A farmer charged with shooting a man who was stealing his all-terrain vehicle is expected to appear in court early next year. Brian Russell Knight of Tees, Alta., is scheduled to appear in Court of Queens Bench in Red Deer Jan. 14 to face weapons related charges. Knight is charged with assault with a weapon, […] Read more
William DeKay
Stories by William DeKay
Floods take toll on Sask. fruit industry
Disastrous is the word Mel Annand uses to describe his Creekside Orchard apple and cherry orchard near Melfort, Sask. The president of the Saskatchewan Fruit Growers Association said this year marked the first time he had widespread loss in his six-year-old orchard. “We got almost three feet of rain in the Melfort area and that […] Read more
NFU attempts to throw monkey wrench into proposed EU-Canada trade deal
The National Farmers Union has launched a campaign to scrap the proposed Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. If the mega-deal with the EU is ratified in mid 2011 as projected, NFU president Terry Boehm said the deal would threaten the democratic rights of Canadian farmers and citizens. Canadians are largely unaware of the […] Read more
NFU launches campaign to scrap Canada-EU trade agreement
With the fifth round of negotiations set to start Oct. 18-22 in Ottawa, the National Farmers Union launched a campaign to scrap the proposed Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.If the mega-deal with the EU is ratified in mid 2011 as projected, NFU president Terry Boehm said CETA would threaten the democratic rights of […] Read more
Shelter belt clearing stirs controversy
CONQUEST, Sask. – Residents of Conquest, which has dubbed itself the caragana capital of Canada, are concerned about the large numbers of shelter belts being removed in the area. Cor Van Raay, an Alberta feedlot owner who bought 122 quarters near Conquest, hired a crew to clear the land. “I thought I did the country […] Read more
John Deere 8020 sells for $90,000
Bidding was intense on the ground and via the internet Oct. 2 for a rare four-wheel drive John Deere 8020 tractor. In the end, an anonymous buyer bought the tractor for $90,000. The tractor is one of 74 out of only 100 manufactured. This particular tractor has serial number 14 and created a stir in […] Read more
Leadership council launches new programming
The Farm Leadership Council hopes new on-line programs will help it remain relevant and better serve its customers.The council’s Advanced Producer Networks (APN) will include webinars, teleconference calls and video forums and are a departure from its previous approach that delivered educational programs to prairie producers primarily through meetings, forums and conferences.”What we found is […] Read more
ATV and combine collide head on in Sask.
A farm group said today that more attention needs to be focused on all-terrain vehicles following an ATV collision with a combine.The head-on collision occurred Sept. 27 on a grid road east of Weirdale, Sask.The ATV driver, a 70-year-old man from Candle Lake, Sask., died at the accident scene. He was not wearing a helmet. […] Read more
Feds fund wheat, barley research
The federal government is spending $11 million on grain research to develop new wheat and barley varieties. Most of the funding, $8 million, will be used to create the Canadian Wheat Breeding Cluster, which will bring together researchers working to develop wheat varieties that offer higher yields and higher quality with lower production costs. Researchers […] Read more
Science fiction may soon arrive at farmgate as robotics advance
Imagine the farmer who sits down at his kitchen table and uses a computer to plant his crop. Out in the field are a series of small robotic machines that have been working day and night to meticulously and precisely plant and pack. Now imagine an autonomic robot moving up and down the rows of […] Read more
