Mary MacArthur

Plans for an 80,000-hog barn in central Alberta have been dealt a major blow. The Alberta Court of Appeal overturned a decision that would have allowed Taiwan Sugar to build a $41 million hog barn complex south of Hardisty. Lana Love, with the Flagstaff Family Farm Promotional Society that opposed the project, said the almost […] Read more

OLDS, Alta. – Cattle producers may soon be able to select cattle that eat less feed without affecting growth or productivity. For rancher Doug Havens of Madden, Alta., it’s research he can use. “When hay is 12 cents a pound, that’s when you start thinking efficiency,” Havens said after a presentation about the feed efficiency […] Read more

RED DEER – A father and daughter ranching team says it takes time to merge two generations into one farm. Ronda Dick and her father Eldon of Lousana, Alta., said both generations must get comfortable with the combination of youthful enthusiasm and caution born of experience. Eldon said each night after a Ranching for Profit […] Read more

OLDS, Alta. – When Temple Grandin toured an American IBP hog plant recently, it was so quiet she thought she must have arrived during lunch break. The animal welfare expert didn’t hear any pigs squealing, gates slamming or workers yelling to move pigs up the alleys. Then she saw the hogs walking through the chute […] Read more

American livestock welfare expert Temple Grandin has several tricks and statistics that can help producers move and manage livestock better: Fill the crowd pen half full. If it fits 20 stuffed, put in 10. Screaming and yelling at cattle is as stressful as an electric prod. Whistling makes cattle’s heart rate increase more than a […] Read more

Stella and Edward Pimm of Berwyn, Alta., have been inducted into the Alberta 4-H Hall of Fame in recognition of their volunteer contributions to the rural youth program. Edward Pimm was involved in 4-H as a youth. Since then he has been Berwyn’s club leader and served at the regional and provincial executive levels. Stella […] Read more

OLDS, Alta. – Chicken producers have grown so used to seeing birds in cages with half their feathers missing that they believe it’s normal, says the North American guru on livestock behaviour. “It’s a case of bad becoming normal,” Temple Grandin told an Alberta Farm Animal Care conference at Olds College Nov. 29. Chickens crowded […] Read more

EDMONTON – A group blazing a trail to create Alberta’s first new generation co-op has been forced to a more traditional path by a combination of drought, a banker’s cold feet and uneven investment. Providence Grain Group bought two grain elevators from Agricore United under a limited company structure and not as a new generation […] Read more

EDMONTON – Farmers who want to become involved in new generation co-operatives must ask tough questions, says the man who has been the driving force behind many of the new style co-ops in the United States. In any new generation co-op, investors must take a serious look at the people leading the drive, said Bill […] Read more

An Alberta bill that would allow Alberta farmers to operate a test market selling wheat and barley outside the Canadian Wheat Board passed third reading in the Alberta legislature Dec. 2. Bill 207, the Alberta Wheat and Barley Test Market Act, asks the provincial government to encourage the federal government to allow a 10-year open […] Read more