Reading Time: 6 minutes I had to buy a chest freezer when we were dating,” says Jennifer Bain. She pauses while the audience laughs. Then she continues telling us about writing Buffalo Girl Cooks Bison, her latest cookbook. She is Buffalo Girl. Her introduction to bison came when she married Rick, an Alberta bison rancher. Bain weaves her own […] Read more
Buffalo Girl author tells food stories in ‘Star’ fashion
Married to an Alberta bison farmer, Jennifer Bain is food editor of Canada’s largest newspaper
‘Pioneering spirit’ alive and well in Peace River
Times might be changing, but Alberta's Peace River Country is still like nowhere else
Reading Time: 13 minutes It was the height of summer and what should have been late evening when the engines of the small regional jet slowed almost imperceptibly and the craft began to make its gentle descent into the northern Alberta city of Grande Prairie. The first thing that grabbed the eye was mile upon mile of yellow-blossomed canola […] Read more
Young and old defining food distribution success
Separated by 52 years, Rudy Knitel and Corne Mans find how to succeed at food distribution
Reading Time: 5 minutes As good as you or better,” says Rudy Knitel when I ask him what he was looking for when he went in search of a business partner. A sense of humour apparently helps. Aged 74, Knitel did find his business partner, though. He’s Corne Mans, aged 22. A 52-year age difference might seem like a […] Read more
Prairie forage crops to benefit from early spring weather
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Forage crops in Western Canada are in a much better place this spring compared to a year ago, as spring’s early arrival will benefit crop development. The milder winter was also beneficial in preserving forage supplies, with feed stocks adequate to good in many regions, said Terry Kowalchuk, a provincial forage specialist […] Read more
Some farmers already seeding in southern Alberta
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Some farmers in southern Alberta are seeding earlier than normal this spring, thanks to some recent warmer weather. “Some guys are just starting to turn a wheel in southern Alberta,” Harry Brook, crop specialist with Alberta’s provincial Ag-Info Centre in Stettler, said Thursday. Soil temperatures are still not very warm, so more […] Read more
Prairie writer has close relationship with food, farming
dee Hobsbawn-Smith is winning international literary awards for her portrayal of Alberta farmers
Reading Time: 6 minutes A friend flipped me an email about a reading in Toronto by Prairie writer dee Hobsbawn-Smith from her book, Foodshed. Her book is about Alberta food and farmers, making this an unusual event in urban Ontario. It turns out, this isn’t the only way that it’s unusual. The event is described as an informal potluck […] Read more
Who’s buying up Canadian farmland?
Are non-farmers snapping up too much Canadian farmland? Nobody knows, especially in Ottawa
Reading Time: 5 minutes Again this winter, ownership of farmland is a heated topic in coffee shops across rural Canada. Rumours abound. Sometimes, it’s foreign buyers who are said to be gobbling up huge chunks of prime farmland, paying prices that Canadian farmers can’t afford. Other times, it’s pension funds or rich non-farm investors. Whoever tells the stories, the […] Read more
Grasshopper risk light in most of Western Canada
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Most of Western Canada is expected to see low populations of grasshoppers in 2015, although there are a few areas of concern, according to forecasts from the three provinces. Most of Manitoba has a low risk of seeing high grasshopper populations this year, according to a forecast from Manitoba Agriculture, Food and […] Read more
Insect post mortem
Top Prairie pest specialists reflect on 2014’s major insect trends… and what they could mean for the coming year
Reading Time: 6 minutes Insects are like the commodity markets. It’s really easy to know what they’re going to do, once they’ve already done it. One of agriculture’s big challenges is dealing with different insects in different geographies, and doing the best you can to hedge your bets. Like the markets, however, insects are subject to a fair bit […] Read more
Quality issues with some wheat crops, but it’s not all bad
With 2014 in the bin, there may be pricing opportunities as the trade turns to blending to hit grade specs
Reading Time: 5 minutes Just over a year ago, Bruce Burnett, the Canadian Wheat Board’s head of weather and crop research, stood in front of the 2014 Cereals North America conference and spun the unlikely tale of a late harvest that delivered a large and high-quality crop. Rolling the clock forward to this fall, Burnett again took the podium, […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
