A $100 million option | Producers, feeders hopeful the Brooks, Alta., plant will reopen soon
Many cattle producers are expressing relief at an agreement between international cattle processing giant JBS USA and the beleaguered Alberta-based XL Foods Inc. The Oct. 17 agreement saw JBS immediately take over management of the XL Foods packing plant at Brooks, Alta., which has been closed since Sept. 27 after E. coli was discovered in […] Read more
Barb Glen
Stories by Barb Glen
Keeping the spirit of flight alive
Pam Bergen recently heard that personnel from the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre had released Swainsons hawks into the wild and she cried. The tears of joy came months after she had shed tears of sadness over the widespread destruction she saw July 26. A storm bearing golf ball-sized hail struck Pam and Allen Bergen’s […] Read more
CFIA reinstates XL Foods’ license
The XL Foods cattle processing plant in Brooks, Alta., has regained its operating licence. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency this morning announced that its investigations are complete and it is confident the issues that led to Canada’s largest meat recall have been addressed. The CFIA revoked the plant’s operating licence Sept. 27 after E. coli […] Read more
Southern Alberta dam marks 20th birthday
Oldman River Dam | Three rivers flow through dam and downstream to Alberta’s irrigation district
PINCHER CREEK, Alta. — The Oldman River Dam would cost $900 million it if were built today. Now celebrating its 20th anniversary of full operation, the dam cost $353 million in 1986 dollars, the year construction began on the project. The reservoir and dam trap water flow from three rivers — the Oldman, the Castle […] Read moreAlberta feed ration expert selected for award
Order of Excellence | Lethbridge Research Centre scientist helped develop the feedlot industry in southern Alberta
Robert Hironaka still recalls a phone call from a 300-head feedlot operator who was having problems with bloating animals. He was treating 20 head per day for the problem, and needed advice. Hironaka, a scientist at the Lethbridge Research Centre, had done extensive work on feed rations and feedlot economics, and he quickly identified the […] Read moreCFIA continues tests at XL Foods
Layoffs, recalls issued | No timeline given on when plant will resume full operations
Partial operations at the XL Foods beef processing plant in Brooks, Alta., were scheduled to resume Oct. 16 after a chaotic weekend of employee layoffs and recalls. XL management issued layoff notices to 2,000 employees Oct.13 and then recalled 800 of them Oct. 14 in a turn of events that suggested conflict between XL and […] Read moreXL plants may soon be under new management
XL Foods Inc. announced Oct. 17 that international packing giant JBS may assume management of XL’s Canadian beef plant operations in Brooks and Calgary. The XL plant in Brooks, owned by Nilsson Brothers, has been closed since Sept. 27 after the discovering of E. coli contamination in some of its products forced Canada’s largest meat […] Read more
Research into C02 emissions receives funding
An Alberta company that produces an agri-food product from industrial carbon dioxide emissions has received more than $820,000 from the federal government to fund further research. Calgary-based SFN Biosystems Inc. has patented technology that captures CO2 and heat from natural gas burning engines. It uses those byproducts in phytobioreactors, which are closed structures that contain […] Read more
Red Hat unveils new expansion with open house
REDCLIFF, Alta. — That little Red Hat sticker on tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in western Canadian grocery stores means the food comes from growers in southern Alberta. The vegetables are handled and shipped from the Red Hat Co-operative, which has 40 active members who collectively grow vegetables in 110 acres of greenhouse. Red Hat will […] Read more
Hydraulic lift raises spirits of stroke victim
Otto Wiest had a stroke eight years ago and the resulting weakness in his left arm and leg eliminated his ability to get into his tractor. It was frustrating for the 78-year-old farmer from Evansburg, Alta., who has worked the fields all his life. His neighbour, Scott Osborne, saw that frustration, and earlier this year […] Read more
