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Big Country Farmers Feel Impact Of Harsh Weather

Big Country Farmers Feel Impact Of Harsh Weather

By Shelly Womack

Extreme weather over the past couple of years have impacted Big Country residents and businesses.

At the Abilene's farmers market, Co-Owner of Chrane Ranch Beef, Daphna Chrane says she has never seen the pastures so dry and bare after this past drought. "We’re really hoping for a wet spring, but right now we do not have much grass for our cattle so the momma cows get fed hay.”
The drought impact and inflation have prompted Chrane Ranch to almost double what they charge for their products. Chrane also added that water prices have been skyrocketing.
Randy Billings from Abilene Pecan said that even though the cold has killed crops for many, it is also a blessing.

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Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

Video: Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

When was the last time you read the label on your honey?

We spent a day at Molenkamp Honey Farms with Michael Molenkamp, who has been keeping bees for 17 seasons and runs three to four thousand hives. In mid-September, he was finishing treatments and getting his bees ready for winter, and he walked us through how Alberta honey gets made.

Alberta has just 150 commercial beekeepers running 300,000 colonies, and together they produce 40% of Canada’s honey. Long summer days and golden canola fields give Alberta honey a light flavour that’s hard to match anywhere else.

Molenkamp calls Alberta beekeepers some of the most resilient farmers he knows. There’s plenty of Alberta honey to go around, but a lot on our shelves isn’t from here, so his ask is simple. Give the label a second look and choose honey made by Alberta beekeepers, or buy straight from a beekeeper near you.