Mary MacArthur

The Alberta Court of Appeal has upheld a decision that allows lay people, not just veterinarians, to practice horse dentistry. The three appeal court justices ruled Jan. 28 it is legal for non-veterinarians to practice dentistry on horses in Alberta. Todd Williams, owner of the Canadian Equine Dental Consultants, who helped shepherd the case through […] Read more

EDMONTON -ÊWhen farmers pay their herbicide bill, they probably wonder if they will ever win the fight against weeds on their farm. But a new survey shows the number of weeds on the Prairies has dropped dramatically since the 1980s, says an Alberta agronomist. In the 1980s, about 43 percent of prairie fields in a […] Read more

Farmers who plan to keep their old bulls another year or swap bulls with a neighbour to save money may end up costing themselves more money in the long run, said an Alberta Agriculture beef specialist. Farmers may be swapping dollars now for more open cows, slow-growing calves and lower growth rates that will hurt […] Read more

As Rob Rolf pokes hay between the metal rails to his heifers at the Camrose, Alta., exhibition grounds, he takes a good look at the cattle. The five Hereford heifers he’s brought to the show at the Canadian Bull Congress represent many sleepless nights and early mornings during the past 30 years, and a lifetime […] Read more

WETASKIWIN, Alta. – Some farmers may roll their eyes, others may roll over in their graves upon hearing about entertainment farming. But an Ontario family has tapped into the new and profitable business and is eager to talk about it. Instead of growing wheat or milking cows, Saunders Farm invites people to their farm to […] Read more

WETASKIWIN, Alta.- Listening to an Ontario family’s story of the transformation of their pumpkin farm into a haunted Halloween entertainment venue was the push many farmers needed to proceed with their own on-farm ventures. “It’s knowing you’re on the right track that yes, I have the same creative ideas and it’s working,” said Tam Anderson […] Read more

More than a dozen Canadian feed companies have had truckloads of feed, including canola meal, stopped at the border after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found possible prohibited meat material in the shipments. “The firms listed on the attachment have attempted to import feed products containing animal material of indeterminate origin,” said the FDA […] Read more

The Alberta government has launched a $375,000 campaign to thank consumers for supporting the beef industry and encourage them to continue support. The government will mail 1.3 million thank you postcards to every household in the province, said Terry Willock, Alberta Agriculture’s director of communications. “It is a way of saying thank you and hoping […] Read more

Dairy farmers are scrambling to find homes for their cull dairy animals almost 10 months after the U.S. border was closed to live cattle. Before that, 80 percent of the cull dairy animals were sold to American packing plants for processing. “The real fallout has been the selling of cull cows,” said Aart Okkema, a […] Read more

Canadian agriculture officials got some much-needed luck in their investigation of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy case in the United States that was traced to Canada. Because of detailed records kept by Wayne and Shirley Forsberg, investigators practically followed a line painted on the highway from Washington state straight to Calmar, Alta. Some farmers’ livestock records […] Read more