Tracy Tjaden

SASKATOON – The simple and relatively inexpensive practice of sprinkling canola oil in hog barns is being called a breakthrough by agricultural medicine researchers looking at ways to protect the long-term health of hog farmers. Odor is a nuisance in the hog business, but invisible dust particles generated from fecal matter can be deadly to […] Read more

SASKATOON – For the first time in a decade, Ed Sikorski is sleeping in during the week and enjoying breakfast in bed. “I’m actually laying in bed having my coffee,” he said during a 9:30 a.m. telephone nterview from his home in Saskatoon. Sikorski said he realized it was time to step back from the […] Read more

Provincial and municipal leaders in Saskatchewan are under pressure over how to continue the same level of public services in the face of an expected $20 million funding cut from the provincial government. Sinclair Harrison, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, met with provincial government officials and officials from the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities […] Read more

Managing farm property for non-farming landowners is big business in the United States, but has been slow to catch on in Canada. In this country, non-farming landowners often rent their land to a trusted neighbor or hire a local lawyer to draw up an agreement with a tenant. Some American and Canadian farm management experts […] Read more

McCREARY, Man. – When he’s not fighting crime, rural Manitoba Mountie Bob Gass spends his spare time building in his backyard. As a boy, Gass came to share his father and grandfather’s passion for tapping maple trees near their New Brunswick home to make maple syrup. He moved to the Prairies in 1973, believing the […] Read more

SASKATOON -Taking a tough stand against cruelty to animals will save human lives, according to an official with the American Humane Society. “Society still fails to recognize animal cruelty as a red flag that indicates a person’s capability for violence against their fellow humans,” said Dr. Randall Lockwood, speaking at a violence workshop held here […] Read more

White-tailed deer farmers in Alberta and Saskatchewan are sitting on a goldmine, industry analysts say. Growth doubled last year and is expected to keep rising. Marshall Patterson, an alternative livestock development analyst in Saskatchewan, forecasts white-tailed deer farming could grow at a rate of 100 percent per year for the next five years. The industry […] Read more

SASKATOON – A famous Saskatchewan family feud involving the province’s largest meatpacking company appears to be over. The Mitchells, sole owners of Intercontinental Packers, say they have patched up their differences after a messy court battle over control of one of Saskatoon’s largest private businesses. The reconciliation signals the end of a public family dispute […] Read more

SASKATOON – They look better. In a nutritional sense they taste better. And there is a bonus for the environment. Solar-dried hay bales come out far ahead of their field-dried counterparts, a study by a team of engineering professors at the University of Saskatchewan has found. The research group built and tested a commercial solar-powered […] Read more

Manitoba Pool Elevators and the province’s largest cellular phone company have joined forces to create a seasonal cellular phone service with farmers in mind. The plan is the first of its kind in Canada and was expected to be available to the pool’s 16,000 farmer members starting the first week in November. “Let’s face it. […] Read more