Reading Time: 3 minutes As agriculture faces acute shortages of people at every level, it is a good time to talk about the value in immigration. The federal government has committed to increasing the number of immigrants to 350,000 annually by 2021. What does that mean for Canada? The majority of immigrants currently come from three countries: China, India […] Read more
Opinion: We need to welcome our new Canadian neighbours
To fill the tens of thousands of jobs in agriculture, we must make the sector more attractive to immigrants
France’s Hulot calls on parliament to vote against EU-Canada trade deal
Paris | Reuters – Popular former environment minister Nicolas Hulot on Monday urged the French parliament to vote against the EU-Canada trade deal in a last-minute bid to block the agreement. The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) provisionally took effect from September 2017, but still needs to be approved by all 28 EU […] Read more
Don’t let grain bins blow away — anchor with care
You don’t need a concrete base to keep a bin upright in high winds, but strong anchoring is a must
Reading Time: 3 minutes As anyone who’s seen the footage can tell you, the ‘bomb cyclones’ which hit the flooded U.S. Midwest this spring showed the force of Mother Nature at its most devastating. The combination of heavy winds and water not only knocked grain bins over — it crushed them like aluminum cans, sending them floating down makeshift […] Read more
Opinion: An open letter to Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshen
To be effective, farm safety education must be part of the regular curriculum in elementary schools
Reading Time: 3 minutes Following your appointment as Alberta’s agriculture minister, you were praised for being “smart, grounded, and ‘a stand-up guy.’” Let’s hope everything I’ve read about you will prove true. But based on past experience, I am somewhat cynical, as I have asked your predecessors to take action on embedding effective farm safety within the elementary curricula… […] Read more
Vermilion family creates pet food fit for a king — and other people
Raised Right’s pet food for cats and dogs uses traceable ingredients and food-grade safety standards
Reading Time: 4 minutes It all started when Braeden Ruud nearly ate some food meant for the family farm dog. He had just walked into the kitchen after school in search of something to eat. And there on the counter was some freshly cooked food that looked delicious and smelled even better. Ignoring the family rule of sitting down […] Read more
Many sources of greenhouse gases are being ignored
Agriculture is singled out while major contributors receive little or no attention in climate change debate
Reading Time: 3 minutes As the discussion on climate change heats up, I find myself defaulting to facts that may surprise you. Climate change is not a new phenomenon. The definition is basically changes in wind patterns, temperature and precipitation that stretches over several decades. With that definition in mind, climate change has been an ongoing challenge for farmers […] Read more
Grants boost greenhouse research at Lethbridge College
Reading Time: < 1 minute A pair of federal grants will allow Lethbridge College to create a new commercial-scale greenhouse and also to purchase equipment for research work in precision irrigation and in antibiotic identification from native plants. The college is getting $1 million towards its Centre for Sustainable Food Production that will be used for the greenhouse that will […] Read more
Third alternative for seed royalties proposed
The model uses an end point royalty system but some of the money would go for public-interest research
Reading Time: 3 minutes Attendees at the joint annual meetings of the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association and the Canadian Seed Trade Association heard about a proposed model for seed royalties endorsed by the general farm organizations of the three Prairie provinces. Although lacking in specifics, the value creation model, presented by Alberta Federation of Agriculture president and Enchant-area farmer […] Read more
Two Albertans inducted into Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame
Reading Time: 2 minutes Two Albertans are among the six 2019 inductees into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame. A visionary pioneer, the late Louis Latimer leaves the legacy of developing a global demand for Canadian beef genetics. Latimer was a trailblazer in using data-based selection methods and seeing the value of telling the story of his farm with […] Read more
Manitoba puts $52 million in stewardship program — should Alberta be next?
More government funds for farms providing eco-services would be welcomed here — and put to good use
Reading Time: 3 minutes Is the idea of paying farmers for ‘ecological services’ finally ready for prime time? The Manitoba government is winning praise for setting up a $52-million endowment fund to create a province-wide version of a program that pays farmers for stewardship efforts such as protecting riparian areas and habitat restoration. The program will be based on […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
