Mary MacArthur

CAMROSE, Alta. – Alberta’s hog marketing agency is taking a closer look at dual marketing in case it is imposed on them by the provincial government, said an agency director. “The provincial government did it to Manitoba. Is it possible in Alberta? You be the judge of that,” said Paul Allers during an Alberta Pork […] Read more

CAMROSE, Alta. (Staff) – Alberta hog producers will have a chance to vote on an updated marketing plan this week. The Agricultural Products Marketing Council has mailed forms to about 4,000 Alberta hog farmers asking them to vote in a mail-in ballot. The council has said it needs 15 percent of the producers representing 25 […] Read more

CAMROSE, Alta. – The provincial government is looking for a buyer for its southern Alberta pheasant hatchery. If there are no bids on the multi-million dollar pheasant hatchery in Brooks by the end of March, the government will close the operation, said Doug Milligan, head of the pork, poultry and horse branch of Alberta Agriculture. […] Read more

CAMROSE, Alta. – It may be a few hundred years before bison ranchers struggle out of their warm beds in January to check calving cows, said a northern British Columbia bison researcher. Unlike cattle, bison rarely calve in the cold months between January and April. “There is evidence to support that bison rut,” said Bruce […] Read more

CAMROSE, Alta. (Staff) – Despite the growth of the bison industry, there has been little scientific research in the area. The Peace Country Bison Association commissioned researchers at the Center for Agriculture Diversification at Northern Lights College in Dawson Creek, B.C. to gain information for the industry. Researchers studied 7,330 bison from 16 herds in […] Read more

EDMONTON, Alta. – The Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly on grain sales costs farmers $20 a tonne for wheat, said the authors of a preliminary report commissioned by Alberta Agriculture. “There are $20 a tonne of hidden costs in any given year. Why is the Canadian Wheat Board responsible for hidden costs? Because it has virtual […] Read more

EDMONTON, Alta. (Staff) – Farmers no longer know what crops to plant because the Canadian Wheat Board has skewed market signals with its wheat and barley buying monopoly, said authors of a report on costs of the board to farmers. “With single-desk selling there is a lack of buying competition on the Prairies and a […] Read more

EDMONTON (Staff) – The Alberta Agriculture-sponsored report on the Canadian Wheat Board will make a good addition to the debate on the future of grain marketing, said a member of the panel studying the issue. “This study looked at the cost side of single-desk selling. The (Daryl) Kraft study looked at the benefits. Both are […] Read more

CAMROSE, Alta.(Staff) – The illegal crop hemp may provide an answer to farmers’ soil conservation problems, said the head of a prairie conservation organization. “To me it’s got some great potential,” said Fred Kraft, regional director of the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration for northern Alberta. One look at Val and Morley Blanch’s hemp crop and […] Read more

CAMROSE, Alta. – The petroleum industry should be forced to set up a fund to pay for farmland reclamation work at oil well sites where leases have been abandoned or the company has gone broke, said the president of Alberta’s umbrella farm organization. “Why should the government be paying out tax dollars? Surely the energy […] Read more