LETHBRIDGE – While many southern Alberta sugar beet growers might wish that they could forget last year’s tough growing season, record world sugar prices are starting to win them over, said the president of the Alberta Sugar Beet Growers Marketing Board. Rob Boras of Picture Butte told delegates to the board’s 86th annual meeting Feb. […] Read more
Stories by Ric Swihart
Accident spurs call for better farm safety law
LETHBRIDGE – The electrocution of two Edmonton-area farm workers this month has raised demands for improved safety and legislation to protect farm workers. Alberta Municipal Affairs is investigating the accident, which occurred when the workers were moving a grain auger and made contact with a power line. The agriculture industry is not covered by Occupational […] Read more
Frost missed southern Alta. but quality lower
LETHBRIDGE – In most cases, farmers in southern Alberta were able to avoid serious frost damage, although there is a substantial percentage of low quality for some crops, according to a survey of agricultural fieldmen. The specialists, attending the recent south region Agricultural Service Board conference in Taber, said conditions and weather varied across southern […] Read more
Sugar beet quality ‘very good’
TABER, Alta. – Southern Alberta’s sugar beet harvest “is going quite well,” said the agricultural superintendent for Lantic Sugar in Taber. Andrew Llewelyn-Jones said more than 40 percent of the crop has been delivered to receiving stations, including the factory yard in Taber, and already trucks are moving some of the beets from the outlying […] Read more
Taber corn hot commodity
TABER, Alta. – Taber corn is finally ready for sale. “We are about 10 days later than normal, and customers were waiting for it,” said Chad Valgardson of Valgardson Farms. The family has been selling Taber corn for more than 20 years, and 2010 has started out with a bang compared with the last two […] Read more
Safety Smarts program exposes farm dangers
RAYMOND, Alta. – Seven UFA Safety Smarts instructors drove 144,149 kilometres to deliver the farm safety message to 52,420 students in 2,620 rural classrooms in 2009-2010. Laura Nelson of Raymond, executive director of the Alberta Farm Safety Centre that launched the Safety Smarts classroom program 12 years ago, said the goal is to educate children […] Read more
Alta. beets, beans need hot days
TABER, Alta. – About 1,000 acres of southern Alberta’s sugar beet crop have been lost to this year’s excessive rainfall. Andrew Llewelyn-Jones, agricultural superintendent for Lantic Sugar in Taber, said one field was drowned out and low spots in many other fields have been lost for the year. He said some of those areas were […] Read more
Ag Canada studies livestock transport
LETHBRIDGE – A livestock transportation study is designed to improve animal welfare and increase producer profits.Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein, a beef welfare and behaviour specialist at Agriculture Canada’s research centre in Lethbridge, said Canada’s livestock transport regulations are 30 years old and about to be changed.As a result, the industry and regulators decided it was time to […] Read more
Soybeans attract attention
Irrigation is helping make soybeans Alberta’s next specialty crop. Patrick Fabian of Tilley, Alta., jumped at a chance to experiment with the crop four years ago. Encouraged by Kevin Elmy in Saltcoats, Sask., who has grown soybeans since 2002, Fabian grew six acres of conventional soybeans in 2006 and almost threw the crop in the […] Read more
Quake creates transport woes for seed firm
LETHBRIDGE – Economic tremors from the recent earthquake in Chile have been felt as far as away as Alberta. HyTech Production Ltd. of Leth-bridge grows hybrid canola seed under contract in the South American country and then exports it to North America, Europe and Australia. However, HyTech president Brian McNaughton said the devastating earthquake has […] Read more
