Trading in the noisy, congested life of the city for peace and quiet in the country may be a dream for many, but sometimes the reality of rural life delivers surprises. Buying a little piece of heaven is an expensive proposition. Services like water and electricity quickly add up. Further, the demand for property is […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
Student juggles rink, show ring
Lee Simanton likes to keep busy, whether he is sandwiching homework around farm chores on the family dairy or making time for sports. Winning an intermediate showmanship class against nine other youngsters at this year’s Stampede Dairy Classic was a pleasure but not the nerve-wracking experience it once was. “I’ve been showing for a long […] Read more
Keep dairy herd on happy footing
RED DEER – Lameness in dairy cows is an increasingly serious problem on farms, says an Agriculture Canada animal welfare specialist. “Lameness is one of the main welfare problems in dairy cows at the moment and it is an enormous economic problem,” said researcher Jeff Rushen. He is based at Lennoxville, Que., and spoke at […] Read more
Wheat growers revive group, outline priorities
A small, resolute group has revived the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association. A new board of 11 young farmers came forward during a revival convention held last week in Calgary. The interim board includes Cherilyn Jolly as president, Randy Hoback as chair and Dean Klippenstine as vice-president. One board member is from Alberta, three from […] Read more
Alberta ranchers welcome additional BSE money
PICTURE BUTTE, Alta. – A federal injection of nearly $700 million for the Canadian livestock industry, hurt by the BSE crisis, is as good as money in the bank, say some Alberta ranchers. Steve Primrose has been in a tenuous position since last year because he feeds cattle and runs a trucking business near Picture […] Read more
Alberta to gather data on West Nile infections
Alberta has launched a study to measure the extent of West Nile virus infection in 2003. “There is a serious lack of information on how the disease is going to play out in Alberta,” said John Tuckwell, spokesperson for Alberta Health. “There aren’t a lot of studies available,” The department wants to know how many […] Read more
Species at risk rules take flight in June
Canada’s long awaited species-at-risk legislation becomes law June 1. The new endangered species act is meant to be a co-operative effort among landowners, resource users and government rather than a punitive legislation, said federal environment David Anderson as he explained the act at a western grasslands conference held in Calgary. The intent is to save […] Read more
Family ranch keeps only its best
After being in the Hereford business since 1946, Gordon Henderson had his second grand champion at the Calgary Bull Sale. Based at Forestburg, south of Edmonton, Little Poplar Grove Herefords has been coming to the bull sale since Henderson was a youngster. Now working with his son Allen and daughter-in-law Lorraine, he is in the […] Read more
Sellers look for unique angle
Jim Wildeman has sold everything from booze to bulls. His ranch, Wild Bear Herefords at Okotoks, Alta., won this year’s Calgary Bull Sale reserve grand champion banner earlier this month. The animal later sold for $7,000 to Brad Dallas of Bowden, Alta., and Bar N Herefords of Turner Valley, Alta. It was a good day […] Read more
Genetic code key to BSE?
The mystery of brain wasting diseases could be unravelled in a string of genetic code. John Williams is among a team of international scientists searching for a genetic link among the family of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which includes bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle, scrapie in sheep, chronic wasting disease in deer and elk and Creutzfeldt-Jakob […] Read more
