A $35 million infrastructure program to partially fund wastewater treatment facilities for agricultural processing plants has been announced by Alberta Agriculture. The program’s money comes out of existing government resources and is available for the next three years, said a news release. In 1998-99, $10 million is available, another $10 million is offered for 1999-2000 […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
U.S. cattle leader explains pressures
EDMONTON – Canadian and American cattle producers should not be fighting over free trade issues, says the president-elect of the U.S. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. George Swan said a bill before the United States Congress that includes a requirement to label meat by its country of origin is not aimed at Canada but at all […] Read more
Heavy cattle will continue to keep prices low this year
EDMONTON – A beef market outlook from an analyst with the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association predicts no improvement by year-end for an industry mired in a sinkhole of low prices and shrinking demand. High carcass weights continue to be a problem, adding more beef to the supply when tonnage is already approaching record levels. Although analysts […] Read more
Americans say label would control quality
Improving the quality of its domestic beef is the reason American cattle producers want a strict meat labeling law, says a representative of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Dale Moore, of the NCBA Washington, D.C. office, said the American beef industry is trying to market more high quality beef that meets specific criteria. They want […] Read more
Test plots prove viable crops for dry Special Areas
OYEN, Alta. – In semi arid southeastern Alberta there are a few hardy people making a living out of land that was all but abandoned in the burning heat of the Depression years. Farming the five million acres of these Special Areas is a challenge because there is less than 30 centimetres of precipitation a […] Read more
Research to continue on fall-seeded canola
OYEN, Alta. – Figuring out the best way to plant canola in the fall has researchers scrambling up a steep learning curve. “Every time we get an answer with this fall-seeded canola, we get two or three questions that pop up,” said Jay Byer with Alberta Agriculture. He is the adviser on 17 fall-seeded canola […] Read more
Hemp is hip-high in field near Oyen
OYEN, Alta. – There’s no secret about the crop Jerome Scory has growing on his Oyen farm. Scory applied to Health Canada earlier this year for a permit to grow hemp on 10 acres. Treating the crop like canola, the seed cost $8.50 per kilogram. It was seeded at 21 pounds per acre. This fibre […] Read more
Bison are big – and so are the returns
IRVINE, Alta. – A better-than-average return and the excitement of doing something new attracts people to the bison business. The Alberta Bison Association has 452 members and is growing across the province. For seasoned cattle producers like Bob, Rick and Lee Porter at Irvine, it made sense to bring the buffalo back to the range […] Read more
Triticale has future as a feed: scientist
RED DEER, Alta. – Triticale, a man-made grain grown all over the world, is proving to have more uses than good silage. It measures up well as a feed grain for chickens and hogs, makes good heavy bread and most recently was seen as a beer named Rock Rabbit at an international triticale symposium in […] Read more
U.S. beef, lamb labeling law may hit home
A problem looms for cattle producers if American legislation passes requiring country-of-origin labeling on beef and lamb products. It may also be a wakeup call for Canadian cattle producers who export 54 percent of their product either as beef or live animals. Most of it goes to the United States. “What it’s hammered home is […] Read more
