Farmers, consumers all have role to play when it comes to food safety
In 2012, Canada experienced its largest beef recall of the year, all because of E. coli. XL Foods Inc. in Brooks, Alta., was shut down and its license temporarily suspended for several months that fall. The plant was not to be reopened until the Canadian Food Inspection Agency was certain it could produce safe food […] Read moreStories by Taryn Riemer
Video game allows everyone to be a farmer
Players of Farming Simulator 15 from Giants Software can start with the basics and then expand the farm
Farmers who miss being out on the land during winter now have a relief valve. Farming Simulator 15, from Giants Software, provides a chance to go farming without leaving the couch. Users can take tutorials to learn the basic keys and then learn to plow, harvest or make bales. Players who are already avid gamers […] Read more
Dairy cattle snooze on dried manure beds
Manitoba dairy producer implements new system to dry manure and use it for cattle bedding with impressive results
A new way to bed dairy cattle has producers looking at what’s beneath their feet to save money. Recycled bedding solids, also known as dried manure, has been on the rise on the Prairies for the last few years. Using manure as bedding may not be a producer’s first choice, but some are finding it […] Read more
Ghost train story haunts small Saskatchewan community
Ghost light, phantom light, ghost train or phantom train, regardless of what it’s called, it’s an eerie phenomenon in St. Louis, Sask. Just outside the small village of 450 people is a legend that dates back a century. The story involves a train conductor, either in the front or caboose car, who was decapitated by […] Read more
Weed issues growing in Saskatchewan ditches
Effects of a bad year | Residents in some Sask. RMs say the province could do more to control weeds
Most motorists don’t worry much about the vegetation they pass while on their travels, but it’s become a growing concern for rural municipalities in southern Saskatchewan. Large populations of weeds grew this summer in the ditches that cross the RMs of Bratt’s Lake and Caledonia, said Kevin Ritchie, administrator for the RM of Bratt’s Lake. […] Read more
Cider attracting investment
New businesses | Cider makers in Sask. say government restrictions are hindering growth
The popularity of hard cider is growing. Canadian hard cider sales were 28.4 million litres last year, up 34 percent by volume over the past five years, according to Statistics Canada. By comparison, wine sales rose 13.6 percent and beer sales dropped by two percent. Big alcohol companies such as Molson and Alexander Keith’s have […] Read more
Farmers hope to pass on lifestyle
Good years and bad | Despite economic ups and downs, the Podhorodeskis enjoy farm life
SHIPMAN, Sask. — Edwin Podhorodeski jokes that he farms because he doesn’t know any better. “Farming has been good to us. It has provided us a living, a good living, and we were able to raise a family and have a good lifestyle,” he said. Edwin farms with his wife, Barbara, and parents, Ed and […] Read moreApp makes beef easy to select, handle, cook
Roundup provides know-how | App helps consumers choose cuts and provides recipes
A new mobile app from Canada Beef allows consumers to search recipes, choose cuts and learn food safety tips. The Roundup was launched internally and with select partners last month, while a hard launch, with news releases, is set for November or December. Joyce Parslow, director of consumer marketing with Canada Beef, said the organization […] Read moreFarm welcomes international agriculture students
SHIPMAN, Sask. — Anselme Guerin, a student at LaSalle Beauvais Institut Polytechnique in France, is one of two French workers on Barbara and Edwin Podhorodeski’s farm this summer. In the second year of a five-year master’s program, students must travel to a farm in an English speaking country to farm and learn the language. “So […] Read more
Prairie apple growers small, but new varieties expected to boost fledgling industry
It’s unclear whether prairie apple growers can produce enough apples to support the region’s burgeoning cider industry. Saskatchewan’s 20 commercial growers produce apples on 100 acres, giving it the strongest apple sector on the Prairies. Forrest Scharf, Saskatchewan Agriculture’s fruit crops specialist, said the University of Saskatchewan now conducts breeding and crosses, which have produced […] Read more
