Good mud. Bad mud. For range manager Barry Adams, it is like a mantra. Every time he shows ranchers a muddy stream trickling across a pasture, he makes them chant the mantra to reinforce the seriousness of erosion along Alberta creeks and wetlands. The tactic seems to be working. More producers and scientists are working […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
Respect, clear water rewards of proper care
Francis Gardner says his ranch is nothing special but his colleagues probably wouldn’t agree. The century-old Mount Sentinel ranch in the southern Alberta foothills is an example of varied and well-maintained ecology of short grass prairie that stretches up to the spruce line in Kananaskis Country. He and his family managed the ranch well enough […] Read more
Cows and Fish project
The Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Project, or Cows and Fish project is supported by provincial and federal agencies to manage waterways and their shorelines better. Support comes from the Alberta Cattle Commission, Trout Unlimited Canada, Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, Alberta Agriculture, Alberta Environment and the federal department of fisheries and oceans. Funding from the Canada-Alberta Environmentally […] Read more
Healthy streams, U-shaped channels
Biologist Lorne Fitch of Alberta Environment has some practical advice about how to salvage a damaged waterway. The goal is to create deep, U- shaped channels that look like cupped hands, he says. From a shallow trickle, they could achieve a depth of as much as 2.5 metres. As creeks and rivers are restored, the […] Read more
Walking and looking shows troubled waters
It is a sight that would have seemed radical just a few years ago. Across the West, environmentalists and landowners are walking eroded stream and river banks together to see what they can do to improve crumbling riparian areas. For advice, they most often turn to Idaho ecologist Bill Platts, a semi-retired university teacher now […] Read more
Canadian farmers suffer from fewer subsidies, court hears
CALGARY – An agricultural economist says Canadian farmers received less money for their grain than producers in the United States and European Union not because of less marketing savvy, but because Americans and Europeans receive higher export subsidies. Andy Schmitz, of the University of Florida, was one of several economists testifying at the legal challenge […] Read more
U.S. cattle organization slams CWB feed pricing
CALGARY – If the Canadian Wheat Board doesn’t give up its monopoly on export feed barley sales to the United States, pressure to stall the south-bound beef trade could result, says an official with the U.S.-based National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. The Americans argue Canadians get cheaper feed grain because the wheat board keeps the price […] Read more
Surge in horse theft prompts warnings
CALGARY – Stealing a horse used to be a hanging offence. With the recent surge in thefts in Alberta, a few horse owners think the return of the rope might not be a bad idea. In the last year horse thieves have been busy in Alberta stealing horses that could end up as far from […] Read more
Charolais breeders judge for themselves
RED DEER, Alta. – For armchair critics, Charolais breeders have come up with a way to let you don the judge’s hat and enter the show ring. The Charolais Breeders’ Classic, in its fourth year, invited breeders from across Canada to bring their best bull calves to the fall show held in Red Deer Oct. […] Read more
No walls at pork centre but resources abundant
CALGARY – The Alberta pork industry has a new research centre without walls or windows. Having no physical structure may be the best way to get hog producers, scientists and packers working together in the newly formed Alberta Pork Research Centre. The four participants, Alberta Agriculture, Alberta Pork Producers Development Corporation, the University of Alberta […] Read more
