The annual Prairie Cereals Summit centres around the Alberta Barley AGM while presenting speakers and panel discussions of interest to farmers and ag industry professionals working within the wheat and barley value chains.
Hot topics are typically inflammatory because they demand action. And there has perhaps been no hotter topic of discussion within the farm community over the last couple of years than rural crime.
Rail lines and roadways provided needed access to Alberta’s coal resources, and Edson served as a supply depot as the railroad pushed West. The community was also the jumping-off point for those who travelled the Edson to Grande Prairie Trail to homestead in the Grande Prairie Region.
Though relatively few farmers do it regularly, agronomists emphasize there is great value in soil testing.
Are you ready to turn farming decisions over to the youngest farmers at the table? Lakeland College in Vermilion has done just that. The Student-Managed Farm (SMF) is a real-world lab where second-year students in the Animal Science Technology and Crop Technology programs take the reins as agricultural entrepreneurs.
Farmers are do-it-yourself (DIY) people. Determination and desperation leads many to become self-taught welders, mechanics, carpenters, and now, app developers. Sheila Elder and David Ricardo are two farmers who’ve solved problems by building apps.
For 40 years or more, Alberta has sought to unleash its agri-food sector. We have amazing people, great companies, decent infrastructure, significant markets and an extraordinarily enviable land base.
While we are still in the 2018/19 crop year, many farmers are developing marketing plans for the next crop year. On most farms, the crop rotation is largely set, with perhaps only a few last-minute acreage switches in play.
If you’re driving north from Calgary on Highway 2, as you approach the Highway 42 intersection just north of Innisfail, you’ll spot a big, red shed out to the west. This blushing building is well-known among Alberta craft brewers as the namesake of the highly regarded Red Shed Malting.
Whether he’s in the lab testing malting barley for brewing quality or touring a brewery in China, Yueshu Li is a firm believer in telling the world about Canada’s high-quality barley.
