Karen Morrison

A second herd of farmed white-tailed deer will be destroyed north of Edmonton. George Luterbach of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the decision to kill the 95 animals was made based on their close relationship to a nearby herd. That herd included Canada’s first known case of CWD in farmed deer and was found […] Read more

Banning wildlife baiting could reduce the spread of disease and make hunting more ethical and sustainable, says Ken McDaid of the Saskat-chewan Fair Chase League. The league is calling on Saskat-chewan legislators to follow the lead of governments in Manitoba, Alberta, Wyoming and Colorado and ban the practice. Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives […] Read more

HANLEY, Sask. – Young farmers would rather create their own environmental farm plan than have government impose one on them, a meeting in this central Saskatchewan community heard April 10. The Saskatchewan Young Farmers’ Forum is hosting meetings across Saskatchewan. In Hanley, 11 farmers under the age of 40 discussed the plan. It includes evaluating […] Read more

The Alberta Research Council will spend the next year updating an integrated pest management manual for the federal national defence department. Paul Sharma and eight others at the crown corporation, which is known for its work in insect management and plant disease, will work their way through the nine-chapter manual on pest control and disease. […] Read more

Vaccines that control grubs and lice could offer new environmentally friendly weapons in the fight against the most common winter parasites in cattle. Doug Colwell, a parasitologist with Agriculture Canada’s Lethbridge Research Centre, said a vaccine could reduce the amount of parasite-control drugs used in Canadian cattle herds. “It’s forward-looking research to provide producers down […] Read more

A five-year study will determine how much methane beef cattle produce and allow farmers to make better use of the feed they provide. Sean McGinn, an agricultural meteorologist with the Agriculture Canada Lethbridge Research Centre, said the study began last year by using special lasers to monitor methane going into and coming out of cattle. […] Read more

Living in a fishbowl, finding a mate and limited career opportunities were among drawbacks identified by new teachers considering jobs at rural schools. Richard Schwehr, in his final year at education college, said fellow teacher interns who found a lack of privacy in small communities felt school and personal life should be kept separate. Others […] Read more

The difficulty attracting and retaining staff was the impetus behind a leadership academy developed by the Buffalo Trail Public School division in eastern Alberta last year. Principals Dave Brecht and Nick Radujko helped spearhead the Pathfinders program, offered to all staff including teachers, special education co-ordinators, superintendents and administrators. “We wanted to provide an opportunity […] Read more

Renée Kuchapski says she pays twice as much in taxes to live in rural Saskatchewan as her friend pays in rural Ontario. The resident of the Rural Municipality of Corman Park, who splits her time between her Saskatchewan home and Brock University in Ontario, said her taxes jumped to $5,000 in 2002 from $3,800 in […] Read more

Saskatchewan and Alberta elk farmers have joined a class-action lawsuit claiming Agriculture Canada negligently allowed diseased animals into the country. Blane and Glen Heitt of Unity, Sask., and Rick Alsager of Maidstone, Sask., filed the suit in Regina on Nov. 28. They say Agriculture Canada allowed farmers to import elk and deer even though adequate […] Read more