Cool, wet growing conditions have created an ideal breeding ground for a range of problems in forage crops and grain. Nitrate poisoning will be a particularly significant concern, said Barry Yaremcio, a beef and forage specialist with Alberta Agriculture. He said wet conditions can lead to higher levels of nitrates in forage crops. Yaremcio said […] Read more
Stories by Bryn Levy
Harvest bee held for grieving family
The day after Frank Majchrowski’s funeral, a fleet of combines, trucks and tractors converged on his farm near Weirdale, Sask., to get the last of his family’s crop harvested. The harvest bee was a chance for Majchrowski’s friends and neighbours to pay their respects to a loved member of the community, and to help his […] Read more
Pumpkin supplies tight
Western Canadians who want a locally grown pumpkin for their pies and jack-o’-lanterns should get out early to avoid disappointment. Connie Achtymichuk, vegetable crop specialist for Saskatchewan Agriculture, described Saskatchewan’s pumpkin crop as one of the worst in the last few years. A rainy summer and early frost have hurt many growers in the province. […] Read more
Talks to open Chinese market to Canadian canola ongoing
Negotiations continue as the Canadian government attempts to open up the Chinese market to canola exports.Canadian canola is only accepted at coastal ports in Chinese areas that don’t produce domestic rapeseed. When China introduced the new rules Nov. 15, 2009, it said it was to protect the country’s rapeseed crop against blackleg, a disease common […] Read more
Bioenergy defended as good first step
Humanity requires a sustainability revolution to confront the energy needs of a rising population using strained resources, says an American academic. “We have more people, less time and high risk and I don’t see any way to look at it except that it is the defining challenge of our time,” Lee Lynd, an environmental engineering […] Read more
Biotech urged to cosy up to consumer
Biotechnology firms are in a better position than government regulators to gain consumer trust when marketing genetically modified animals, says an American businessperson. “Increasingly, we have to think about our customers’ customers,” said Mark Walton, president of Via- Gen Inc. of Austin, Texas, which develops cloning technology for livestock producers, during the recent Agricultural Biotechnology […] Read more
Antibiotic options touted
The livestock industry will have to find antibiotic alternatives as pressure mounts against their use in animal production, says a European animal nutrition professor. Antibiotics have already been banned in European livestock production over fears of increasing human resistance, Paolo Bosi of the University of Bologna in Bologna, Italy, told the recent Agricultural Biotechnology International […] Read more
Friends and neighbours rally to help with harvest
Family members expressed gratitude to friends and neighbours today after a harvest bee helped bring in the crop following an accidental death involving an ATV and a combine.”It’s just amazing what your good friends and neighbours can do,” said Margaret Majchrowski, sister in law to Frank Majchrowski, who died Sept. 27.Farmers living near Weirdale, Sask., […] Read more
Genomics could assess animal’s value at birth
“Wouldn’t it be nice to know that an animal, despite everything you do to it, is always going to end up in a patty?” Dr. Graham Plastow, director of the Alberta Livestock Genomics Program at the University of Alberta, posed this question during an interview following a talk he delivered at the Agricultural Biotech International […] Read more
Research looks at BSE vaccine
Scrapie, BSE, kuru and Creuzfeldt- Jakob disease have one little protein in common. All are prion diseases, fatal neurological disorders caused by a misfolded protein present in different species throughout the body. Scott Napper, program manager of the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, outlined his work seeking a vaccine for prion diseases at the recent […] Read more
