Agriculture held its own in the March 16 Alberta provincial budget with $1.1 billion allocated to the department. Some farm leaders praised an increase of one percent over the last budget, but they also raised concerns about funding for agricultural research and the effects of the carbon tax. Gary Stanford, past-president of Grain Growers of […] Read more
Barb Glen
Stories by Barb Glen
Supply management support needed in face of opposition
RED DEER — A “recovering dairy farmer” and the former chair of Alberta Milk says supply management must be protected for the good of the dairy industry. Bruce Beattie was a keynote speaker at the Western Canadian Dairy Seminar March 8 and he noted that supply management has been under attack from various quarters since […] Read more
Alberta announces solar project for Lethbridge
St. Patrick’s day, with its signature colour of green, is an ideal time to make an announcement about greener energy, quipped Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman. He was on hand March 17 to hear Alberta Environment Minister Shannon Phillips announce plans to erect solar panels at the Farm Stewardship Centre, which is a government building. The […] Read more
Southeastern Alta. ideal for wind, solar energy projects
Plenty of sunshine and plenty of wind: those are hallmarks of southeastern Alberta and they make the region a logical target for solar and wind energy projects. In fact, among the 33 proposed solar projects and 52 wind projects in Alberta as of 2016, 41 percent are in the southeast. That number encouraged the region, […] Read more
Research centre shows off combine
It costs as much as a full-sized combine, but Agriculture Canada’s plot combine is designed to suit research needs, not high-volume harvest. The Lethbridge research and de-velopment centre had the machine on display March 1-3 at Ag Expo, southern Alberta’s largest agricultural trade show. Ryan Dyck, agronomy technician with Agriculture Canada in Leth-bridge, said the […] Read more
Hog sector says rules not practical
Pig producers are worried that proposed changes to Canadian livestock transportation rules will fail the practicality test. Current proposals would reduce allowed time in transport to 28 hours from 36 hours for pigs. If time to the destination would exceed 28 hours, the animals must be given water, feed and eight hours of rest before […] Read more
Right to strike a sticking point in farm worker legislation
Recommendations on how labour relations regulations and employment standards should or could be applied to Alberta’s farm and ranch workers are open for public input until April 3. Reports from two of six committees appointed by the provincial government were released March 6 and are the latest developments in the NDP government’s controversial Enhanced Protection […] Read more
Black fly farm gets CFIA OK as farmed fish food
A company that raises flies for use as fish and poultry feed now has Canadian Food Inspection Agency approval to expand. Enterra Feed Corp., based in Langley, B.C., can now sell whole dried black soldier fly larvae as feed for farmed salmon, trout and Arctic char. It is the first Canadian approval of aquaculture feed […] Read more
Spuds: will that be boiled or baked, mashed or fried?
Potato growers urged to emphasize the fresh, local aspects, promote new varieties and provide recipes for this versatile, ‘dynamic’ vegetable
Respect the russet! That ringing endorsement of popular potato varieties was accompanied by a table full of 15 new types now ready for evaluation and licence agreements. Agriculture Canada had the new varieties on display at the Lethbridge Research Centre Feb. 15 and held a joint video conference involving researchers in Lethbridge, Guelph, Ont. and […] Read morePotato research, processing investment strong in Alberta
Potato research is firmly en-trenched at the Agriculture Canada Lethbridge Research Centre as production expands in the West. Yves Plante, associate director, said the centre plans to maintain its scientists and researchers and is seeking to fill another research position dedicated to potato health. “We are fully committed to maintaining the research activities at the […] Read more
