ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE, Alta. – Waiting until there is no cash, the cupboard is bare and loans are due may not be the best time to visit the banker. “Do not show up after a loan is due,” said Bill Melaney, manager of ATB Financial Services at Caroline, Alta. He told a beef producer workshop […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
New year rings in with sheep ID, checkoff
RED DEER – A national sheep identification program comes into effect Jan. 1, 2004. All sheep and lambs leaving the farm must have a hot pink, metal curl lock tag. Tags are available on the Prairies only through the Canadian Co-operative Wool Growers. The tags cost 31 cents each, but the Alberta Sheep and Wool […] Read more
Blacksmith says competition is ideal venue for teaching
OLDS, Alta. – Farrier Bill Marshall thinks he has the best job in the world. His horse owner clients are always happy to see him, the pay is good and he has travelled the world as a blacksmith. Marshall has been shoeing horses for 42 years. He apprenticed in northern England and moved to Canada […] Read more
Alta. pork producers want share of BSE aid
RED DEER – Alberta pork producers want the government to know the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis has hurt them as much as it has hurt producers of the other red meats. “BSE has hit us hard,” said vice-chair Jack Moerman at the regional meeting of Alberta Pork held in Red Deer Nov. 13. “This is […] Read more
CWB, Alta. continue fight over barley marketing
The Alberta government and the Canadian Wheat Board continue to face off over the perennial issue of grain marketing choice. A recent Alberta government survey showed more than 60 percent of Alberta farmers interviewed favoured marketing choice rather than using the services of the Canadian Wheat Board. Broken down between the two wheat board grains, […] Read more
Pork producers face another tough year
RED DEER – Since 1998, Alberta pork producers have had only two profitable years. And this year, when there was some expectation of profit, many Canadian commodities are in a sinkhole, said the chair of Alberta Pork. High costs for energy and feed, the impact of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and a stronger loonie have all […] Read more
Weigh options as winter nears
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE, Alta. – Slaughter cattle could have fetched around $123 per hundredweight for A1 steers this December if Canada had an open border to the United States. Instead, fed cattle are selling for considerably less into a surplus beef market as American trade is halted due to a single case of bovine spongiform […] Read more
Oil company offers beef as thanks
HIGH RIVER, Alta. – A Calgary oil and gas company decided to live by the golden rule this fall when it entered a beef deal with a southern Alberta ranching family. Working with Grant and Annette Hirsche of High River, Esprit Explorations decided to do something special for the rural communities where it has been […] Read more
Hog industry must accept safety regulations
RED DEER – Tracking every hog in Canada for the sake of food safety is a responsible action among pork producers, says a farmer. “If you chose to be a livestock producer, there is a major responsibility that goes with it,” said Clare Schlegel, a Canadian Pork Council representative and hog farmer from Ontario. A […] Read more
Survey finds Albertans against CWB
The struggle between Canadian Wheat Board supporters and those who want to sell their wheat and barley on an open market has been resurrected. A recently commissioned Alberta Agriculture survey reported more than 60 percent of Alberta wheat and barley growers favour change to the current CWB monopoly on western-grown wheat and barley exports. Conducted […] Read more
