DUHAMEL, Alta. – Debbie Schielke carefully lifts the day old chicks out of their cardboard transport box, dips their beaks in water and sets them on straw in their new home. Schielke has raised chickens on her central Alberta farm for 20 years and has learned a few tricks to raising newborn birds. She has […] Read more
News
Chickens popular as farm, acreage, backyard venture
Weather may burst big seeding expectations
No one is fazed by farmers’ intentions to expand total acreage to the maximum this spring because no one believes they have any real chance of doing so. “This is an assumption that three and a half million acres more than tend to get seeded over the past five years will get seeded this year,” […] Read more
Corn provides strong support for new crop wheat
Wheat and durum values for the new crop year generally increased in the Canadian Wheat Board’s latest Pool Return Outlook, reflecting weather risks. Corn is providing a strong price floor, and there is little indication that the tight supply-demand situation will significantly improve in the coming year, said the comments accompanying the April PRO. Delayed […] Read more
Pet project becomes big business
CROSSFIELD, Alta. – It just got easier for Alberta residents to feed their pets local food. Red Moon Pet Products was a sideline business for Jason Bailey in 2005 when he started making a dog and cat treat called Waggers. He was a marketing vice-president for a large animal food company at the time, but […] Read more
Easy-to-grow canola, spring wheat squeeze out flax, peas, barley
Farmers are running into the arms of the big crops this summer and running away from the small acreage crops. Producers told a Statistics Canada survey in March that they hope to boost their canola acreage to 19.23 million acres, up 18.7 percent from 2009, and increase spring wheat acres by 5.9 percent to 17.98 […] Read more
Soil test verifies nutrient needs
The Canola Council of Canada is receiving more calls than usual this spring about fertilization. Prairie soil is saturated with water, with the exception of Alberta’s Peace River region, and many producers want to know if they still have nitrogen and sulfur in their soil. “The most common questions are regarding the more mobile nutrients, […] Read more
Power line’s unwavering march upsets landowners
The 300 megawatt, 230 kilovolt transmission line will pass within 36 metres of David Swanson’s house near Warner, Alta., and about the same distance from Diane Sincennes’ home near Coaldale, Alta. The lines will run directly over Brad Moser’s irrigation dugout and along several edges of Wayne Van Giessen’s vegetable and row crop operation near […] Read more
Trade normal with Japan
Japan’s earthquake and nuclear crisis seem to have had little effect on its trade with Canada. “No, we haven’t seen any disruption in the pipeline,” said Lach Coburn, west coast manager for Cargill Ltd. “Fortunately, we didn’t have a lot of vessels heading to Japan at that particular time.” Most of Japan’s wheat and oilseed […] Read more
Farmers replacing fuel tanks for safety
It is a familiar sight across the Prairies. Dull grey fuel tanks teeter on weathered wooden stands or spindly metal stands at the edges of farmyards. Dark patches of spilled fuel stain the ground below the tanks, while a few dented oil cans are tossed under the tank along with red plastic fuel containers for […] Read more
Older farm implements ideal for organic system
They say one person’s trash is someone else’s treasure. A researcher says the same could be said for older farm equipment. And that is true for some older farm equipment that organic farmers could use, says University of Saskatchewan researcher Steve Shirtliffe. Shirtliffe said rod weeders, rotary hoes and Noble blades languishing in the back […] Read more
