There is strength in numbers. It’s a truism that has motivated cereals commissions across the Prairies to team up and strengthen their research efforts.

Established in February of this year, the Simpson Centre for Agricultural and Food Innovation and Public Education has already caught the attention of ag industry policy makers. Housed at The School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, the new entity was established in partnership with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. The centre has been tasked with the mandate to build intellectual infrastructure for applied policy research in agri-food and agri-business.

A born communicator, Lesley Kelly put her conversational skills to work as an advocate for agriculture. Kelly maintains the High Heels and Canola Fields blog, which she supports with Instagram, Facebook and Twitter feeds. She also co-hosts the What the Farm Podcast with influential American farmer Rob Sharkey.

Excess moisture on agricultural lands across Alberta has increasingly become an issue over the past few years. In 2020, several areas were subject to heavier than average snow melt and subsequent rainfall.

Farmers are excited that redesigned High Efficiency Product trains (HEP trains) are now able to carry substantially more grain than standard configurations, said Monty Reich, general manager of South West Terminal near Gull Lake, SK.

It’s no secret many farmers relax by playing video games. Rather than indulging in NBA 2K, Fortnite or Call of Duty, however, an increasing number escape the daily stresses of real-life agriculture by embracing the digital challenges of an extremely popular farm-themed game.

Farmers are always at the mercy of the weather, but short- and long-term weather prediction technology is better than ever, with major improvements now in development.

The first-year findings of Team Alberta’s three-year grain drying and conditioning study are in. Early results indicate energy efficiency depends on the setup and type of conditioning resources used, though final recommendations will not be made until the study is complete.

As a farmer, #AgTwitter might well be a part of your time spent online each day. Across Canada and around the world, the ongoing Twitter conversations flagged by this hashtag influence farmers and ag industry professionals as well as consumers.

Craft beer has been a wildly effective liquid ambassador for Alberta’s malting barley. The province’s craft beer industry has become emblematic of the high-quality barley grown in this province.