Cypress County has completed infrastructure necessary to bring in potable drinking water after 20 years of boil water advisories
The hamlets of Irvine and Walsh in southeastern Alberta might soon have access to a clean, reliable supply of drinking water from the South Sask-atchewan River via Medicine Hat. There is only one big obstacle: a water licence. The South Saskatchewan River Basin has been closed to new water licences since August 2006, with a […] Read moreTag Archives Environment
Sask. grain bag recycling pilot gets extension
Saskatchewan will continue its grain bag recycling pilot project for one more year as it works toward establishing a permanent program. Simply Ag Solutions will receive $200,000 from the federal-provincial Growing Forward 2 program to continue collecting grain bags and twine across the province. The organization shipped 1.87 million pounds of plastic from 13 collection […] Read more
Farmers should welcome nature’s architect
The wetlands that result when beavers build dams contribute to higher water tables, which boost crop and forage production
Lorne Fitch can’t put a number on it, but he knows beaver populations are up from recent decades. And while the wetland architects can be a headache for producers by flooding roads, fields and pastures with dams that retain water and expand wetlands, the riparian specialist with Cows and Fish in Alberta said there’s room […] Read moreCalgary project recycles construction waste materials
What is composting?
LETHBRIDGE — Composting is an environmentally creative way to dispose of undesirable waste. Ten to 15 percent of construction waste in Alberta is recycled, and the rest is dumped into over-burdened landfills. A project organized by the City of Calgary and Agriculture Canada is composting construction waste such as drywall and lumber. The wood is […] Read moreResearcher perfects compost recipe
LETHBRIDGE — Frank Larney notices dry material swirling in the wind when he climbs on top of a fully cured compost pile at Agriculture Canada’s Lethbridge Research Centre. “One of the things we learned is this stuff will blow,” he said. After researching the art and science of composting for 20 years, he and other […] Read more
New technology can be tough sell
A company has developed a system to turn liquid hog manure into water, but commercialization is proving difficult
It’s taken nearly 20 years and 10 patents, but Victor Van Slyke may have found a silver bullet to the environmental challenges of hog manure. Van Slyke, a Vancouver entrepreneur, is one of the founding partners of ATD Waste Systems Inc., a company that has developed technology to turn liquid hog manure into fertilizer pellets […] Read moreCattle producers can manage greenhouse gas emissions
Alberta Agriculture recommends the following practices to reduce methane emissions from manure:
Livestock produce some of the greenhouse gases attributed to global warming, and cattle are among the highest contributors. Expelled gases are the biggest culprits, though manure itself is also a factor. However, given the amount of manure that is produced, an estimated 20 kilograms per animal per day, its contribution to accumulated greenhouse gases is […] Read more
Pollution turned into ag byproduct
Soil additive | U.S. coal plant captures sulphur emissions and turns it into gypsum
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — It was a chemical marriage between pollution from coal-fired power plants and limestone that created a useful product for agriculture. It took a chemists’ mind to know that adding water and limestone to the sulphur collected from a coal-fired electrical generating station could create gypsum, a valuable soil additive. The Indianapolis Power […] Read more
Wheat breeders planning for climate change
Longer growing season | Most effects in Canada are expected to be positive, but warmer weather will require adjustments
Climate change is on the minds of Canadian plant breeders. Speaking at the recent Canadian Wheat Symposium in Saskatoon, researcher Ron DePauw identified an increasing frequency of extreme temperatures as a challenge to grain production and food security in coming generations. “There’s going to be intensity of weather events. There will be localized flooding, and […] Read more
Used tire collection program enters Phase 3
Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corp. | Black Gold Rush program aims to rid the province of its stockpile of old tires
Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corp. will launch the third phase of its effort to clean up stockpiles of old tires this summer. The Black Gold Rush program focuses on tires that have accumulated on farms, First Nations, rural residences and urban centres, said special projects director Jackie Kuntz. The program will target 44 southern rural municipalities […] Read more
