Columnists – Page 8

Al Oeming’s Edmonton-area game farm, shown here in the 1963 film 'Noah of the North,' served as a reservoir for vanishing and even vanished animal species.

Where species conservation was the aim of the game

Practical Research: The Alberta Game Farm was the visionary innovation of a remarkable Canadian

By Ieuan Evans October 24, 2024

When I moved from Guelph to Edmonton in 1974, I quickly found out Alberta had the world’s biggest and most innovative game farm. It was called the Alberta Game Farm, later called Polar Park, some 25 km west of the city. This farm, situated on 500 hectares (1,236 acres), was truly incredible. The huge open-air […] Read more

Ask, don’t assume, what level of involvement each person would like to have in the farm’s decision-making process.

Columns, Farm Life

Build a simple, effective farm framework for decision-making

Seeds of Encouragement: Ask the right questions now to establish a governance model that works for your farm family

By Elaine Froese October 21, 2024

If you listen to enough ag podcasts, you’ll soon conclude that the success of a farm family business comes from people having the power to flourish and make good decisions. Courtney Pullen’s book Intentional Wealth: How Families Build Legacies of Stewardship and Financial Health speaks to effective family systems. Strong families that know their values […] Read more

When stock water levels drop, a solar water system can help extend the quantity and preserve quality in the remaining water.

Cattleman’s Corner, Columns

Prepare your ranch and business plan for bouts with drought

A Little Bit Western: There are ways to extend feed and water — but do so with caution and monitoring

By Tara Mulhern Davidson October 17, 2024

In late summer I was invited to the Canadian Beef Industry Conference in Saskatoon to share my perspective on navigating drought. I would prefer covering a more cheerful topic, but as a fourth-generation Palliser Triangle dweller who resides on a ranch abandoned not once but twice by its former occupants, I’ll admit I’ve got experience […] Read more

The writer with a field of peas. Like corn or barley, peas can be fed to high-milk producing dairy cattle as a good dietary energy source.

Cattleman’s Corner, Columns, Dairy Cattle, Peas, The Dairy Corner

How field peas fit in dairy lactation diets

Dairy Corner: Research and some practical trials show peas can be fed to cows with no effect on milk yield

By Peter Vitti October 16, 2024

A few years back, there was a surge of investment in pea processing for the plant-based protein industry. A multimillion-dollar plant was built in Manitoba, along with other smaller related food and processing businesses. There was more than just talk about growing more peas in Western Canada in which an offshoot would be feeding more […] Read more

Columns, Editor's column

Editor’s Rant: The message of the medium

By Dave Bedard October 9, 2024

I’ve certainly lived in enough places where the FM options on your car radio all fade away before arrival. So even if it’s not my first choice in the car or anywhere, if you’re worried about the potential disappearance of AM radio service, you won’t need to work hard to convince me. My own personal […] Read more

The number of cattle being grounded in Canada dropped in 2024.

Cattleman’s Corner, Columns, Markets

Fed cattle market grinds lower

The Markets: Softer demand shows up as North American employment weakens

By Jerry Klassen October 9, 2024

During the second week of September, Alberta packers were buying fed cattle on a dressed basis in the range of $406-$410/cwt, down from prices of $425-$428/cwt a month earlier. Beef demand appears to be softening as unemployment levels increase. In addition to weaker consumer spending, September and October are two months when beef demand typically […] Read more

Raspberries in the patch are a thorny affair, so wear protection to minimize scratches.

Columns, Farm Life

Harvest, Part 2: Cherries and peaches and berries, oh my

First We Eat: In the sudden absence of B.C. fruits, our own local produce is even more precious

By dee Hobsbawn-Smith October 8, 2024

We live a long way from peach country, the wine-and-fruit-specialist Okanagan and Similkameen valleys in B.C.’s deep south. Those two B.C. valleys are home to twice as many fruit growers as Ontario and Quebec combined, and StatCan sets the province’s fruit production at over $450 million annually. Each summer, one fruit grower, Little Quail Orchard […] Read more

Ian pauses for a picture while harvesting a few of Joseph’s carrots for fresh eating.

Cattleman’s Corner, Columns

A visit from the aunties

Eppich News: Hot weather meant more tree watering and some creative air conditioning on the ranch

By Heather Eppich October 7, 2024

July stayed hot and dry. Gregory kept working away at the ditch hay and John worked as much summerfallow as he could. I was able to keep the main floor of the house a pleasant temperature as long as I did all the cooking on the barbecue, but the upstairs, where we sleep, would get […] Read more

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada requires that all ingredients, as well as the percentage of each, must be on the label of a product sold in Canada. Your job as the product user is to read that product label.

Columns, Practical Tips

Perceptions and misconceptions versus realities in agriculture

Practical Research: In the court of public opinion, the drama can fog the facts

By Ieuan Evans October 7, 2024

Since my retirement from Alberta Agriculture in 2002 I’ve acted as a legal expert in a number of lawsuits. Often, when a farmer is sued by a lawyer on behalf of a client, the farmer will immediately seek his own lawyer or lawyers for advice. While the lawyer may be well apprised of provincial and […] Read more

Not long ago people carried Nokias, Motorolas and BlackBerrys. Ten years from now, will we still all have iPhones?

Columns, Home Quarter Investing

A brief history of market dominance

Investing for Fun and Profit: Is the publicly traded past a guide for the future?

By Herman VanGenderen October 1, 2024

The largest 10 U.S. companies by market capitalization (number of shares, multiplied by price per share) currently represent about 30 per cent of the value of the entire U.S. publicly traded universe, and the U.S represents about 60 of the world market cap. Therefore these 10 companies represent about 18 per cent of the entire […] Read more

Klassen: Western Canadian calf markets surge on New World screwworm fears

Canada’s annual inflation rate in June up slightly to 1.9 per cent

U.S. grains: Corn rebounds from contract lows on short covering, bargain buying

GFM Network News