WETASKIWIN, Alta. — Hanging on the farm shop wall beside the combine and the seeder are thousands of bulbs of drying garlic. Using the existing farm equipment and buildings enables Kristin Graves to build her Fifth Gen Gardens farm business while working alongside her father, Richard Graves, on their Wetaskiwin-area farm. “It is so neat […] Read more
Stories by Freelance writer
Bud Williams left low-stress stockmanship legacy
Producers taught to learn to ‘read’ what an animal is saying and change position so it wants to go in the desired direction
Now and then, someone comes along with ideas that change the way people do things and sometimes even change an industry. Bud Williams was that kind of person. His unique methods of handling cattle are becoming known and adapted by dairy and beef producers because they are easier on the animals and the people who […] Read more
Williams’ life dedicated to handling
Bud Williams was born in 1932 on a farm in southern Oregon, where his family had horses, dairy and beef cattle, sheep, hogs and poultry and raised grain and hay. “I met him at a country square dance. We’d been married for 60 years when he died in 2012,” says his wife, Eunice. “After we […] Read more
Prairie theme helps museum attract visitors to Alta. town
Some residents learned taxidermy, others made costumes and the World Famous Gopher Hole Museum came into being
It began 27 years ago when the town of Torrington, Alta., appeared to be dying. The small community, like many other rural communities in Alberta, had lost its four elevators and railway, its school and several businesses. The future looked grim. Several unsuccessful town hall meetings were held to try and figure out what to […] Read more
Village hoped to become Coney Island of Sask.
Agriculture played a major role in the community, but its location on Jackfish Lake also kept villagers’ eyes on the water
The village of Meota, Sask., is situated on the southern shores of Jackfish Lake about 43 kilometres northwest of North Battleford. The community derived its name from the Cree words Meotate or Mo-Was-In-Ota, meaning “good place to camp” or “it is good here.” One of the earliest European visitors to the Meota region was Dr. […] Read more
Calves must be protected from clostridial diseases
Seven-way or eight-way clostridial vaccines considered producers’ best options when controlling this family of diseases
Blackleg, redwater, malignant edema and several types of clostridium perfringens can affect calves, which is why most ranchers vaccinate with a seven-way or eight-way clostridial vaccine. “This is probably the most widely used vaccine. If people don’t vaccinate against these diseases, eventually they will lose cattle,” says Dr. John Campbell of the Western College of […] Read more
New rural economy emerges in war-torn Ukraine
From value-added to increased livestock production, farmers in Ukraine have managed to adapt to the conditions of war
This story is a personal perspective from inside Ukraine by Ukrainian journalist Ihor Pavliuk. When we first heard the sounds of rocket explosions on Feb. 24, we were most alarmed. It took my entire credit card limit to fill up my car and buy a supply of groceries. At the time, I thought only a […] Read more
Alta. city acquires a taste for urban agriculture
Cochrane residents build mobile greenhouse and have plans for larger facility with workshops and rentable garden beds
Grounded in vision and rooted in values is how Jackie Skrypnek describes Cultivate Cochrane, a grassroots organization promoting urban agriculture in one of Alberta’s fastest-growing municipalities. According to its website, Cultivate Cochrane is “a non-profit society dedicated to growing a resilient and connected community through food, innovation and lifestyle empowerment centred around a community greenhouse […] Read more
Postcards draw attention to Canadian wool
Organizers of the campaign hope to increase industry’s profile and attract government funding for the domestic sector
The federal government has released its policy framework designed to “strengthen and grow” Canada’s agriculture sector and some Canadian shepherds and processors think they know where some of those funds should go. They are carrying out a postcard campaign that includes letters to federal and provincial government officials to attract more attention to the wool […] Read more
Barn pickers discover gold in the old
The stories are as valuable for salvage specialists as are the items they find in abandoned homesteads across the Prairies
“Rust is my favourite colour,” says Todd Cunningham, veteran picker and owner of Cunning Mantiques and Rusty Rose Pickins in Didsbury, Alta. “Rust tells a story; a story of adventure and finding things.” Anyone spending time on side-roads has seen them — barns and homesteads, farmhouses and granaries — standing out in the middle of […] Read more
