As I sit down to write this column, I hate to tell you that it is my last one. I’ve decided it is time to retire. I am leaving you, hoping for more time to pursue other activities. I was a new grandma when we started writing the column 14 years ago. I remember taking […] Read more
Farm Living
Columnist signs off with appetizers for the holidays – TEAM Reources
New leadership stresses family farm
Newly elected National Farmers Union president Terry Boehm vowed last weekend to continue the 40-year tradition of leading the organization against corporate trends in agriculture that undermine farmers. “The NFU has always had a mandate of putting the social and economic interests of the family farm first,” he said in an Nov. 27 interview after […] Read more
Favourite treats for festive season – TEAM Resources
My mother is an octogenarian with a family of four children, 14 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and three more on the way. When counting the extended family, that makes more than 40 people when we gather at occasions such as Christmas, anniversaries and weddings. When we are planning Christmas, no matter where it will be, Mom […] Read more
Electronic bracelet helps keep track of kids in farmyard
SEDLEY, Sask. – Joe and Wendy Wecker want to put a stop to tragic tales of farm accidents involving children. Earlier this month, during Agritechnica in Hanover, Germany, the producers from Sedley, Sask., signed a deal to bring a safety device to North America. The Kinderfinder is designed to prevent runovers by alerting drivers that […] Read more
Negotiate curfews in advance to prevent hard feelings
TWO HILLS, Alta. – It can be challenging to keep local amenities running in a small town. In Two Hills, a community of about 1,200, residents have found a creative way to support their public swimming pool. Ten years ago, Annemarie Smit, a doctor’s wife from South Africa, and Gladys Haag, a long-time resident of […] Read more
No lobbyists for gov’t agencies
The Canadian Wheat Board was one of 90 government or government-connected agencies reminded by the Conservative government last week that they cannot use outside lobbyists to influence Ottawa. The CWB received the letter from Privy Council clerk Wayne Wouters Nov. 16 afternoon and was scrambling to figure out if it would have much effect. Employees […] Read more
Hard work reaps rewards for wanna-be cattle producer
EDMONTON – Time off school for Brandon Hertz to attend Farmfair International is no vacation. The 13-year-old gets up at 4 a.m. to be at the show grounds by 5 a.m. to wash, dry, clip, groom and show the family’s Ivy Livestock Limousin cattle. Time spent in the show barn paid off for the Grade […] Read more
Disabled rider keeps Olympic dream aliveBronze medal winner hopes to ride dressage in able bodied Olympics
EDMONTON – A riding accident in 2001 that paralyzed Karen Brain from the waist down sidelined her goal of event riding on the Canadian Olympic team, but not forever. One year after she was tossed off a horse, Brain rode in her first Paralympics in Portugal. In 2004 she won two bronze medals in the […] Read more
Farm in Dell turns sod for adult group home in Sask.
ABERDEEN, Sask. – There wasn’t much to see Oct. 30 when more than 100 people gathered in a field near Aberdeen – just three shovels and two signs. However, they represented the future of Saskatchewan adults with developmental disabilities. The gathering marked the official start of construction of Farm in the Dell, a residence program […] Read more
Moving experience: shopping the highway
MONTMARTRE, Sask. – A group of rural women has come up with a moving idea that they say will put the fun back into the Christmas season. The first annual Women on Wheels bus tour will hit the road Dec. 5, taking urban shoppers to three Saskatchewan towns for a taste of rural hospitality. “I […] Read more
