Due diligence | Bad deals spur reminders to take precautions when buying and selling hay
Members of the Canadian Forage and Grasslands Council received unwelcome news in October while attending the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis. Some Canadian hay sellers had not delivered on commitments to U.S. customers. “It really concerns us that there are Canadian companies that are involved in these kinds of practices in the U.S. and […] Read more
Barb Glen
Stories by Barb Glen
Power line route pondered
Power line company provides more options for project
Numerous new routes for a controversial power line project in southern Alberta are being considered. However, residents south of Pincher Creek continue to question the need for any new electrical line at all. The Goose Lake to Etzikom Coulee project has been in the consultation process for more than a year. AltaLink, which has been […] Read moreAlberta cows finalists in national championship
Two cows owned by Alberta dairy producers are among four finalists in the Holstein Canada 2012 Cow of the Year competition. Raeland Leduc Wilhelmina is owned by Rocky Mountain Holsteins of Cochrane and Eastside Lewisdale Gold Missy is owned by Morsan Farms Ltd. of Ponoka, Van Ruinen Dairy Ltd. of Lacombe, Gert Andreasen of Ponoka […] Read more
A day on the milk run
The constellation Orion is bright in the southern sky as Keith Atwood pulls a tanker truck up to the dairy barn at Albion Ridge Hutterite Colony near Picture Butte, Alta. At 5:30 a.m., he has one of the later starting shifts that today will collect milk from nine southern Alberta dairies. Atwood has already prepared […] Read more
Soil scientists receive scholarships
A soil scientist from the University of Calgary and another from the University of Northern British Columbia are recipients of scholarships from the Agricultural Institute of Canada Foundation. Tariq Munir of the U of C and Alexander Koiter of UNBC are the 2012 recipients of the Dr. Karl C. Ivarson Soils Scholarships in recognition of […] Read more
A passion for science
How do you get rid of a prion? Will meatless Mondays have an effect on global warming? What’s the real story behind antibiotic resistance? And can you ride a mountain bike across a busy Alberta city in a snowstorm? Tim McAllister, principal research scientist at Agriculture Canada’s research centre in Lethbridge, is trying to find […] Read more
Alberta man moves from chemistry lab to farm field
Ken Coles sometimes sprays crops in the dark of night. Sometimes he seeds crops into snow-covered fields. Sometimes he tweets field observations via @killerkencoles. And he always enjoys his work. Coles is a farm boy who didn’t grow up on a farm and a data manager who can’t remember numbers. And yet, in his work […] Read more
Irving buys Lethbridge plant
First western foray | Irving’s Cavendish Farms expects business as usual
East meets West in a $60 million deal that will see New Brunswick-based Cavendish Farms Ltd. buy the Maple Leaf Foods potato processing plant in Lethbridge by month’s end. Cavendish Farms, a subsidiary of J.D. Irving Ltd., announced the deal Dec. 10. The Maple Leaf plant, which employs 135 people, makes french fries and other […] Read moreOrder a combo to conquer glyphosate resistant kochia
MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — There is good news in the battle against glyphosate resistant kochia. Research has found that numerous herbicides will kill the pesky plant, but it will be important for producers to vary their use. Bob Blackshaw, an Agriculture Canada research scientist in Leth-bridge, told a recent Farming Smarter conference in Medicine Hat […] Read more
Alberta plagued with blackleg in ‘entire canola growing area’
Mistaken identification | Fungus is under-diagnosed, says expert
MEDICINE HAT — Ralph Lange’s graphs make it clear that Alberta has far higher levels of blackleg than Sask-atchewan and Manitoba. But the program leader with Alberta Innovates thinks it might be a matter of better identification. Lange told the Farming Smarter conference earlier this month that Alberta is playing catch-up to Sask-atchewan and Manitoba. […] Read more
