When Jim Vetsch looks out his dining room window, he sees a pair of giant transmission lines snaking across his land to carry power to southern Alberta. A third even larger transmission line may be built beside the existing lines. “They really are imposing structures,” said Vetsch, one of the 700 member Lavesta Area Group […] Read more
Stories by Mary MacArthur
Campaign touts beef as naturally nutritious
EDMONTON – New advertising will promote the nutrition-packed wallop contained in every bite of beef. Getting out the message that Canadian beef is a naturally nutrient-rich meat will be a key strategy, said Glenn Brand, chief executive officer of the Beef Information Centre (BIC). “We want to position beef and its role in a healthy […] Read more
Prairie lamb falls short of demand
Rising feed grain prices have sheared sheep and wool profits, says the owner of the largest sheep feedlot in Canada. A combination of expensive feed and high lamb prices make it uneconomical to buy and feed lambs, said Roy Leitch. “I fed 50,000 lambs last year and basically I did it for nothing. If we […] Read more
Ag businesses find power in numbers
SMOKY LAKE, Alta. – Six rural businesses near Smoky Lake have formed Open Gates on 28, a cluster of agricultural businesses that believe they can help each other promote themselves through co-operation. “We compete with each other for three weeks of the year. Why wouldn’t we partner up and help each other, the rest of […] Read more
Passion for animals shared with others
SMOKY LAKE, Alta. – A lifelong dream to fill a yard with fancy birds has come true for Miles Buswell. His front yard is filled with peacocks, guinea hens, mandarin ducks, quails, pheasants and 10 breeds of pigeons, as well as chickens, turkeys and ducks. The dream has also expanded to include donkeys, miniature horses, […] Read more
Age verification needs incentive
EDMONTON – Cattle producers would be more likely to age verify their calves if packing plants would share the carcass data from the animals, a cattle producer suggested during an Alberta Beef Producers meeting. Ben Schrader of Jarvis, Alta., said seeing carcass data from cattle raised on their farms might be the carrot needed to […] Read more
The week the women left
HARDISTY, Alta. – What would happen if all the women left town for a week? For many women it’s a secret dream. They suspect their family could not survive without them even for a week. At the end of May, the people in the central Alberta town of Hardisty found the answer to the question […] Read more
Rats galore in Alberta straw bales
Alberta has discovered an infestation of 164 rats in a stack of straw bales near Sibbald, Alta. The rats were found during a spring inspection of Alberta’s so-called rat control zone, a 30 kilometre area west of its border with Saskatchewan. Vaughn Christensen, manager of the Inspection Services, which looks after pest control in Alberta’s […] Read more
Rural development projects funded
Five projects designed to enhance rural Alberta have been funded by the provincial government’s $100 million rural development fund. More than 140 proposals were received, but most were rejected because they contained ideas that required infrastructure money. In May, the board that oversees the rural development fund approved five initial projects. The $2.4 million Integrated […] Read more
Farm fined for dumping manure
The Alberta Natural Resources Conservation Board has fined a farm $50,000 for discharging pig manure into a lake through an irrigation pivot. Habraken Farms of Taber was sentenced May 30 for releasing manure into Granthum Lakes in 2004. The family farm has a permit for 550 sows. The NRCB issued an emergency order in 2004 […] Read more
