Mary MacArthur

Farmers with unharvested crops will be first in line to receive Alberta’s disaster income, says the minister of agriculture. Farmers with crops still in the field after winter can apply for government assistance from the Farm Income Disaster Program without having to harvest the crop first, said Ed Stelmach in a news release. The hardest […] Read more

PEACE RIVER, Alta.- It’s been called the forgotten flood. Just before southern Manitoba made headlines with its Flood of the Century, the Heart River sneaked into this northern Alberta town while most people slept. The water left soon after it entered the town, but not before covering everything in its path with a film of […] Read more

There are plans in every stage of construction from idea to site preparation to build 83 new hog barns in Alberta, says the head of the provincial agriculture department’s pork and poultry section. “There is an unprecedented interest in hogs,” said Fred Schuld. The 83 barns would house about 56,000 sows. Those sows would produce […] Read more

WORSLEY, Alta. – For almost 70 years there has been a nursing station at Worsley. The first nursing station was a log cabin built in 1931 by local residents hoping to attract a nurse to their community. Local residents provided transportation for the nurse. Later, some nurses used horses to visit clients. The nurses carried […] Read more

RED DEER, Alta. – The ideal place for the new Maple Leaf Foods hog slaughtering plant would be Calgary, says the head of Alberta’s hog board. “If I was Maple Leaf, I would build in Alberta. I wouldn’t be that far away from Fletcher’s,” Ed Schultz told the Alberta Agriculture Economics Association meeting. Schultz, general […] Read more

The Alberta government should stop dithering and implement its own board to bypass the Canadian Wheat Board, says a University of Calgary professor. “The sooner the better,” said Barry Cooper. If the province doesn’t act soon, a re-elected federal Liberal government will close the loophole that now permits Alberta to form its own wheat board […] Read more

It’s like a delayed April Fool’s joke. On April 1, southern Alberta farmer Gerard Oosterhuis took advantage of early spring weather and seeded 93 acres of canola. Last week the Bow Island farmer got word he’ll have to plow under his healthy crop of canola. It is Limagrain’s Roundup Ready canola and it has been […] Read more

Across the Prairies, town and city managers are waiting for the call that means they’ve been chosen by food giant Maple Leaf Foods to be home to a new hog slaughtering plant. “It’s like applying for a job you really want and waiting for the phone to ring,” said Don Allan, manager of the Brandon […] Read more

RED DEER, Alta. – Wayne and Ila Johnson’s ranch at the base of the Rocky Mountains is in a big bowl. Surrounding that bowl are 17 oil and gas flares burning chemicals 24 hours a day. The Sundre, Alta. couple is convinced chemicals from those flares are causing fertility and health problems in their cattle. […] Read more

The Alberta government will support the continuing fight for dual marketing of wheat and barley, it announced in its three-year agriculture plan. “We are still pushing and working off the basis that the majority of producers want choice,” said Ray Bassett, assistant deputy minister of agriculture. The provincial government also plans to continue support for […] Read more