On the Prairies, leaf spot complex is a significant yield robber in wheat and barley. A group of stubble-borne diseases, leaf spot complex is practically ubiquitous in Alberta cereals. Its presence can lead to downgrading, especially in bread wheats and durum. Ongoing studies aim to better understand causes and develop treatments.

Fertilizer always has been and always will be vital to agriculture. However, this primary crop input has come under fire in recent years, most notably for its carbon footprint. The federal government took aim at fertilizer and its emissions, challenging industry to be more sustainable top to bottom. Price variability and unsteady availability of supply are also problematic.

For many years now, malting barley research has primarily focused on how to provide small and large brewers alike with the next great variety for their beers. An afterthought, however, is distillers, who often source their barley from other countries with a more established system of malting barley suitable for spirits.

Most farmers don’t conduct regular new variety trials on their own farms. Typically, farmers take a longterm approach. When the performance of a trusted variety sags, they may consult the Alberta Seed Guide and plant a few dozen acres, or even an entire field, of a newer variety listed within its pages.

An assessment it conducted in 2024 estimated invasive species cost Alberta an enormous $2.1 billion annually. The tally was based on an economic assessment completed 20 years prior and adjusted for inflation along with the increased abundance and diversity of invasive species in Alberta.

“Ninety-five per cent of our crime is caused by five per cent of the population,” said Troy Savinkoff, corporal and public information officer with the Alberta RCMP Media Group. Over the last several years, the police have developed Crime Reduction, a program that involves “intelligence-led policing.”

People are at the heart of every farm business. No matter the size, structure or type of farm, it’s the people, and in many cases a blend of family and employees, who manage day-to-day tasks tied to farm goals and achievements. As farms get larger and increasingly rely on hired labour, the focus on staff management processes, or human resources (HR), should expand in proportion to the size of the business.

The annual growth rate of Canadian agricultural productivity stood at or near two per cent from 1991 to 2010, according to a Farm Credit Canada (FCC) report released in December 2023. Since 2011, productivity growth has slowed and stands at just one per cent where it is projected to remain for the rest of this decade.

A member of the Blackfoot Confederacy, the Kainai First Nation, also known as the Blood Tribe, is seriously committed to education, and agriculture is a main component. On a hot, late-July day, staff, students and community members gathered near Red Crow Community College in its expansive community garden.

With the second-largest reserve landbase in Canada and 23 per cent of its 210,080 Prairie acres earmarked for agricultural use, the Siksika Nation appears uniquely positioned to thrive in the farm sector. This is not the case. Though farming has taken place on Siksika since the turn of the previous century, only a handful of families have been able to make a go of it as independent operators. To understand why, we must unpack the policies and practices that form the historical and legal relationship between First Nations people and the Government of Canada.