LETHBRIDGE – Think of every patch of bare soil in a pasture as a pound of beef unavailable for sale, says grazing consultant Jim Gerrish. The best way to make meat, milk and fibre is to capture solar energy and water to grow forage, said Gerrish, who runs American Grazing Lands Services in Idaho. The […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
Farmers urged to consider nontraditional legumes
LETHBRIDGE – Alfalfa is the queen of forages but it is not used as much as it could be because of its tendency to cause bloat. New varieties and alternative legumes like sanfoin, feenugreek and cicer milkvetch may solve that problem, says plant breeder Surya Acharya of the Agriculture Canada Lethbridge research centre. Most legume […] Read more
Prairie soil took thousands of years to develop
LETHBRIDGE – It took 10,000 years to build prairie soils so restoring lost nutrients and organic matter will not happen overnight. The Prairies have distinct soil areas from the brown zone with low organic matter, to the richer dark brown types, to grey-wooded soils in the northern regions, said agrologist John Harapiak. “The kind of […] Read more
Producers leery of mandatory age verification
STRATHMORE, Alta. – Mandatory age verification of cattle may be one way to keep the beef industry sustainable, says the Alberta agriculture minister. George Groeneveld favours verifying birth dates in hopes that it would open markets in Asia and the United States, but said he also realizes there is considerable producer resistance to a mandatory […] Read more
Sheep producers battle antibiotic resistant parasites
Parasites in sheep are increasingly developing resistance to treatment. To address the problem, the National Sheep Association in Great Britain has developed recommendations to deal with broad spectrum treatments that are showing less efficacy against worms and other parasites. “People just aren’t noticing it and that is because if you got 90 percent efficacy, you […] Read more
Troubled waters – Special Report (about)
With the snow-capped Rockies spawning countless streÃ¥ams that feed down to the plains below, you’d think water worries would be the last thing on Albertans’ minds. But the quantity and quality of water has become a major issue for Canada’s fastest growing province. Worried that unrestricted growth will collide with a shrinking resource, government has […] Read more
Troubled waters – Special Report (main story)
When the North West Mounted Police built Fort Calgary at the confluence of the Elbow and Bow rivers in 1875, part of the attraction was proximity to water. In slightly more than a century, Calgary has grown to more than one million people and Alberta has a population of 3.4 million, with projections of five […] Read more
Districts willing to help – Special Report (story 1)
As the largest water licence holders in Alberta, irrigation districts have tremendous control over a limited resource. For the Eastern Irrigation District (EID) and Western Irrigation District (WID) east of Calgary, water management is serious business and their farmer-run boards know others are looking at them as a new source of water. Their idea is […] Read more
Gov’t urges conservation – Special Report (story 2)
Conservation is the first step in Alberta’s water policy. Saying no to new development may be second. Alberta Environment urges conservation but it also refuses to grant new licences to withdraw water from the South Saskatchewan River basin, where so much of the province’s boom is taking place. “This is a new kind of territory, […] Read more
Pollutants a growing concern – Special Report (story 3)
A strange phenomenon is occurring in the Oldman River in southwestern Alberta. Fish downstream of Lethbridge are 80 to 90 percent female, raising alarm among researchers such as Hamid Habibi, professor of biological sciences and pharmacology at the University of Calgary. Researchers believe estrogen from birth control pills, other medications and chemicals moving through sewage […] Read more
