Anthrax cases continue to increase across the Prairies. As of Sept., 146 horses, bison, goats and cattle have died from the disease in 2007. In Alberta, 70 bison and cattle have died in four locations. Two cattle died in Cypress County, two in Clearwater County, 14 bison in the Municipal District of Bonnyville and 52 […] Read more
Stories by Mary MacArthur
Fencing helps restore riverbank
HYTHE, Alta. – It’s hard to believe the banks along the Beaverlodge River that flows through the Cargill family farm were once worn bare and beginning to erode. Only two years after fencing off the river and its tributary in the northern Alberta farm, thick stands of canarygrass wave in the wind where the bank […] Read more
Jumping event attracts stout-hearted
GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. – Leaping a horse over a metre high fence built on top of a hill and racing down the other side isn’t for the faint of heart. Riders that register in cross-country events are “adrenalin junkies,” said Kylee Haining, one of the organizers of the South Peace Horse Trials and provincial championship […] Read more
Consumer demand fuels expansion
ST. FRANCIS, Alta. – There is no doubt in Sherry Horvath’s mind that certified organic food is a healthier option, but frustration sets in when faced with a mountain of paperwork to prove her products are certified organic. Each food item she and husband, Ed, sell through their Sunshine Organic Farm, at a farmers’ market […] Read more
4-H helps brothers map out future
LACOMBE, Alta. – Lance and Cody Olson are a team. They qualified to judge as a team during a recent heifer show in Lacombe, Alta., which was part of the Canadian National Junior All-Breeds show held Aug. 16-18. The brothers belong to the same 4-H club. They publicly praise each other and they even finish […] Read more
Anthrax kills 41 Alberta bison
Anthrax killed 41 bison in a northern Alberta herd last week, said officials with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. John Doll of Bluesky, Alta., who owns the bison, did not want to talk about the deaths in the herd. “It’s quite stressful,” said Doll. So far this spring and summer, 83 bison and cattle have […] Read more
Alberta sheep owners dislike tag checkoff
The $1 check-off fee for the Alberta Sheep and Wool Commission shouldn’t be attached to the mandatory identification program, say some sheep producers. Sheep and lambs sold in Canada must have a Canadian Sheep Identification Program pink ear tag before they leave their farms. When Alberta producers buy the mandatory ear tags, they must also […] Read more
Livestock cull compensation rises
The amount of compensation paid to producers if their animals are ordered destroyed for disease control has increased for everything from guinea pigs to cattle and bison, but decreased for most of the poultry industry. For registered purebred cattle, or male elk and deer, the cap has increased to $8,000, up from $2,500 in an […] Read more
Alberta hog industry rallies for help
RED DEER – Unless there is a dramatic reversal in the price Olymel pays pork producers, there won’t be a hog industry left in Alberta, says the general manager of the province’s hog marketing agency. Alberta producers can’t afford to raise hogs for the price Olymel now offers, Mack Rennie told almost 300 hog producers […] Read more
Forage crops see yields dip in Peace
Exceptionally dry weather in the Peace River area last fall has reduced this year’s forage crop. Yields for creeping red fescue are down 10 to 20 percent from the area average, said Doug Thiessen, manager of Foster’s Seed and Feed in Beaverlodge, Alta. “A fair amount of production is initiated in the fall,” he said. […] Read more
