Mary MacArthur

Rancher’s Beef, one of the first new packing plants to open after the BSE crisis began in 2003, has closed its doors after 13 months in operation. An affidavit filed by Rancher’s Beef president Tony Martinez Aug. 14 in Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench said Rancher’s Beef faced a “severe liquidity crisis” and has filed […] Read more

VIKING, Alta. – After two years of silence, the sound of hockey sticks slapping the ice and pucks bouncing off the boards will be heard again in Viking. Hockey, in the town synonymous with the National Hockey League’s Sutter brothers, was silenced July 7, 2005 when the 53-year-old Carena burned down. A small prairie town […] Read more

A long, cold winter, a late spring and a possible increasing resistance to antibiotics may be behind the massive death loss in Alberta bees this spring, a provincial government survey has found. Alberta bee colonies suffered a 30 percent mortality rate this spring, double the long-term average. An additional 15 percent of the surviving colonies […] Read more

Ducks Unlimited is looking for Alberta farmers and ranchers who want to develop a habitat plan for their farm. Biologist Kim Schmitt said the organization is looking for 60 to 80 producers who want to develop plans to protect and manage wildlife habitat. “We’re trying to add value to producers who have an interest in […] Read more

HOLDEN, Alta. – If kids live on a farm, they need to know about the dangers, says the organizer of a rural safety day camp. “We want kids to learn something about safety,” Annie Louise Danilak said in Holden July 10 during the day-long camp at which children learned about electricity on the farm and […] Read more

SPRUCE VIEW, Alta. – Since the cows aren’t bringing home much cash, Wilhelm Vohs hopes to turn the trees on his farm into a cash cow. A combination of high grain prices, low cattle prices and a general malaise hanging over the cattle industry since BSE was found in Canada has forced Vohs to look […] Read more

PINCHER CREEK, LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – The heat wave hovering over Alberta may have reduced a promising crop to less than average, said an Alberta Agriculture crop specialist. Doon Pauly believes many Alberta farmers can no longer expect average yields from their crops this year. “We may be quickly losing that average potential,” said Pauly. “The […] Read more

Farmers don’t mind seeding around a few potholes each spring, but add them together and it makes for a lot of unseeded crop this year. Alberta farmers can claim unseeded acreage benefits under Alberta crop insurance, but only if it’s an eight-acre block and not scattered throughout the field. Ward Toma, general manager of the […] Read more

Dozens of Alberta hog producers will be forced out of business when pork processing giant Olymel reduces the price it pays Alberta producers by $12 a hog, said officials with the province’s hog marketing organization. Few pork producers can withstand the cut because the industry is already struggling to make a profit with a high […] Read more

Farmers are warned not to spray the pesticide malathion in granaries where they store canola or they risk losing sales to Japan, Canada’s top canola customer. John Mayko, an agronomist with the Canola Council of Canada, said malathion has been detected in prairie canola destined for export. The oilseed is believed to have become contaminated […] Read more