Mary MacArthur

An Alberta farmer is frustrated no one will take responsibility for his field becoming contaminated with Roundup tolerant canola when he seeded a non-Roundup tolerant variety. Walter Zulyniak said neither Agricore United, the company he bought the seed from and seeded the crop for him, nor Dow AgroSciences, which developed the Nexera 705 canola, will […] Read more

An Alberta sheep producer is putting a modern twist on a Depression-era slogan in an effort to help Alberta sheep producers find feed. Doug Laurie hopes that when people hear the slogan “hey buddy, can you spare a bale or two?” they will be as generous with their extra hay as people were in the […] Read more

Prairie farm organizations that rely on commodity checkoffs to fund research projects and market development may be in serious trouble this year as much of the crop that they take their funding from withers in the field. Roy Button, executive director of the Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission, said he’s run about 20 versions of the […] Read more

KILLAM, Alta. – Farmers who didn’t spray their fields this year may be able to sell their crop for a premium through a pesticide-free marketing group. Brenda Tjaden Lepp with the Pesticide Free Production Farmers’ Co-operative was crossing the Prairies recently searching for pesticide-free grain she may be able to sell through the co-op for […] Read more

Prairie farmers are getting a lesson in Canadian geography and human nature in their search for cattle feed. Charmaine Walker received a good response after she posted a note in Alberta Agriculture’s General Store website that she wanted to buy 200 hay bales for her purebred Shorthorn cattle. Walker received calls and e-mails from Nova […] Read more

Merv Grunow wasn’t a winner in the second Hay West lottery in Camrose, Alta., but the bison rancher did see the best of his community and Canada when he helped unload 27 train cars of hay in Wainwright, Alta. “The drought has brought the community together and it has brought Canada together,” said Grunow, who […] Read more

Farmers who produce and export hay shouldn’t forget about their overseas customers just because there’s a shortage of hay at home, says the head of an export forage group. “The largest and longest term customer for hay is the export market and that shouldn’t be thrown aside for one year,” said Blair Wright, head of […] Read more

The Alberta government chose urban voters over agriculture when it voted not to allow elk and deer hunt farms, said the president of the Alberta Elk Association. “Yesterday was a fairly sad day for agriculture as a whole. It’s obvious that government has somehow decided the views of activists are more important than the business […] Read more

Members of a group hoping to build an oat processing plant in the Peace River region at Falher, Alta., hope a feasibility study will show them it’s worthwhile. Instead of sending Peace River oats to southern locations for processing, the members want to keep jobs and value-added business in their community, said Dan Dibbelt, economic […] Read more

The old saying “cold as a Bay Street banker’s heart” doesn’t fit two Alberta credit unions that are helping farmers through the worst drought in more than a century. The Common Wealth Credit Union in the Barrhead, Westlock, Athabasca and Whitecourt areas has made a special $125,000 patronage payment to farmers, and the Community Savings […] Read more