternate forage option. “While canola makes palatable feed, it may take one or two days for cattle to become accustomed to the taste,” said Miranda Meehan, North Dakota State University Extension livestock environmental stewardship specialist. Forage canola has a nutrient content similar to alfalfa, with crude […] Read more
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