Pioneer Acres, which preserves Alberta’s farming heritage, held its annual show Aug. 5-7 on its site north of Irricana, Alta. The event featured an antique truck and car parade and a horse parade; quilting, spinning and rug-making demonstrations; field demonstrations including horse-drawn plowing, cultivating and binder work; and steam-driven plowing and threshing and antique tractor […] Read more
Stories by Janet Kanters
Alberta farm family takes on the sweet potato
On the Farm: Grain and livestock producers saw an opportunity to supply an emerging market with sweet potato slips
With almost 10,000 acres of native pasture, 2,500 acres of irrigated grain land, 1,000 cow-calf pairs including a purebred Charolais herd, and a custom feedlot, one farming dynasty in southeastern Alberta seems to have a lot on their plate. But the operators hope to build more. They’re developing a new industry in the province — […] Read more
Project Toothpick helps farmers battle weed
The initiative aims to find a home-grown biocontrol inoculum for Striga, which threatens many of Africa’s staple crops
One of the world’s toughest weeds is literally getting a taste of its own medicine in Africa. Striga, a parasitic weed that has caused continued havoc on the African continent, is slowly but surely feeling the effects of an ingenious initiative — the Toothpick Project, now nearing commercialization. Striga (witchweed) is the No. 1 pest […] Read more
Value-added business discovers gold in straw
Alberta family creates pellets that can be used for stoves, animal bedding, small pet litter and gardens and flowerbeds
Value-added has been a buzzword in agriculture for decades, and one family in southern Alberta has taken the term to heart to create several products out of one resource — straw. Corrie and Dave Fisher of Blackie have figured out how to compress straw into pellets for stoves, animal bedding, small pet litter, and for […] Read more
Mangalitsa pigs fill a specialty niche for farm
Southern Alberta family raises the pigs for two years in their natural environment, where they eat an all-plant ration and are grass pastured
It’s not unusual to run across free-ranging pigs in parts of Alberta, but one particular breed is sure to catch the eye. Mangalitsa (known as Mangalica in Hungarian) is a lard-type pig that was first bred in 1833, in a farm that belonged to Habsburg royalty. It is the only woolly pig in the world […] Read more
Acres of Prairies heritage
Pioneer Acres Museum near Irricana, Alta., held their 50th annual show Aug. 9-11, with thousands of people attending each day of the event. Situated on 50 acres of land, Pioneer Acres is aimed at preserving Alberta’s rural and agricultural heritage, and offers over a dozen buildings filled with unique exhibits and artifacts from the pioneering […] Read more
