Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s 2017-18 Agriculture Information Catalogue is now available. The catalogue has more than 600 free and priced books, DVDs, and CD-ROMs on a wide range of agricultural subjects, ranging from crop and livestock production to new ventures and agri-tourism. The catalogue also lists web-based materials, including decision-making tools, online videos, maps, and […] Read more
Province has a library of free books and cds
The solar power math is starting to add up
A steep drop in solar prices is giving a new meaning to ‘green’ power — and giving Alberta farmers a way to cut energy costs
Reading Time: 6 minutes Cory Nelson isn’t what you might call a ‘tree hugger.’ But the Grassy Lake-area farmer is a businessman, and to him, solar energy just makes good financial sense. “We view it as an investment,” said Nelson, who grows a variety of crops under irrigation on his southern Alberta farm. “Our best math said it was […] Read more
Funding sparks boom in small-scale solar projects
Attractive lease rates for ‘micro-gen’ projects have many farmers thinking of doing their own
Reading Time: 2 minutes Although smaller-scale community-organized solar farms have, so far, been left in the lurch, there’s good news for farmers and other rural landowners interested in solar. Growing Forward 2 offers grants of up to $50,000 for ‘micro-gen’ solar projects where the power is used in the production of a primary commodity. That kind of government support […] Read more
Community-based project lost in the shuffle over solar power
Government inaction jeopardizes proposed community solar farm that backers hoped would be a model for rural Alberta
Reading Time: 2 minutes It only takes a cursory glance at the headlines to recognize that a solar energy boom is coming to Alberta. Last year, the province set a target of having 30 per cent renewable energy by 2030 — but it remains to be seen whether farmers and rural communities will be able to ride this coming […] Read more
New app allows quick access to automated external defibrillators
Reading Time: < 1 minute St. John Ambulance and a French organization called AEDMAP have partnered to develop a Canadian version of the Save A Life app so responders can quickly find an automated external defibrillator (AED) when needed. Someone in Canada experiences a cardiac arrest every 13 minutes. Early recognition, CPR and use of an AED can increase the […] Read more
New version of farmers’ market app available
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Agriculture and Forestry has released an updated version of the farmers’ market mobile app. “People told us they were having trouble finding the times the markets were open on the app,” said farmers’ market specialist Eileen Kotowich. “It just wasn’t as intuitive as we had hoped.” The updated version of the app shows market […] Read more
New tool could speed up crop breeding
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta’s barley breeders now have access to both phenomic (field trial) and genomic data in one place. “The phenomic data is in the hands of the breeder, but the genomic data is generated through lab work,” said provincial researcher and biostatistician Rong-Cai Yang, who developed a new software program called the Barley Breeding Platform (BBP). “Usually […] Read more
Farmers’ market app now available
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Agriculture has created a free app for Apple and Android that provides up-to-date information about locations, times, and dates of farmers’ markets in the province. Farmers’ markets are the No. 1 agri-tourism attraction in Alberta, providing a great shopping experience where consumers can “savour time” rather than “save time.” The app, which cost about […] Read more
Use your head — not your hard drive — when making farming decisions
Technology is critical on any farm — but don’t rely too heavily on it
Reading Time: 4 minutes Agriculture is changing faster than it ever has before — and producers are scrambling to keep up. “When I talk to farmers, they have so many balls in the air, and they tell me that it feels like they’re dropping some of these balls,” said Raj Khosla, a Colorado State University professor who specializes in […] Read more
Will the cows of tomorrow all be wearing fitness trackers?
Devices that measure activity levels can be used to tell if cattle are feeling poorly — but there are still some kinks to be worked out
Reading Time: 2 minutes Fitness trackers are all the rage among people these days — but they could catch on with cows, too. But the idea isn’t to start counting cow steps or to up bovine fitness levels. Rather, the goal is to use fitness monitors as a way to detect illness in beef cattle early on. Cattle producers […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
