Twenty-five percent of canola fields in Alberta’s Leduc County have tested positive for clubroot and the district is taking a hard line to control the problem. Clubroot is a fungus that cripples canola and mustard production. Rick Thomas of Leduc County’s agricultural services division said the potential of the disease can’t be ignored. “We’re a […] Read more
Stories by Michael Raine
Prairie economy set to sizzle, says analyst
North American farmers, especially those in Western Canada, are going to have to get used to changing economic times. “I know it’s not something they’ll be used to, but they are going to have a new problem to deal with. The problem of prosperity,” said BMO Financial Group global financial strategist Don Coxe. Coxe has […] Read more
Canadian researchers shed light on BSE Shadoo
The prion protein to blame for BSE has a shadow, or Shadoo, as scientists are calling their new discovery. Until recently the PrP protein that potentially folds over and accumulates in the brains of animals, causing transmissible spongiform encephalopathy diseases, was thought to be unique. It turns out that it has a mysterious cousin, the […] Read more
Sampling can protect crop value
Sampling crops accurately and knowing for sure what’s in the bin, on the truck or in the pit can add more value to a crop than a timely July rain. Samples can be deceiving, said Merv Berscheid, who brokers grain for producers across the Prairies from his Saskatoon office. “We have had many cases of […] Read more
Sample crops early and often, say experts
Experts had the following tips to make sampling more accurate. Farmers should sample the crop going into the bin and coming out and take samples regularly from each truckload as it is stored, said Norm Woodbeck, manager of quality assurance standards for the Canadian Grain Commission. “Whenever you sample, you should have a repeatable pattern […] Read more
Enjoying all the pieces of the pie
FORT LANGLEY, B.C. – Allan Christian found that his farm enterprise was most profitable when he kept all the pieces of the pie. Christian is a farming member of a 50 acre co-operative near Fort Langley, in southwestern B.C. He and five other farming members and about 60 non-farming shareholders each own a share in […] Read more
Bison swim in diluted gene pool
RAPID CITY, S.D. – If you’ve got bison, you’ve also got cattle – at least a little bit. Geneticist Jim Derr says cattle genes are present in nearly all commercial bison herds. Whether this is a problem is part of a larger genetic issue. Bison enjoy significant health advantages over other bovines, in part because […] Read more
Bison gains new ground
RAPID CITY, S.D. – The beef against bison is that it isn’t beef. “Some say it’s beefier than beef. Like any meat, you need to know how to prepare it and you have to start with the right animals,” said Bruce Aidells of Aidells Sausage Co. in California, and author of the Complete Meat Cookbook. […] Read more
Most travellers walked in old-time wagon trains
Settlers’ possessions, not their children, rode in the wagons that carried settlement to the American West. All able-bodied folks were expected to walk the trails in the great westward migration in the 19th and earlier 20th centuries. Four Canadians from Alberta’s Peace River district took up the challenge of following, and in most cases leading, […] Read more
Spray plane pilots must stay alert
Travelling at 140 kilometres per hour, eight metres above the ground, tucked inside the cockpit of a fully loaded plane is no place to let your mind wander. “You can’t lose your focus. You have to keep the job No. 1,” said Tom Kinniburgh. The Taber, Alta., aerial applicator of agricultural chemicals said the main […] Read more
