The Alberta government’s caucus lead on emergency medical services (EMS) reform has been promoted to handle the agriculture file in a post-election cabinet shuffle. RJ Sigurdson, MLA for the constituency of Highwood, just south of Calgary, was sworn in Friday by Lt.-Gov. Salma Lakhani as Alberta’s new minister of agriculture and irrigation, replacing Nate Horner. […] Read more
Tag Archives Irrigation
Calgary-area MLA named Alberta’s new ag minister
RJ Sigurdson to handle ag file, Horner moves to finance
Skateboard wheel next innovation
The Swift wheel is a replacement for conventional irrigation tires
Glacier FarmMedia – How might revolutionary skateboard wheels relate to farm tires? If Shark Wheel has its way, skateboard tire technology will grow to become big tractor tires. Machine power converts to productivity where rubber meets soil. Technology of that crucial contact point has changed little in the three decades since rubber tracks made the […] Read more
Finding the fit for irrigation
Precision agriculture systems are enhancing its value in different ways
Measuring value can range from a storage bin of corn to a load of fertilizer or the return on investment of a tractor. It’s part of farming and it’s becoming more complex. Irrigation is an expense that must be justified, and two influences have convinced growers to sharpen their pencils: higher commodity prices for more […] Read more
McCain to double Alberta french fry plant capacity
Lethbridge-area plant to more than double staff count
Alberta’s plans to boost its irrigated acres are being met near the starting line with a major french fry producer’s plans to double the capacity of its plant there. McCain Foods announced Monday it will put up $600 million to build two new production lines for frozen french fries and potato specialty goods at its […] Read more
California picks up debris from latest storm, braces for next
Also: Why all this rain won't end California's drought
Sacramento | Reuters — Rain-soaked Californians took advantage of a break in a weeks-long deluge to haul away dead trees, restore downed power lines and prepare new stacks of sandbags before another series of storms hits the state beginning Friday. In Monterey County along the state’s central coast, communities near the still-rising Salinas River were […] Read more
Alberta reorganizes ag portfolio for returning minister
Horner to handle agriculture and irrigation file
Both Alberta and Quebec have re-upped with their incumbent agriculture ministers in cabinet shuffles this week — but incoming Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s shuffle will also streamline that province’s ag portfolio. Chosen by Alberta’s governing United Conservatives (UCP) on Oct. 6 to replace outgoing premier Jason Kenney, Smith on Friday announced Kenney’s incumbent minister of […] Read more
China’s farmers struggle to save crops as heatwave, drought drag on
Chongqing | Reuters — As the tinder-dry countryside along China’s Yangtze river basin withers under a heatwave that has lasted more than two months, veteran farmer Chen Xiaohua recalled the last severe drought to hit his crops more than 60 years ago. “This year is drier than 1960,” said Chen, 68, from his plot of […] Read more
Managing to get the most from available water
Tips for keeping it in the ground to make it accessible to crop roots
Water is the most important limiting input for crop production. In more than a couple of the past years, producers across the province have been forced to watch while their crops suffer from dry conditions in the heat of summer. Other than irrigation (which is rare for field crops in Ontario), there’s really nothing we […] Read more
Canadian food security doesn’t look like it does in other countries
Accessibility to food is one thing — but resilience in production and processing is another
As some countries stockpile agricultural products, Canada continues to ship them out despite feed affordability concerns in parts of the country. Would investments in a stockpiled grain supply have helped what appears to be a developing food production crisis? As a leading exporter, however, the question for Canada should be different. A true food security […] Read more
AGI to buy into soil microbe breeding firm
Machinery maker to take minority stake in MyLand
A U.S. company ramping up a system to harvest, reproduce and restore beneficial microbes from a field’s own soils, as a way to restore peak fertility, expects to get backing soon from a Canadian farm equipment maker. Winnipeg-based Ag Growth International (AGI) said Monday it has signed a conditional letter of intent with Phoenix-based MyLand […] Read more