Researchers have uncovered evidence that some alfalfa varieties respond differently to specific beneficial microbes in the soil.

Microbes matter during pasture restoration

Glacier FarmMedia – Choosing the right alfalfa variety can make a difference, possibly a huge difference, when producers are rejuvenating a pasture.  After several years, a pasture’s productivity will decline and many ranchers choose to over-seed or sod-seed alfalfa to revive the pastureland.  Farmers will likely select a high-yielding alfalfa variety that is adapted to […] Read more

Jeff Schoenau speaks at the Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence field day last June, while Bart Lardner looks on.

Research finds benefits to precision manure management

Research project conducted via the Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence

Dr. Jeff Schoenau, a researcher at the University of Saskatchewan, says manure should be applied precisely.  At the Saskatchewan Beef Industry Conference that took place in late January 2024 in Regina, Sask., Schoenau presented on research he’s done regarding precision manure management, which is getting the manure in the right place, at the right rate, […] Read more



Smoke rises from a wildfire near Wildwood, Alta., about 100 km west of Edmonton, on May 5, 2023. (Photo: Alberta Wildfire/Handout via Reuters)

Alberta ‘crossing fingers’ for rain amid wildfires

CN mainline traffic west of Edmonton suspended

Reuters — Firefighters were counting on rain and cooler weather forecast for Monday to help them quell a dramatic start to Alberta’s wildfire season. The province declared a state of emergency on Saturday in response to wildfires in northern and central regions that have displaced nearly 30,000 people and prompted energy producers to shut in […] Read more


Roxanne and Kevin Ziola, along with daughters Josi and Cami, ranch near Red Deer, Alta.

Alberta ranching family teaches cattle to forage through snow

Roxanne and Kevin Ziola transitioned their operation from a mixed farm to a grass-fed ranch, where winter grazing is a key part of their production

A panel of three producers sits at the front of a room filled to bursting with farmers and professionals in the industry. It’s a chilly day in December in Edmonton, Alta., at the Western Canada Soil Health and Grazing Conference, but these producers don’t mind the cold — in fact, they often use it to […] Read more

File photo of a cow grazing near Leader, Sask., about 85 km south of Kindersley. (James_Gabbert/iStock/Getty Images)

Saskatchewan holds Crown grazing rents at last year’s levels

Also, leaseholders on drought-downgraded land eligible for rate cut

Cattle producers leasing Crown land for grazing in Saskatchewan won’t see a rate hike this year and may be eligible for a significant rate cut. The provincial government announced Wednesday it has frozen the rates charged to producers who lease Crown grazing land in 2023 at their 2022 level. The freeze will apply to all […] Read more


Drought expands across western Prairies

Drought expands across western Prairies

MarketsFarm — Drought conditions expanded across Alberta and Saskatchewan in October, with very little precipitation across the agricultural regions of the two provinces since August. That’s according to the latest Canadian Drought Monitor from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, as of Oct. 31. At the end of that month, 72 per cent of the Prairie region […] Read more

At least 12 killed in Nigeria attack over farmland

Gunmen appear in village in north

Abuja | Reuters — Gunmen have killed at least 12 people in an attack on a village in the northern Nigerian state of Plateau, residents and the state governor said on Wednesday, the latest deadly incident fuelled by growing pressure on land resources in the country. Violence between farmers and pastoralists has become increasingly common […] Read more