After more than 20 years working on their ranch, these cattle producers look to reduce their active farming lifestyle
Grazing livestock in the most efficient and ecologically sound way will always be in the future for Amber and Steve Kenyon. Grazing livestock on their northern Alberta farm may not always be in their future. “Our future is slowly getting out of the day-to-day and more into education and promoting,” said Steve Kenyon of Busby, […] Read moreStories by Freelance writer
Farm succession starts by gathering information
Workshops are available that help producers figure out what they need to do first to successfully transition their farms
STROME, Alta. — Dozens of farm couples drove through a winter storm to the small community hall in the hamlet of Strome to listen to accountants talk taxes, capital gains, trusts, liability, asset pools, shareholder agreements and death. Farm succession planning isn’t easy or exciting, but successful farm transitions take time, work and a bucket […] Read more
4-H club takes eclectic approach
Members wanted to tackle a variety of different projects, prompting leaders to find a theme that would cover them all
BOTHA, Alta. — For his 4-H project, Nikolis Nims wants to learn how to fix a lawnmower and how to raise goats. “If a lawn mower stops working, I would like to know how to fix it so I can fix things,” he says. Landon Hoffman wants to learn how to cook steak. Stella Muhlbach […] Read more
Climate change, antibiotics may threaten soil
Researchers say livestock antibiotic residues can degrade microbe activity when combined with rising temperatures
Higher temperatures brought on by climate change in many regions can disrupt soil microbe effectiveness, recent research shows. A study by researchers at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York, has shown that when rising temperatures combine with antibiotic residues expelled by livestock, it degrades soil microbe efficiency, soil resilience to future […] Read more
Navigating the digital diet culture
The internet has opened the floodgates of dietary advice; how does that affect food production and should producers care?
Earlier this year, Kim Kardashian announced on social media her new role as “chief taste consultant” for the Beyond Meat company and her passion for its plant-based products, calling them “better for you and better for the planet.” Kardashian is one of many celebrity influencers who have endorsed a vegetarian or vegan diet and products […] Read more
Christmas gift exchange teaches valuable lesson
The real present received on that cold winter’s night so long ago was an insight into the meaning of giving and receiving
I was in Grade 3 at the time — too young to know the reasons, but old enough to sense the despair that had settled over our small farming community. Crops had been poor, prices low and people had become the passive victims of an economic squeeze. The annual school Christmas concert was to be […] Read more
Our love of Christmas cards is rooted in history
Cards remain a way to tell far-away friends and family they are remembered with a prettily printed picture and a verse of good wishes
The favourite time to connect with family and friends with a show of goodwill is Christmas. From the first Christmas cards sent in England by Sir Henry Cole in 1843, cards have become a traditional way to tell far-away friends and family they are remembered with a prettily printed picture and a verse of good […] Read more
Research re-examines soil health measurements
Some scientists focus on chemistry, biology and physics, while others look at factors such as the ratio of small to large molecules
Researchers at Cranfield and Nottingham universities in the United Kingdom believe farmers and land managers need to change how they think about, measure and study soil. “I have been working on soils in various contexts for the last four decades from my early work on the restoration and reclamation of open-cast mines (strip mines) to […] Read more
Laundry day was a winter adventure
The well water was so hard it curdled the soap; instead, snow was hauled in on wash days — which was always on Monday
It was rather a pleasant task in spring, summer and fall to hang the laundry on the clothesline that swung between two maple trees in our big front yard. One year my dad got one of his old work boots soaking wet and hung it by the laces over the clothesline to dry. A pair […] Read more
Family’s stoic old outhouse was a rare source of privacy
Houses came and went, but the old outhouse retained its Spartan lines, a familiar piece of architecture on the home farm. Ours bore all the trademarks of a typical model: the grey, weather-beaten exterior peppered with knotholes, the jagged half-moon carved in the sagging door, the shanty roof bared defiantly to the elements. Over the […] Read more
