More than 200 residents in Alberta’s Lacombe County were lost between 2001 and 2006, and municipal officials plan to send enumerators door to door to find them. According to the 2006 federal census, 200 fewer people lived in Lacombe County in 2006 than in 2001. “While a decrease of 200 residents may not seem overly […] Read more
Stories by Mary MacArthur
Alta. unveils hog recovery plan
LEDUC, Alta. – Alberta hog producers need their own specialized marketing company and their own pork brand if they’re to survive. Those are two recommendations made in a recent proposal to help the industry as it struggles with high feed prices and low hog prices. “This is indeed a difficult situation and we didn’t get […] Read more
Carbon credits new cash crop
Alberta’s newest cash crop requires no seeding, weeding or harvesting – only paperwork. The first cheques were mailed in May to Alberta farmers who sold their carbon credits to Agri-Trend Aggregation Inc. Payments ranged from $3,000 to $65,000 for farmers from Lethbridge to the Peace River region, said Agri-Trend Aggregation president Bill Dorgan. “It’s a […] Read more
Alta. changes BSE testing
Alberta’s BSE testing program is about to focus its attention on younger cattle. Changes to the Canada-Alberta BSE surveillance program will begin July 1 and target four- to seven-year-old animals, which are most at risk to get the disease. Testing rules in other provinces will not change. The goal of the new pilot program is […] Read more
Alberta researcher searches for ticks
An Alberta researcher wants to know if any ticks have hitched a ride into the province. Alberta has always had its share of ticks: wood ticks lurking in the grass waiting for unsuspecting dogs, and moose ticks waiting to catch a ride on a long-legged moose. However, Daniel Fitzgerald, a University of Alberta grad student […] Read more
Alta. attempts land use balance
Alberta’s new land use framework will provide a balance between the province’s environmental, social and economic needs, says sustainable resource development minister Ted Morton. Alberta’s growing population and increased energy activity have created conflict among energy companies, rural landowners and recreational activity that the draft land use framework hopes to ease. “The purpose of the […] Read more
Producers use cull program
Prairie pork producers have submitted applications to cull almost 35,000 sows under the federal program announced in November. As of May 12, Alberta producers had submitted 69 applications for 13,000 animals. About 3,000 of those have yet to be slaughtered. In Manitoba, 66 producers have submitted applications for 13,800 animals. About 5,800 are still to […] Read more
Viterra upgrades oat capability
Viterra wants to gallop to the front of the field with the conversion of a seed cleaning plant in Camrose for processing and cleaning specialty oats. The racehorse industry in North America and Asia will be the key market for the new plant after the $3.5 million conversion. The plant will also be able to […] Read more
Wash clubroot problems away
LEDUC, Alta. – As manager of agricultural services with Leduc County, Curtis Henkelmann has seen first-hand the devastation clubroot can cause once a field becomes infected. Instead of thick, strong stands of canola, the field will contain plants that look wilted, yellow and stunted. What initially looks like a 50 bushel canola crop becomes 10 […] Read more
Clean machine keeps clubroot at bay
Alberta Agriculture has developed a tip sheet containing best management practices for disinfecting farm machinery to prevent the spread of clubroot between canola fields. Basic sanitation Remove soil and plant debris from equipment by scraping clumps off before leaving the field. Clean residual soil and debris from surfaces by using compressed air, steam or by […] Read more
