Lacombe

The Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, the Honourable Bernadette McIntyre, and her husband, Mr. Rich McIntyre had a private audience with King Charles today at Buckingham Palace.

Their Honours presented the King with lentil and chickpea snacks from the Three Farmers company of Saskatoon. Saskatchewan is a major producer of pulse crops.

A jar of Savoury Dill Pickle Mustard from Gravelbourg Mustard. The province is the world’s largest exporter of mustard seed.

Alberta's Agriculture Financial Services Corporation put together the first crop report of the season. 

Manglai a product coordinator with AFSC, says provincially there's now 23 per cent of the 2025 crop is now in the ground, thawhich t's well ahead of the 5-year average of 12 per cent, and the 10-year average of 14 per cent.

"Regionally - the South leads with 50 per cent of all crops seeded, followed by the Central Region at 22 per cent, the Peace Region at 10 per cent, the North West at 8 per cent, and the North East at 6 per cent."

Today is National Slow Down and Move Over Day – a time to raise awareness about the critical importance of driving responsibly around emergency crews and maintenance personnel working on or near roadways.

Alberta RCMP is reminding all drivers to do their part in keeping emergency and roadside workers safe by slowing down and moving over when approaching stopped vehicles with flashing lights.

🔒 Full Road Closures

1. 39 Ave (south of 50A St) – Utility Work
   ⏳ Ends Monday, May 19 at 7:00 PM

2. 22 St & Lindham Ave Intersection – Road Construction
   ⏳ Ends Friday, May 16 at 7:00 PM

🚧 Major Traffic Disruptions

Ongoing or Starting May 15

• Gaetz Avenue (Southbound & Northbound) – Utility Work

A taxi plate draw will be held on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, to award 26 new taxi plates for use in Red Deer.

Production is expected to recover by 70 million tonnes due to favourable conditions, while demand will rise by 45 million tonnes

SASKATOON — The global grain outlook for 2025-26 is incredibly balanced, says an analyst.

The International Grains Council (IGC) is forecasting 2.373 billion tonnes of production and an identical 2.373 billion tonnes of demand.

“We’re looking at quite a finely balanced fundamental picture for grains,” Helen Plant, senior analyst for the United Kingdom’s Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, said in a recent webinar.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture President Keith Currie says Canadian agriculture is at a critical juncture, with the recent dramatic rise of trade uncertainty, high costs, and more frequent extreme weather events.

He notes during the recent election, the CFA made the priorities of Canadian farmers very clear: farmers need to see a focus on competitiveness, resiliency, and maintaining rule-based trade.

The first-ever “Vets and Pets Fundraiser” will take place Saturday, in downtown Red Deer combining tattoos with charities.

Created by Cole McIntyre with Red Deer Tattoo Co., the event will be a 12-hour-long fundraiser where attendees can get fresh ink, with all proceeds going toward Next Chapter Animal Rescue and the Veterans Food Bank of Red Deer.

Allan Reid, the founder and President of the Veterans Food Bank of Alberta, says he was approached by McIntyre to be one of the charities that proceeds will go towards.

Due to the recent amount of rain, the Sylvan Lake community garden plots at 5400 47 Ave. will now open on Monday, May 19.

The wet soil is hampering efforts to rototill and add compost to the plots. Once conditions improve, staff will be able to continue working on them.

The raised beds at the new community gardens located at the east side of 47 Avenue and 52 Street will open tomorrow as originally planned.

More information on the community gardens can be found on the town website.

Lacombe County has launched a new community science initiative that invites residents and visitors to help monitor environmental changes on three of our major recreational lakes—Sylvan Lake, Gull Lake, and Lacombe Lake. 

Through the use of Chronolog, a time-lapse photo monitoring system, participants can contribute to ongoing environmental stewardship by simply snapping a photo. The County’s Environmental Services team has installed three Chronolog stations at: 

• Burns Nature Park (Sylvan Lake) 

• Sandy Point (Gull Lake)