Scientists have called rinderpest the most devastating livestock disease in history, so it was no minor announcement when the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization announced its eradication in June. “This is quite a momentous occasion for humanity,” said Juan Lubroth, FAO’s chief veterinary officer. “The suffering that this disease has caused through the millennia […] Read more
News
Co-operation, commitment keys to halting disease spread
Plants essential to soil fertility
LINDELL BEACH, B.C. — Farmers can directly affect global climate change by improving land management and farming practices, says an Australian study. Duane Norris and Peter Andrews wrote in theInternational Journal of Waterthat soil holds twice as much carbon as the atmosphere and three times as much as vegetation. However, carbon oxidizes and is released […] Read more
Young gardeners learn how to grow food
HAY LAKES, Alta. — It’s hard to say if the Grade 1 students from Hay Lakes School will form a lasting love of gardening. The mosquitoes buzzed and the wind blew soil in their faces this spring when they spent the afternoon planting their EarthBox gardens. However, the students did learn lessons while planting their […] Read more
Freedom to choose
I would like to respond to J.W. Zunti’s letter in the June 9 issue of The Western Producer. Our government has always been clear that western Canadian grain farmers deserve the freedom to choose how they market their grain. We believe farmers are best equipped to make their own business decisions. The goal of the […] Read more
Art lover, gardener donates land to university
NANTON, Alta. — The prairies are a living landscape for Jim Coutts. An avid art collector whose personal gallery celebrates the western landscape in oils and water colour, Coutts also developed a passion to preserve the prairie on his quarter section of land down a country road east of Nanton. At 73, the former secretary […] Read more
Two Sask. labour disputes approach final resolution
Two labour disputes in Saskatchewan appear to be nearing settlement. Last week, health workers who are members of the Health Sciences Association of Saskatchewan and had been staging rotating walkouts across the province since May 9, reached a tentative agreement with the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations. And, a mediator’s report on the dispute between […] Read more
Trappers tackle annoying rodent
LEDUC, Alta. — A cash for gopher tails program may not rid Leduc County of its burrowing rodents, but the program has encouraged landowners to trap some of the destructive pests. The county budgeted $2,500 for a pilot project last year that paid $1 per turned in northern pocket gopher tail. The program’s budget increased […] Read more
Western Producer Crop Report – for Jul. 14, 2011
MANITOBA SOUTHWEST Wheat recovering from wet spring Spring wheat crops are recovering from this spring’s wet conditions. Wheat fields that were yellow are now green, after tapping into nutrients in the soil. However, canola is struggling to recover. Plants that didn’t establish proper roots are bolting prematurely at heights of 15 to 20 centimetres. Haying […] Read more
Changes could hurt rural Alberta
An Alberta government decision to deregulate bus service could hurt rural Alberta, but Greyhound’s service was so poor it’s hard to imagine it could get worse, say rural residents. “We’ve had very poor service here for so long,” said Terry Lee Degenhart of Hughenden, Alta. Rural residents who must travel to medical appointments rely on […] Read more
Canola roots struggle in wet, compacted soil
It has a reputation as a resilient crop, but canola is struggling to rebound from June’s wet growing conditions in southwestern Manitoba, southeastern Saskatchewan and southern Alberta. Many canola fields south of Manitoba’s Riding Mountain National Park are bolting prematurely because the crop was sitting in soaked soil this spring, said Elmer Kaskiw, a crop […] Read more
