Ron Gale has a sheep theory. If two teats are good on a ewe, four must be better. A sheep with four teats should be able to raise twice as many lambs, cutting the cost of production in half. The Sundre, Alta.-area farmer is so convinced of the benefits of the four-nippled sheep that he […] Read more
Stories by Mary MacArthur
Cash bailout not offered for farmers facing crop wreak
It’s a beautiful sunny fall day, ideal for combining, but Berkley Ferguson has time to talk to a reporter. The Boyle, Alta. farmer has all the time in the world – he never seeded a crop. Ferguson is one of hundreds of farmers north of Edmonton who never planted any crop or only planted a […] Read more
Firm breathes life into grain
Value-added is one of the most over used words in the agriculture industry. It’s a word thrown around by politicians, management specialists and agricultural gurus as what should happen, is going to happen, but rarely happens in the ag industry. But a Calgary-based company has decided it will take the leap and create a company […] Read more
Brush with death leaves farmer worried about family
IRMA, Alta. – To most farmers, mice are part of every day life. Randy Newton was like most farmers. He took for granted the mice around his central Alberta farm. They were just pests to live with when he cleaned out his combine each fall or his grain bins in the summer. He took them […] Read more
‘Smell of money’ wafts in with announcement
RED DEER, Alta. – Hogs squealed in the background and gave off a distinct odor that hung in the air inside the tent set up for the occasion – the announcement that Fletcher’s Fine Foods is expanding its hog plant once again. It was up to hog producer Roger Charbonneau to explain the faint hog […] Read more
Maple Leaf meat plant dispute could lead to national strike
EDMONTON – Almost 3,500 Maple Leaf workers in nine red meat and poultry plants across Canada could be on strike within weeks, says the head of the national union representing the workers. “We’ve encouraged our membership to take their strike vote and strike Michael McCain’s plants,” said Kip Connolly, national spokesperson for the United Food […] Read more
Companies battle over market share for lice treatments
This fall when Clifford Suntjens brings his cattle in from pasture and fills his Sun Ranches feedlot he won’t be reaching for the bottle of Cydectin. The Coronation, Alta. rancher used Cydectin, a new endectocide, to kill lice last fall on his cattle and had to retreat a few months later when he noticed the […] Read more
How’s business going? It’s in the bag
DONALDA, Alta. – Barb Nelson is a practical woman. So when she went looking for something to set up as her own business she wanted to sell what people needed. Dried flower arrangements or decorative knick-knacks for walls didn’t suit what Nelson had in mind, but people need bags. “Deep down I knew I had […] Read more
Railink puts itself on track
EDMONTON – It’s a shopper’s dream come true – $20 million in the bank and orders to spend it. With that amount, Gordon Clanachan figures he can buy at least another 640 kilometres of railway, maybe more. Spending money on rail lines deemed less profitable by the two major Canadian rail companies may not seem […] Read more
Union, Maple Leaf exchange words as dispute deepens
A war of words has broken out after workers at the Maple Leaf Edmonton plant voted 68 percent in favor of strike action. Fax lines have been hot between company officials in Toronto, the union office in Edmonton and reporters across the province covering the escalating packing plant dispute after the Aug. 26 vote. Even […] Read more
