Reading Time: < 1 minute The fall session of Working Well workshops is now underway. The program provides rural Albertans with information and resources to manage their water wells, including hands-on workshops on the basics of groundwater, well construction, common problems, contamination risks, importance of well reclamation and best management practices. Alberta property owners are responsible for managing and maintaining […] Read more
‘Working Well’ workshops underway
Workshops to continue until Dec. 11
Province eases up on new Class 1 licensing rules but controversy persists
The Humboldt bus crash has thrust training of semi drivers into question but there’s no easy fix
Reading Time: 4 minutes The province is exempting drivers who recently sought to obtain a Class 1 licence from costly new training requirements — but the controversial issue is far from settled. “It’s kind of nice that they’re relaxing it for a few people — I hope they have more coming,” said Kendall Bevans, a Cardston-area farmer who has […] Read more
Premier vows crackdown on protesters who trespass on farms
Occupation of turkey barn last month sparks plan for new legislation, which critics call overkill
Reading Time: 2 minutes Provincial justice officials will go after “illegal protesters” who trespass on Alberta farms, says Premier Jason Kenney. The premier and his justice and agriculture ministers travelled to the Jumbo Valley Hutterite Colony near Fort Macleod to announce tough new penalties for those conducting occupation-style protests like a recent one at the colony’s turkey farm. “Some […] Read more
Young Guns growing project going strong in second year
Reading Time: < 1 minute “It’s looking fabulous. I’m excited to see the yield.” Those are the words of Mikaela Lemay, an agronomist and leader of the Young Guns growing project near Trochu. The group of young farmers started their growing project last year when the local Viterra terminal donated the use of surrounding land to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. […] Read more
4-H Alberta registration now open
Registration to remain open until Dec. 1
Reading Time: < 1 minute Registration for the 2019-20 4-H Alberta club year is now open until Dec. 1. Leaders can register existing clubs and all their members and volunteer leaders online at 4h.ab.ca. Those looking to join a club, needing help to register their club, or wanting more information can call 780-422-4H4H (4444) to speak with a 4-H specialist. […] Read more
Airdrie company employs hemp to go green
Just BioFiber’s modular construction blocks look like oversized Lego — but they’re made from hemp
Reading Time: 4 minutes [UPDATED: Nov. 5, 2019] The legalization of marijuana has — oddly enough — been good for business for one Alberta producer of construction materials. That’s because Airdrie-based Just BioFiber makes modular building blocks out of hemp fibre. Prior to pot’s legalization a year ago, people in the construction industry used to jokingly ask if their […] Read more
Food culture runs deep and has many different facets
A food system isn’t just something that comes from seed, sun, water and soil — it’s also very personal
Reading Time: 3 minutes Learning the different perspectives of people is interesting. In the arguments over food security in the future, there often is an element of truth in even the most unusual idea. I felt challenged, however, during a public forum when the concept of ‘seed bombing’ a city was put forward in an attempt to return it […] Read more
It came from outer space, but now resides near Camrose
Researchers are trying to find a chunk of an asteroid that likely landed in a farmer’s field near the town
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s not every day that researchers come to your field to look for space rocks. But that’s what happened to Camrose producer Rod Ross, after a meteor flew across the sky towards his farm on the last evening in August. “We had a rock that was about 50 kilograms, that might have been about the […] Read more
Farmers lose — and weeds win — when energy companies walk away
When well sites are abandoned, the rent cheques often stop while the noxious weeds flourish
Reading Time: 5 minutes “Kochia six feet tall and completely covering the whole leases. We have many that look like this. When I phone, no one even answers the phones.” This tweet from Lethbridge-area farmer Kevin Serfas in August likely could have been written by any one of hundreds of Alberta producers with abandoned well sites on their farms. […] Read more
Landowners’ rights in danger of being eroded, says advocate
Energy association wants review process streamlined, which could limit the ability to raise concerns
Reading Time: 2 minutes A growing number of abandoned energy leases in Alberta might make farmers wonder if it’s worth allowing an energy company to come onto their land in the first place. However, a “pro-oil and gas regulatory environment” may make it more difficult to express concern over proposed energy projects, says Daryl Bennett, a director with the […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
