Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Canada should use its enormous water resources to become a sustainable food powerhouse and a global water research superpower, says a new paper from the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute. The country’s water policies, management and research efforts are underdeveloped and uncoordinated, it said, which leaves water resources and challenges largely unaddressed. That’s […] Read more
New report proposes national agri-food water strategy
The Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute says farmers have been let down by the lack of a national plan
Foothills ranchers share rules for water resiliency
Keep it simple: Riparian areas play an outsized role in vital watersheds, and caring for them isn’t complicated
Reading Time: 5 minutes The Eastern Slopes are what many people picture when they think of Alberta — a sweeping landscape of grass and rolling hills giving way to forests and ridges framed by the majesty of the Rocky Mountains. But all that beauty masks serious issues, including the considerable strain on riparian areas. Key to the effort to […] Read more
Soil moisture more critical than rainfall to estimate climate impact
Yields don’t always correspond to rainfall amounts, but researchers have solved that mystery
Reading Time: 2 minutes You don’t need a PhD in agriculture to know that water is critical to crop production. But for years, people like Jonathan Proctor have been trying to explain why the importance of water isn’t showing up in statistical models of crop yield. “Studies analyzing how crop yields respond to temperature and rainfall tend to find […] Read more
Irrigation districts laud provincial support of sector
Irrigation, already a driver in the province’s economy, is ramping up with a huge expansion
Reading Time: 4 minutes One thing is certain: Alberta’s irrigation sector has the ear of the provincial government. The sector, which is in the midst of an expansion worth nearly $1 billion, now gets top-line billing in the recently revamped Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation ministry. Its new deputy minister, Bassano-area crops and cattle producer Jason Hale, was chair of […] Read more
Schoepp: Fresh water a gift we can’t afford to take for granted
What falls from the sky gets most of our attention but the entire water supply should be our concern
Reading Time: 3 minutes Drop by precious drop we are celebrating rain in the dry areas — and cursing it on the flood plains. The weather patterns have been rather unpredictable with monumental hail in Mexico City to extreme heat in Europe and Saharan winds that are dropping sand in the most remote of locations. Putting seed in the […] Read more
Don’t count pipelines out as a source for your livestock watering system
Underground pipe may be more economical than you think — especially with federal funding
Reading Time: 4 minutes You can place them wherever you want on your pasture, set up watering stations as you like, and keep your cows out of streams and dugouts. But underground pipe is also costly compared to some other watering options — at least on first analysis. But sometimes a pipeline may be a less costly option, say […] Read more
They can be troublemakers, but beavers do a lot of good, too
There are low-cost ways to prevent the busy dam builders from causing flooding and other damage
Reading Time: 3 minutes Beavers have been given a bad rap, but they can benefit the landscape — and there are ways of coexisting with them. “People are beginning to recognize the value of beaver and how they might be able to help us as a society navigate some of the challenges we are facing,” riparian specialist Kerri O’Shaughnessy […] Read more
Here’s what the beef industry says about its water use
The amount of water needed to produce a pound of beef looks high — until you hear the whole story
Reading Time: 5 minutes Editor’s note: This article from the Beef Cattle Research Council makes the case that beef production has a much lighter ‘water footprint’ than critics charge and provides a number of environmental benefits. It has been condensed and lightly edited. The full article is at www.beefresearch.ca. Yes, it takes water to produce beef, but in the […] Read more
Spring is the time for testing your farm’s water supply
Testing for every possible contaminant is expensive — here’s what should be at the top of the checklist
Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s up to rural landowners to keep their water safe — and spring is the ideal time to get that job done, says a water quality expert. “Winter can accumulate pollutants, then spring thaw and run-off carries the previous six months’ worth of pollutants down to groundwater and sideways towards surface supplies,” said Mitch Golay, […] Read more
Grants available for irrigation upgrades
Grants to reduce water use or energy use can be as much as $15,000 for each irrigated parcel
Reading Time: < 1 minute Applications are now being accepted for the Irrigation Efficiency program under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. The program offers grants for new low-pressure centre pivots or upgrades to existing pivots (such as sprinkler and nozzle packages, control panels, and variable-rate irrigation) as well as drip irrigation. Any active producer who owns an irrigated agricultural operation in […] Read more
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