Bob Mastin had a Valentine’s Day deadline this year that many would envy. On February 6, the award winning Sundre seed grower was invited to take part in an Alberta feed barley trade mission to Japan and Korea. He had eight days to prepare a PowerPoint presentation, so it could be translated and ready for when the contingent […] Read more
Unique marketing plan
When farmers fight
All kinds of situations can lead to heated conflict between farming neighbours.Talking things over is often the best solution
It began the summer Grant’s pigs started running through David’s wheat and into his vegetable garden. There were a half dozen of the little porkers, razor backs with nary a streak in their bacon but they could wreak more havoc than a herd of buffalo, David muttered. If he chased them out of his cabbages once he […] Read moreEco-buffers increase profit
Eco-buffers provide all the benefits of conventional shelter-belts with greater ecological paybacks. They supply better wildlife habitat, enhanced wild bee and beneficial insect refuge, and their compact design makes them a good fit for the small farm, says Laura Poppy, agroforestry specialist at the Agroforestry Development Centre at Indian Head, Saskatchewan. What are eco-buffers? “An […] Read more
Saskatchewan’s outstanding young farmers
Sue Echlin and Vance Lester, 2012 winners of Saskatchewan Outstanding Young Farmers award, seem to have found the perfect blend of passion and practicality. Some might say establishing a winery on the Prairies is an act of pure passion, and more than a little risky. But Living Sky Winery, opened in 2010, has already won 12 national and […] Read more
Lions and lambs
A fun, but not very reliable weather saying tells us: If March comes in like a lion it will go out like a lamb. It often happens that March begins cold and stormy and ends warm and balmy. People tend to think that nature, and life, always strives for a balance, which may have been […] Read more
Family Farmers Beats The Odds
Surviving the first year is a challenge for any small business, and it really doesn’t get any easier after that. Not quite 75 per cent make that first crucial 12 months and less than one-third are still in business after five years. Karla Folstad owns and operates Family Farmers, www.familyfarmers.com, an Internet technology business, designing […] Read more
Grass Fed Pays Off In Sales
Grass finished, rather than grass fed is the goal, says Janeen Covlin. With her husband Sam and her parents Lyle and Grace Olson, Janeen raises grass-fed cattle on their farm, Cool Springs Ranch, near Endeavour, Sask., about 300 km northeast of Saskatoon. They also pasture hogs and poultry. Lyle recently took a meat-cutting course at […] Read more
Not Just Horsin’ Around
Winston Churchill once said, “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of man.” Carol Marriot would enthusiastically agree. Ravenheart Farms, her Equine Assisted Learning &Retreat Centre near Humboldt, Saskatchewan is based on the healing, nurturing and teaching power of horses and her care and compassion for her […] Read more
Wild In The Country
When Heloise Dixon- Warren and her husband, Ted Traer acquired their farm near Quesnel in B.C.’s Cariboo Country they didn’t know what they were going to grow or raise — they just knew it wouldn’t be cattle. At that time and in that place there were already enough cattle. Probably more than enough. And there […] Read more
Farm-Based Business Grows And Sells Rare Seeds
Tanya Stefanec is one of those fortunate people who makes a living doing the work she loves. She owns and operates Heritage Harvest Seed from her farm home near Carman, Man. Her company carries over 600 varieties of rare and endangered vegetables, flowers and herbs. “We try to specialize in the really rare varieties that […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
