Reading Time: < 1 minute John and Bill Bocock are the 2016 recipients of the Alberta Milk’s Dairy Industry Achievement Award. The brothers are trendsetters whose dairy careers have spanned decades, and among their contributions to the industry is a donation of 777 acres to the University of Alberta to create the St. Albert Research Station. The station is used […] Read more
Bocock Brothers receive top dairy award
They’ve got your back — meet four new Alberta researchers
Ag Canada’s newest researchers are working on issues that hurting or holding back producers today — or will in the future
Reading Time: 4 minutes Agriculture and Agri-food Canada hired four new scientists in Alberta this past spring. Here’s a quick introduction to the newest additions to the research community: Nitynanda (Nitya) Khanal Integrated forage crops management, Beaverlodge The forage research position at Beaverlodge had been vacant for years following a retirement. But not any more — although it was […] Read more
Battle lines drawn on allowing farm workers to unionize
There’s agreement on issues such as overtime and exempting families from the labour code, but prospect of unionization is a flashpoint
Reading Time: 6 minutes Producers remain at odds with the NDP government’s plan to include the right to unionize — and to go on strike — as part of its workplace safety legislation for farms and ranches. “In some areas, we did see some movement and we did get to resolutions,” said Gord Winkel, interim executive director of the […] Read more
Trio of builders newest members of hall of fame
Reading Time: 2 minutes Dr. John Kennelly, Bob Prestage, and Cor Van Raay are the newest inductees in the Alberta Agriculture Hall of Fame. Kennelly was chair of the University of Alberta’s department of agricultural, food and nutritional science and later dean of the faculty of agricultural, life & environmental sciences. One of the dairy industry’s most respected experts, […] Read more
U of A researcher first Canadian to win major international award
Lorne Babiuk, vice-president of research at University of Alberta, has helped develop six vaccines and made major contributions to animal health
Reading Time: 2 minutes He’s helped pioneer the development of vaccines used by livestock producers worldwide, and now he’s the first Canadian to be named a World Agriculture Prize Laureate. Lorne Babiuk, world-renowned virologist and vice-president of research at the University of Alberta, was awarded the prestigious prize in recognition of his lifetime achievement. “Vaccines, whether for producers or […] Read more
Scientists looking for producers to participate in beef genomic trial
The project is part of the effort to use genomics to select cattle with improved feed efficiency and other desirable traits
Reading Time: 2 minutes Want to know more about the feed efficiency and traits of your cattle? Interested in contributing to research that can make a difference in Canadian beef cattle production? Researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada are looking for producers to send in samples from their herds for use in a genomic prediction trial. “This will potentially […] Read more
It’s been perfect conditions for clubroot
Wet conditions not only increase spore counts but may also favour development of strains able to overcome resistant varieties
Reading Time: 2 minutes This year’s wet conditions may leave a nasty legacy — more clubroot infestation and more strains of the pathogen able to overcome resistant varieties. “In the years where there is more wet weather, we expect to have more severe symptoms and more widespread infestation,” said Stephen Strelkov, a University of Alberta professor of plant pathology […] Read more
Extreme infestation may require extreme treatment
In really bad cases, putting a few acres into grass or forages may be the best way to contain clubroot pathogen
Reading Time: 2 minutes Growers with extreme clubroot infestation are being told that the best option might not be to just stop growing canola for a while, but all annual crops in parts of a field. Seeding patches of heavily infested ground to grass or forages is now on the list of clubroot management practices recommended by the Canola […] Read more
Study points to payoff from cattle research, beef marketing
Economists use ‘econometric simulation model’ and find every $1 in checkoff investment generates a $14 return
Reading Time: 2 minutes A new study has found Canadian cattle producers receive a $14 benefit for every $1 in national checkoff fees invested in research and marketing activities. The study, by University of Alberta ag economists James Rude and Ellen Goddard, examined the period from 2011-12 to 2013-14. It updates a similar 2010 study (covering the period from […] Read more
Protect yourself from quad rollovers
An average of 15 Albertans die each year while on quads, and rollovers are the leading cause
Reading Time: 2 minutes Recent research has proven a crush-protection device on a quad can reduce deaths due to rollovers by 30 per cent. “Quads are great machines for use on the farm because of where they can go and the tasks they can do,” said Don Voaklander, director of the Injury Prevention Centre at the University of Alberta. […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
