EDMONTON – Farmfair International cancelled four breed sales this year – Shorthorn, Hereford, Salers and Charolais -because of a lack of interest and as a cost cutting measure. Len Poholka, a Horned Hereford breeder from Breton, Alta., said a letter was mailed to participants asking if they wanted to hold a sale, but only three […] Read more
Stories by Mary MacArthur
Service links farm tasks with workers
A matchmaking service has been created to put together farmers who need occasional help with chores and people who want to work on a farm. The idea for Farmsitters came to Frank Campbell last summer during a camping trip with a farming friend. Each morning the farmer would rise early and drive a 100 kilometre […] Read more
Low prices hurt Farmfair
EDMONTON – Low cattle prices kept some producers away from Farmfair International this year. Gaylene Groeneveld, organizer of the Simmental show, said she knows at least five breeders who decided to save their money and keep their cattle home. “If you take five and they take five to six cattle each, that’s 30 head that […] Read more
Producer wants lower hog checkoff
VERMILION, Alta. – An Alberta hog producer wants his marketing agency to reduce the fee it collects per animal by 75 percent as a way to help producers weather the current price crisis. “We’re using reserves now to continue to operate,” Bryan Perkins of Wainwright, Alta., said at a recent Alberta Pork regional meeting. “We’re […] Read more
Stick together to fight pipelines, farmers told
Farmers concerned about petroleum wells and pipelines on their land will only get the attention of governments, regulators and energy companies by working together, say landowners who have formed groups. A long line of landowners stood up at the Alberta Surface Rights Federation annual meeting Nov. 8 to describe problems with poor land reclamation, pipelines […] Read more
Sheep check-off vote attracts little interest
STONY PLAIN, Alta. – Alberta sheep producers are voting on whether to increase their checkoff to $1.50 a head from $1, the first increase in 25 years. However, the controversial issue hasn’t been enough to persuade producers to attend meetings and cast their ballots. Only 19 of 289 eligible voters attended the central Alberta zone […] Read more
Frisky goats cheer woman’s life
ONOWAY, Alta. – Christine Anacker can’t imagine a life without goats. For 36 years Anacker has raised, promoted, loved and laughed at her goats and she’s not tired of it yet. “I want to keep doing this until the day I die. I don’t aspire to not have goats and chickens and not have chores,” […] Read more
Cattle groups pinch pennies
NITON JUNCTION, Alta. – Cattle producers aren’t the only ones taking a sharp pencil to their budgets. Provincial cattle organizations have revised their budgets because of lower cattle sales. The Alberta Beef Producers cut $750,000 from its 2007-08 budget mid year because of anticipated lower cattle sales. The ABP will still be $762,500 in the […] Read more
Age verification hassles annoy producers
NITON JUNCTION, Alta. – For three years Ralph Burns has faithfully recorded the birthdays of each of his 200 calves and spent a frustrating two days entering the birth dates in the Canadian Cattle Identification Association computer system. But it makes Burns’ blood boil to see the information he gathered tossed into the garbage when […] Read more
Alta. cattle producers losing faith
NITON JUNCTION, Alta. – For 25 years the massive head of a horned Hereford bull mounted above the stage at Beaver Meadow hall has watched over weddings, meetings and the annual Ranchers’ Ball. Few times has the bull looked down on cattle producers so discouraged about their industry. Even during the darkest days of the […] Read more
