Forget oil – the new gold in rural Alberta is gravel. The sale of a central Alberta ranch rich in gravel to the province’s infrastructure department has the local county worried it will no longer have access to gravel. “I’d hate to have the government tie the gravel up and we have to go to […] Read more
Stories by Mary MacArthur
Alta. CWD cases seen farther north
More deer have tested positive for chronic wasting disease in Alberta, bringing the total number of cases to 53. Six mule deer and one white-tailed deer tested positive last fall from 5,170 animal heads that hunters submitted for testing. During February and March, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development staff shot 3,406 deer in an attempt to […] Read more
Specialist looks for better way to count sheep
WETASKIWIN, Alta. – Adopting a farm traceability program for sheep isn’t as easy as walking into the local farm supply store and buying a kit with instructions. Producers may be able to buy radio frequency identification (RFID) ear tags or a wand to read them, but there is no system complete with software and easy […] Read more
Alberta livestock plan has producers in uproar
EDMONTON – The Alberta Beef Producers annual meeting was supposed to focus on its regulation review, but talk in the hallways was about only one thing: the province’s new livestock strategy. ABP delegates and industry officials were trying to figure out what the changes announced the day before would mean for their business. “In fairness, […] Read more
CCA gives strategy thumbs down
EDMONTON – Alberta’s new livestock strategy has raised the hackles of livestock organizations across the country, says an official with the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. John Masswohl, director of government and international relations with the CCA, said livestock producers in the rest of the country feel betrayed that Alberta has struck out on its own to […] Read more
Producers worry about control
EDMONTON – Alberta livestock producers are concerned the provincial government’s new $56 million meat and livestock agency will have too much control over the industry. “We are not comfortable as an organization that is democratically elected, to have this meat agency superimposed on us and their appointment at the whim of the minister,” producer Gordon […] Read more
4-H gives Big Bad Wolf new trial
KELSEY, Alta. – The Big Bad Wolf was found not guilty May 31 of causing the Three Little Pigs post traumatic stress disorder in a close decision by a jury at the Kelsey hall. The audience of mostly parents and grandparents, acting also as jury, voted by a show of hand clapping after the Kelsey […] Read more
Alta. cash linked to animal ID
EDMONTON – Alberta livestock producers will receive an immediate cash injection of $150 million to help them pay mounting bills. They will get another $150 million in January if they comply with mandatory livestock and premises identification, said Alberta’s agriculture minister George Groeneveld. It’s all part of an eight-point plan to create a viable livestock […] Read more
Ag research gets ‘really big’ boost
ST. ALBERT, Alta. – The largest land donation ever received by a Canadian university may invigorate what had seemed a bleak future for on-farm research at the University of Alberta. Agriculture dean John Kennelly, who helped bring the university and the family together, said the donation is significant. “It’s big. We’d love to mention the […] Read more
‘Tough love’ plan to boost livestock
EDMONTON – The Alberta government has given the livestock industry a shot of “tough love” with its announcement of a new livestock and meat strategy, said the spokesperson for Canada’s largest beef packing plant. The Canadian beef industry has not recovered from being shut out of international markets after BSE. Mandatory age verification and a […] Read more
