GULL LAKE, Alta. — Cathy Mowat always wanted to ice fish, but wasn’t interested in buying hundreds of dollars of gear to sit on a bucket on a windy lake with no guarantee she would catch a fish. When she found a website for a luxury ice fishing shack stocked with ice fishing gear, beds, […] Read more
Stories by Freelance writer
Clock runs down on farmers’ use of strychnine
Municipalities no longer able to sell two percent strychnine to control Richardson’s ground squirrels; ban on use is next
March 4 was the last day municipalities and counties were allowed to sell two percent strychnine to farmers for Richardson’s ground squirrel control. Next March 4 will be the last day farmers in Alberta and Saskatchewan will be allowed to use the product. For producer David Dick, the loss of strychnine, the only effective gopher […] Read more
War forces Dutch dairy farmer to flee Ukraine
Kees Huizinga, a large dairy farmer in Ukraine, never envisaged this day would come. When Vladimir Putin’s Russian army started a war with Ukraine, the entire world felt the aftershocks. For the past 20 years, Huizinga and his two business partners have run their 37,000-acre farm, called TOV Kischenzi, in the middle of Ukraine in […] Read more
Producers find benefits in electrolyzed water
Users of the technology include livestock producers and greenhouse operators concerned about poor water quality
Western Canadian livestock producers and greenhouse operators are talking about the added benefits of using electrolyzed water. Electrolyzed water, also known as anolyte, is created when a generator uses an electrolyzer (cell) to electrically activate a common salt solution. A diaphragm separates it into two chambers (positive anode chamber and negative cathode chamber), each having […] Read more
Honeybees social distance for protection
One of the imperatives is to maintain a healthy environment in the core occupied by young bees, nurses and the queen
Researchers at the University College London in the United Kingdom and the University of Sassari in Italy have found that honeybees developed social distancing practices during their behavioural evolution. It was used as a way to modify the use of space and interactions between young and old bees when the hive is threatened by harmful […] Read more
Research compares drylots to grazing
Not all farmers own enough land to graze their cattle, which leads to the need to rent pasture. But as land availability shrinks and rental costs rise, some farmers are seeking other options. These could come in the form of drylots. At the University of Illinois, new research by animal scientists has evaluated the approach […] Read more
Grad student talks crop at former high school
Presentation about how research scientists help farmers fight crop diseases includes hands-on experiments for students
Chris Manchur, a past graduate of Gilbert Plains Collegiate Institute in Gilbert Plains, Man., recently returned to the school to give a presentation about agriculture through a microscope. Manchur is a master’s student at the University of Manitoba, studying plant sciences. He had received funding to provide a science experience to rural students who otherwise […] Read more
Scientists solve mystery of grass leaf formation
Simple modulations of growth rules, based on a common pattern of gene activities, create a wide diversity of leaf shapes
Few plants are as resilient or grow back so quickly after being cut by mowers or chewed by animals as grass. Now, evidence shows the actual shape of the grass leaf sets the stage for its abundant and repetitive growth. The precise shape of the leaf has been a long-standing debate among plant scientists. However, […] Read more
Artificial intelligence identifies coat patterns
Managing milk cows includes monitoring individual animals with the use of ear tags and collecting data. Now, scientists in the Netherlands at the University of Groningen and the University of Wageningen have developed a method that can recognize Holstein cows in a milking barn by the pattern of their coats. The goal is to use […] Read more
Rural addiction has special challenges
More than half of farmers meet the diagnostic threshold for anxiety and more than a third meet the criteria for depression
“When it started, it was liquid courage. Alcohol works wonders for anxiety — for the first hour.” So says Gerry Friesen from his home office in Manitoba. With his heavy glasses and warm smile, the former hog farmer, now a stress and conflict management specialist and mediator, has an easy way about him. He’s thoughtful […] Read more
