Problems facing Alberta’s hog producers are black and white and not pretty. The Way Forward, a 180-page special report on the troubles facing Alberta’s hog industry, doesn’t sugar coat the problems. “It clearly laid out what we have to deal with to maintain a viable pork industry,” said Alberta Pork executive director Paul Hodgman. Seeing […] Read more
Stories by Mary MacArthur
Buyer beware on grey market equipment
Spring is auction season, but it’s also when grey market tractors show up, two to three at a time at auctions across the Prairies. Grey market tractors are built for agriculture in other countries and shipped to Canada. They aren’t illegal but may have tires designed for rice fields, no rollover protection, no power take-off […] Read more
Alberta plans new rules for land agents
More than a year after an Alberta judge declared that the legislation guiding licensed land agents was bad, the provincial government has introduced amendments to change the rules. Bill 9, the Land Agents Licensing Amendment Act, will make it easier for landowners to hire anyone to represent them in negotiations with energy companies. Now, only […] Read more
United States opens border to Alberta seed potatoes
The American border is once again open to Alberta potato growers after a pinhead-sized pest was found in two fields last fall. The border opening is too late for most Alberta seed potato growers to sell their 2007 crop, but it offers comfort to growers wondering if they should plant potatoes for export this spring, […] Read more
Boar moves from diversification project to provincial pest
Wild boar that escape from captivity will soon be as welcome in Alberta as the Norway rat. On May 31, wild boar at large in the province will be declared pests, the same as the rat, and the onus will be on landowners to control them, said Floyd Mullaney of Alberta Agriculture. Mullaney estimated more […] Read more
Volunteering for the love of it
CORONATION, Alta. – Herman Schwenk took his first volunteer job at age 11 as secretary of his local Boys and Girls Farm Club – what later became 4-H. Sixty-six years later, the farmer from Coronation, Alta., still spends hundreds of hours a year volunteering his time on agricultural and community boards across the province. While […] Read more
Clubroot hitchhikes from field to field
LEDUC, Alta. – Bob Wasieczko got more than he paid for at a recent auction sale. He believes the air seeder he bought likely has spores from clubroot, a serious canola disease. The Thorsby, Alta., farmer bought the air seeder from an auction near Leduc and he knows the farmer had clubroot on at least […] Read more
Number of ATV deaths alarming
The number of people killed in all-terrain vehicle accidents in Alberta has increased dramatically, prompting two university researchers to call for restrictions on ATV use. Leah Phillips, co-director of the University of Alberta’s Alberta Centre for Injury Control and Research, said she has heard many stories from trauma surgeons about the increase in ATV injuries […] Read more
Alta. rejects farm safety legislation
Two years after her husband died in a farm accident, Lorna Chandler believes farms are no safer today than they were then. She also believes the Alberta government has no desire to make farms safer by implementing workplace safety laws. “The Conservatives don’t want to budge on this issue,” Chandler said after listening to a […] Read more
Alberta releases culled pork details
Alberta food banks will receive 600,000 pounds of ground pork from pigs slaughtered under the federal cull sow program. It’s estimated 4,000 Alberta sows will be shipped to designated slaughter plants for processing. The pork will go to 110 food banks, which are used by more than 40,000 people a month. Alberta agriculture minister George […] Read more
