Alberta farmer express

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DO YOU HAVE LAND THAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN BROKEN?

COMPENSATION FOR pREDATOR KILLS IS A WIN-WIN, STUDY SAYS

Ducks Unlimited Canada is looking to buy acres suitable for wetland restoration » PG 3

Ranchers provide wildlife habitat and shouldn’t be stuck with losses, says researcher » PG 3 Publications Mail Agreement # 40069240

V o l u m e 1 5 , n u m b e r 3    j a n u a r y 2 9 , 2 0 1 8

ONE YEAR LATER: Carbon tax eating into bottom line There’s no overall figure on what the carbon levy cost farmers, but producers say they are feeling the impact

You might soon be seeding in February or March Researchers successfully grow ‘spring-type winter wheats’ in Alberta and say it could be an option by 2020 BY JENNIFER BLAIR

BY ALEXIS KIENLEN AF STAFF

I

t’s hard to put exact numbers on it — but Alberta’s carbon tax is taking its toll, say farm-

ers. And that toll increased at the start of the year, when the carbon tax increased to $30 a tonne — a 50 per cent jump from the initial $20-a-tonne tax implemented a year ago.

SEE CARBON TAX } page 7

AF Staff / Red Deer

W

hat kind of wheat crop might you get if you seeded in February or

March? One that’s not half bad, if the preliminary results of a recent federal research study are any indication. “How can you get a little more yield? Well, you can put it in the ground a little bit earlier,” said University of Alberta PhD candidate Graham Collier, who was involved with the study. “If you look at seeding rate studies, most of the time the best yield comes from that earlier seeding date. And we have the opportunity to seed a lot earlier.” Collier’s research was birthed in a winter wheat-breeding program, which essentially created “spring-type winter wheats” by crossing Norstar — a popular winter wheat variety — with Bergen, a CPRS wheat variety. Several of the spring lines from that cross had better cold tolerance than some winter wheat varieties. So a team led by Ag Canada researcher Brian Beres decided to see how far they could push their seeding dates without sacrificing yield. “We are going in early, and we are trying to stress these plants,” Collier said at the recent Cereals

SEE EARLY SEEDING } page 6

Some Alberta producers may be able to seed their wheat as early as mid-February, but there’s still work to be done, says researcher Graham Collier, seen here in test plots seeded ‘ultra early.’   PHOTO: Supplied T:10.25”

T:3”

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