TABER, Alta. — The 28,000-acre southern Alberta sugar beet harvest is nearing completion with the possibility of record-breaking yields. Arnie Bergen-Henengouwen, president of Alberta Sugar Beet Growers, said growing conditions favoured sugar beets this year. “There was a little bit of hail in the area that affected some of the acres, but overall they’re expecting […] Read more
Tag Archives Alberta
Industry ‘head tax’ adds strain to feedlots
In the wake of the pending closure of Western Feedlots, one of the largest such operations in Alberta, a group of southern Alberta feedlot owners says a new municipal tax puts even more pressure on their ability to operate. Lethbridge County has imposed a $3 per animal unit tax on livestock producers as a way […] Read more
VIDEO: The secret to big melons; plastic
RAYMOND, Alta. — What delights the hearts of boys more than a cold slice of watermelon on a hot summer day? About 20 boys converged on Ron McMullin’s melon patch near this southern Alberta town Sept. 6 to pick and eat some of the fruit they helped plant earlier in the year as part of […] Read more
Alta. watershed programs lose gov’t funding
Watershed stewardship programs will not receive funds through an Alberta government grant program this year. The program has been running since 2006 and in that time had allocated $1.8 million for 127 community based watershed groups. However, the Land Stewardship Centre, which redistributes the provincial grant money to groups that apply, learned at the end […] Read more
UPDATE – Rain in forecast shifts to AB-SK border
UPDATED – 15:30 CST Thursday July 7 – The forecast model map issued Thursday afternoon from the U.S. Weather Service Climate Prediction Center shows the rain events for the coming weekend and early next week could produce the largest accumulation along the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. Although almost all the Prairies are still expected to get some […] Read more
Alberta joins celebration for The Revenant’s Oscar win
The province of Alberta can take some credit for Academy Award wins last night by the movie The Revenant. Much of it was shot in Alberta, and the production employed about 700 Albertans, including make-up artists, production crew members and actors from the Siksika First Nation. Ricardo Miranda, provincial minister of culture and tourism, today […] Read more
Corn growers reap rewards with warm, frost-free spring
READYMADE, Alta. — It was a good year for all types of corn in southern Alberta, including crop grown for silage, earlage and grain. Corn heat units reached 2,500 in some regions, which was higher than the average of 2,200 to 2,400. That, when combined with warmer nights and plenty of irrigation, led to high […] Read more
Ducks Unlimited makes big purchase
Ducks Unlimited Canada has celebrated its 75th anniversary by buying a 6,000 acre parcel of prairie wetlands in the middle of southern Alberta’s farming country. “It’s an island of grass surrounded by a sea of cultivation,” said Barry Bishop, head of conservation programs with Ducks Unlimited Canada. The 6,000 acre block, about an hour south […] Read more
Timber continues to stand tall
CLEARWATER COUNTY, Alta. — The timber industry is a big part of the Alberta economy, and the public is able to get a close look at it by visiting the Des Crossley demonstration forest. The 160 acre site was established in 1951 by forestry researcher Des Crossley in Clearwater County in west-central Alberta. The intent […] Read more
Young Alberta farmers happy with career choice
Farming may have changed dramatically over the past generation, but the passion for agriculture hasn’t changed, said a panel of young farmers. There was never a time when Jeff Nonay, a Legal, Alta., dairy farmer, considered any other career. “I could never ever remember not wanting to be a farmer,” Nonay told an Ag Choices […] Read more
