This is the time of year when green thumbs twitch. Serious gardeners will have petunias and pansies already in their third month of growth and windowsills across the Prairies hold a variety of tomato plants ready for outside planting in a month or two. For Easter, it is fun to plant wheatgrass or grains to […] Read more
Farm Living
Fresh arrangements provide blast of colour for Easter guests
Excessive glyphosate levels found in 1.3 percent of food samples: CFIA study
CORRECTION – The headline of this story originally stated glyphosate was found in 4 percent of food samples. The correct number is 1.3 per cent of food samples. Glyphosate was found in 4 percent of grain samples. Health Canada has found that glyphosate exceeds maximum residue limits in grain products about four percent of the […] Read more
Farmland values still rising on Prairies
Canadian farmland values continued to rise in 2016, but the rate of increase fell for the third consecutive year. The average value of Canadian farmland went up 7.9 percent, which is down from 10.1 percent in 2015, 14.3 percent in 2014 and 22.1 percent in 2013. Surprisingly strong farm cash receipts fueled increases in every […] Read more
CFIA not releasing glyphosate-food study details
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has been testing samples of food and grain for residues of glyphosate since the spring of 2015. However, when the agency releases its testing results, sometime in the next two months, the report will not contain detailed data on glyphosate residues in food. “The report will not include raw data, […] Read more
Program links students with mentors
The 4-H leadership program provides university scholarships and valuable advice from experts in their field
Discovering the successes of high profile athletes and businesspeople is influencing 4-H alumni navigating their own career paths. Western Canadians Jessica Mayes, Eveline Juce and Erinn Jones, along with Joshua Power of Newfoundland and Labrador, each received $20,000 and were matched with mentors related to their fields of interest through the 4-H Canada Leadership Excellence […] Read more
Cooking with flax; one of Canada’s super foods
Canada’s climate is credited with the higher oil content and superior oil quality in Canadian flaxseed, which contains nutrients that health experts recommend for better health and disease reduction. Nutritionists recommend eating less saturated fat and trans fats and more polyunsaturated fatty acids. More than 70 percent of the fat in flaxseed is the polyunsaturated […] Read more
Shop makes farming ‘much more pleasant’
Norm Basco used to work on equipment in his farm’s gravel-covered yard. If it was raining and his baler needed fixing, the Manitoba forage producer was out there turning wrenches. “I hated it,” he said. “Working out on gravel is awful.” It’s one of those things that makes a farmer age faster than he should. […] Read more
Pulse show, competition brings wealth of ideas
EDMONTON — From a YouTube ad portraying a shady guy dealing in protein bars to a student chef explaining the importance of simple ingredients, Alberta Pulses’s annual student food competition showed imagination and humour. Mission Impulseible, which is in its 10th year, asked students to create new ways of cooking with peas, beans and lentils. […] Read more
Turkey producers eager to educate, innovate
REDWATER, Alta. — When Marc and Hinke Therrien met in a dairy production class at the University of Alberta, they knew farming was in their future. They thought they would become dairy farmers but life offered them a different path in turkey farming near Redwater, Alta. Their innovative work in the poultry business earned them […] Read more
Father’s constant complaining may stem from fear of changes
Q: I am getting a lot of pressure from my two oldest sons and my husband to stop bringing my dad, a widower, over for Sunday suppers. Everyone is tiring of his complaints. He has nothing but rude comments about the time my sons and their dad spend on their phones. He is awful about […] Read more
