While markets bottomed out for most red meat sectors during the last half of 1998, this year has started out more positively for lamb. Alberta prices for market lambs and rail grade prices are also climbing with recent sales to $1.90 per pound dressed weight. If seasonal trends repeat in the next few months, the […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
An ounce of prevention in a dose of food?
RED DEER, Alta. – Being a flabby 50-year-old baby boomer often persuades some to seek an elixir of long life. That magic potion may come from ordinary foods like milk and oatmeal that baby boomers ate as children. No one is sure of the market potential of functional foods but this sector is growing. “It’s […] Read more
Alberta needs more agricultural investment
RED DEER, Alta. – If Alberta hopes to eventually produce $20 billion in value-added agricultural products, it will take more than sweat equity. There aren’t enough investors in the province willing to take a risk in the early stages of a bright idea, said an Alberta financial consultant. “It will take large amounts of financial […] Read more
Holistic grazing guru draws disciples
RED DEER, Alta. – Eight people showed up the first time Allan Savory gave a public talk on his ideas about holistic management and intensive grazing. That was 20 years ago. Now the guru of holistic management fills the room with ranchers and business people who want to learn how his technique can be applied […] Read more
Looking for workers
RED DEER, Alta. – Few workers in Western Canada are willing to work on farms, in food processing or food service. “In southern Alberta we have a critical shortage of entry-level labor,” said Garnett Altwasser, president of IBP Canada at Brooks, Alta. “We work a lot of people under less than ideal conditions,” he said […] Read more
Banana war hurts Caribbean farms
REGINA – American trade aggression has sideswiped Caribbean family farms, says a visitor from the Windward Islands. Cheryl Johnson, who has been learning and teaching this fall while on a project in the Prairies with the National Farmers Union, attended a recent Saskatchewan farm women’s conference. In an interview, she said the United States has […] Read more
Hired hands hard to find – for good reason
John and Carrie love ranch life and working outdoors. But after six jobs in 10 years, working on ranches in Alberta and British Columbia, they shake their heads over the shortage of good bosses. “The last couple jobs we’ve had is the equivalent of slave labor,” said Carrie, who asked that their real names not […] Read more
WP sees management change
The Western Producer underwent some management changes last week. Garry Fairbairn is no longer with the newspaper. He had served as editor and deputy publisher since October 1991, and joined the staff as managing editor in 1984. Elaine Shein, the Producer’s managing editor, has been named acting editor. Shein was hired at the newspaper in […] Read more
Good feed barley yields higher return
The feeding industry’s nearly insatiable appetite for grain might be enough incentive for farmers to grow high-yield feed barley varieties for hungry hogs and steers. Many farmers grow lower-yielding barley varieties that may qualify for malt, hoping to cash in the premium, but malting barley premiums in the 1998-99 crop year are weak. Most barley […] Read more
Lamb producers benefit with co-op
OLDS, Alta. – The Northumberland Marketing Co-operative began in 1982 with a farmer making a few calls to lamb buyers from his kitchen. It has grown into a 25 member co-operative that sells about half the lambs in Nova Scotia. There are about 12,000 ewes with about the same number of market lambs for sale […] Read more
