North-central Saskatchewan isn’t a typical location for a year-round vegetable producer to set up shop. But then again, Mary Campbell and Neil Erickson are not your typical vegetable growers. In fact, it would be fair to say that their location and production model are a bit off the beaten track. Campbell and Erickson are the […] Read more
Farm Living
Alberta pioneer sells fleas to supplement farm income
BLACKFALDS, Alta. — Historian Judy Carleton says the book she’s writing about Arthur Douglas Gregson is “not your average settler story.” He’s known to be the first white man to settle the area known as Burbank, southeast of Blackfalds, in central Alberta. Carleton is excited to share his story. “You just can’t make this stuff […] Read more
Air force retiree puts life experiences into book
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. — Rusty Rutherford can turn a piece of wood into a life-like image of a bird, animal or anything that catches his eye. Rutherford’s carving hobby began after he retired from the Royal Canadian Air Force in the 1990s when a brother-in-law asked him to carve a duck for his cabin […] Read more
Alta. encourages hiring local first
The Alberta government wants employers to hire provincial residents first before using temporary foreign workers or other options. Alberta Labour Minister Christina Gray today announced the Employer Liaison Service, a federal-provincial pilot project she said is designed to ensure Albertans are “first in line” when employees are needed. The 24-month pilot program will connect employers […] Read more
CFIA downplays gylphosate residue findings in food
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency released a report on glyphosate residues in food (PDF format) last week, and the headlines were not positive. Global News and other media outlets said CFIA scientists found glyphosate in nearly 30 percent of Canadian food samples. The headlines were accurate, but did they reflect the actual health risk to […] Read more
Who owns what in Sask.?
A study of Saskatchewan farmland purchases has found that investors have indeed driven up land prices, but others are also willing to pay more than assessed value. Farmland values rose quickly from 2006-15, authors Andre Magnan and Annette Aurelie Desmarais say in a paper published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. (PDF format) For […] Read more
Good genetics help make easy-care herd
MARWAYNE, Alta. — Art Wheat says it feels like Christmas when the bull catalogues start arriving at his farm in eastern Alberta. “I look for cattle that bend the curve,” he said, referring to cattle with low birth weights and high weaning rates. “I want lots of weight in the fall because I get paid […] Read more
Surgeon has farming in her blood
LLOYDMINSTER, Alta. — Thursday proves to be the busiest day of the week for Dr. Joan Wheat Hozack, running between appoint-ments at her orthopedic practice in the morning and surgeries at the hospital in Lloydminster in the afternoon. Living in a city was never an option for Wheat Hozack and her husband, Justin Hozack, both […] Read more
Alberta century home set to be hub of activity
BLACKFALDS, Alta. — For settlers on the Canadian Prairies in the early 20th century, the Eaton’s catalogue was equivalent to today’s online shopping mall. Everything needed to fill a house, and even the house itself, could be ordered from the pages of the iconic mail order catalogue. One of these homes that dot the western […] Read more
Suffering trauma
Q: Our youngest daughter was in an accident while she was on her way to kindergarten on the school bus. The bus hit a soft spot on the side of the road and got pulled into a fairly steep inclination. There were a few bruises, two broken arms, scratches and cuts, but no one on […] Read more
