Mary MacArthur

We’re back. It’s become the rallying cry for the Alberta New Democrats during the current election campaign. The New Democrats are counting on their feisty leader Pam Barrett to lead them back into the legislature in the March 11 election but it’s not going to be easy. Six months ago they had no leader, no […] Read more

Winter has been long, but many farmers in British Columbia’s northeastern Peace River region aren’t looking forward to the spring. Under the snow lays a tangled, frozen mess of unharvested, sprouted crop and foot-deep ruts. “The crop is tied to the ground,” said Murray Tenove, regional agricultural engineer in Dawson Creek. Some estimate at least […] Read more

Rick Nagel and Kelly Woronuk clearly recall what their fields looked like seven years ago. Entire quarter sections had almost foot-deep ruts. In a desperate attempt to get their crops off the rain-drenched fields in 1989, farmers gouged deep ruts in their fields with combines and swathers. The next spring, they had to fill in […] Read more

Judging by the number of germination tests Bernice Heck has conducted, farmers must be worried about the seed they plan to plant this spring. Heck, a seed analyst with the Alberta Wheat Pool’s lab here, is getting about 350 samples of seed a week from farmers wondering about their seed’s germination. Normally she receives about […] Read more

Normally, farmers drive their trucks up to one of the 75 grain bins at Westlock Seed Cleaning Co-op and pick up their seed on the way to the field. Not this year. “A lot more farmers are looking at buying early,” said Wayne Walker, manager of the plant north of Edmonton. “Normally they wait until […] Read more

SHERWOOD PARK, Alta. – The sweet smell of cookies baking in the oven greets visitors as they walk into Velma McKinney’s kitchen. The grandmother reaches into her stove and pulls out a piping hot batch of horse cookies. Horse cookies? More than one person thinks McKinney’s horse treats look good enough to eat. “People have […] Read more

DAYSLAND, Alta. – It’s not quite noon and already there are customers in the Daysland Inn. A couple of men drink beer at a table, another sips Diet Coke at the bar and a fourth man plugs money into a VLT machine in the corner. The glowing, whirring video lottery terminals that have become as […] Read more

Roy Jarrett came to an information meeting about a new bill governing the Canadian Wheat Board and didn’t like what he heard. “Surely they don’t think people will accept what they put forward today. Surely it’s just a scare,” said the Daysland, Alta. farmer. It’s the first time Jarrett and 300 other farmers heard about […] Read more

Farmers may get a chance to voice their opposition to the proposed bill governing the Canadian Wheat Board, says the chair of the federal agriculture standing committee. Lyle Vanclief said he is “optimistic” members will come on a week-long tour of the Prairies to listen to farmers’ concerns about Bill C-72, the proposed legislation governing […] Read more

The price war between two Alberta hog packing giants may be good for farmers’ pocketbooks today, but the chair of the pork board hopes the companies don’t spend themselves into the poor house. “It’s not good to see the companies slugging it out and weakening their financial position. Later, they may try to recover some […] Read more