One producer is not satisfied with response and is continuing his appeal of earlier decision to close his water licences
Confusion over the status of farmers’ and ranchers’ water licences in southern Alberta continues to simmer, prompting a response from the environment minister last week. Alberta Environment is reviewing more than 1,000 water licences in the South Saskatchewan River watershed region, some of them long standing. The review raised fears about potential licence cancellation, which […] Read more
Barb Glen
Stories by Barb Glen
Spitz says goodbye to southern Alberta
Pending July closure of the Spitz sunflower seed plant in Bow Island, announced Feb. 15 by plant owner PepsiCo Inc., came as a shock to its 53 employees and to town and county officials. By Feb. 22, those officials were following leads to attract another business into the plant and perhaps retain jobs. Steven Wikkerink, […] Read more
Alta. greenhouses miss out on farm labour exemption
Government doesn’t consider greenhouses to be farms, which means they must pay overtime and statutory holidays
If you grow commercial vegetables, flowers or tree seedlings in a greenhouse, are you a farmer? Alberta’s greenhouse growers say the answer is yes, so they should be subject to farm employment standards. Alberta Labour says the answer is no, and the above noted greenhouse operations are subject to the labour standards of the province’s […] Read moreCanadian beef quality audit shows little improvement
The latest audit of Canadian beef quality reveals that abscessed livers, dirty hides and minor injection-site lesions are appearing more often in cattle, as well as a rising trend to over-fat animals. Compared to the last audit, completed in 2010-11, those indicators showed no improvement and in several cases, were worse. However, the audit also […] Read more
Proposed food labels concern sugar beet, dairy folks
Health Canada is seeking public input on front-of-package information about sodium, sugar and saturated fats
The idea for a stop sign on food labels that warns people about sugar-containing products has itself been put to a stop, but Alberta Sugar Beet Growers remain concerned about Health Canada’s proposals for front-of-package labelling. The federal agency has proposed four different formats to label foods that contain high levels of sodium, saturated fats […] Read more
Alta. men die in U.S. plane crash
A plane crash in Utah took the lives of four southern Alberta men on Feb. 23. Bill Kaupp, 64, his son, Clint Kaupp, 28, Ron McKenzie, 67, and Tim Mueller, 28, did not survive the crash of the Piper Lance aircraft Bill Kaupp was piloting on a trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Kaupp family […] Read more
Water review alarms ranchers
Sixteen years is a long time in which to resolve a licence application, even by government standards. But it was the government, specifically Alberta Environment and Parks, that told southern Alberta rancher Aaron Brower in late December that water licence applications filed by Brower Ranching Co. Ltd. in 2001 were now being reviewed and at […] Read more
First Nations seek free-roaming bison herds
Efforts are underway to increase the number of free-ranging bison in Western Canada and Montana. Signatories to the 2014 bison treaty, which includes numerous First Nations, are working to establish regions where bison can roam and where native connections with the iconic species can be re-established. Leroy Little Bear, a scholar integral to formation of […] Read more
Plentiful mountain snowpack bodes well for Alta. irrigators
Snow accumulation along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains appears to bode well for runoff and the coming irrigation season, Alberta Environment reports. The mountain runoff forecast as of Feb. 7, posted by the department, indicates above average levels in the Oldman River Basin near Lethbridge and Brocket, as well as in the Bow […] Read more
Alberta family makes environmental land donation
Nancy Ferrier left the 1,467 acre property in her will to the Nature Conservancy of Canada; her family had owned it since 1904
A 1,467-acre property along Gough Lake in central Alberta is now a conservation site under the auspices of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. The property was donated by the late Agnes Isabelle Ferrier, known as Nancy, who passed away in 2015 and willed it to the NCC. The donation was officially announced Feb. 2, coinciding […] Read more
