The Alberta government has rejected a plan by hog producers to use a government loan to buy half the Olymel pork packing plant in Red Deer. Jim Smith, chair of Western Hog Exchange, said the plan would have allowed producers to team up with the Quebec-based pork processor Olymel and create value-added products with a […] Read more
Stories by Mary MacArthur
Carbon credit trade remains vague in Alta.
Regulations designed to impose greenhouse gas reductions on large industrial facilities came into effect July 1, but details on how the system for registering carbon credits will work is still months away, said Karen Haugen-Kozyra with Climate Change Central, the provincial agency in charge of the program. Under the new rules, Alberta facilities that emit […] Read more
Elk velvet prices double
NEW SAREPTA, Alta. – Elk producers finally have something to smile about. The price of elk antler has doubled since last year. Good elk antler in the velvet stage now fetches about $30 a pound, up from $15 last year and there is talk the price could creep up to $37 a lb. before the […] Read more
Hog plant short on workers
Officials at Olymel’s Red Deer pork packing plant hope they will find enough staff to begin a second shift by fall. Recent recruits from Ukraine, the Philippines, El Salvador and Thailand have helped fill the labour shortage, but it’s still a struggle to attract workers to the central Alberta plant, said Marc Lachapelle, Olymel’s manager […] Read more
Alberta’s official grass quickly disappearing
VERMILION, Alta. – Everything needs an advocate, including grass. Robin Lagroix-McLean, an instructor at Lakeland College, has made it her mission to promote and protect rough prairie fescue, Alberta’s official grass. The native grass that once covered the Prairies and sustained bison for thousands of years, is in danger of disappearing. Only five percent of […] Read more
Tornado kills horse
A horse was electrocuted and a barn destroyed when a tornado touched down at Standard, Alta., June 25, 90 kilometres east of Calgary. Lynne Palumbo, the owner of the acreage, wasn’t home when the tornado destroyed her barn. The horse was electrocuted when a power line hit a barbed wire fence near the animal. Two […] Read more
Cattle buying not for faint of heart
VERMILION, Alta. – Buying cattle at an auction isn’t for the faint of heart or inexperienced, says a former order buyer. It’s a fast paced game with no rules and plenty of shoving in the corners, Peggy Checkel said at the Grazing School for Women conference. Checkel earned her credentials by drinking stale coffee, sitting […] Read more
Alta. sheep group seeks checkoff hike
Alberta sheep producers will be asked this fall to increase their checkoff to $1.50 per head, the first increase since the $1 checkoff started 25 years ago. “We have 2007 expenses with a 1982 income,” said Irene Rutledge, chair of the Alberta Sheep and Wool Commission. The increase will boost the budget from $140,000 a […] Read more
Alberta recognizes service to seniors
When members of the Royal Canadian Legion in Evansburg, Alta., heard rumours that their community’s 44-person seniors lodge was to be bulldozed, they jumped into action. Leading the charge was Gordon Heaton, who used his role as president of the Legion to organize meetings and save the facility. The Alberta government recently awarded him, five […] Read more
Oil refinery makes ethanol plans
An Alberta energy company plans to piggyback an ethanol plant and biogas facility onto its $2.5 billion heavy oil upgrader and refinery in northern Alberta. Peace River Oil plans to build the biofuel facility as part of its Bluesky project near McLennan. Wheat from local farmers will be used to create ethanol. The byproducts of […] Read more
