Then what is a customer supposed to do? Make a trip to the farm? Wait until next week’s market day?

Creative Cleaver, a small butcher shop in Lethbridge, offers an innovative solution to this dilemma. Local producers rent space in the shop to display and sell their products six days a week so consumers can buy their favourite local food products when they want to.

Owners Andrew and Jennifer Anderson opened Creative Cleaver (then called PM Meat &Cheese) in 2002 to sell meat products from their other company, Prairie Meats, an abattoir in Coaldale, and Sunnyrose cheese products from Diamond City. The store, renamed in 2009, was closed for the latter half of last year because of staffing and product supply issues, but support from a consortium of local producers allowed it to reopen this year.

Now, in addition to their own products, the Andersons stock locally produced organic beef, custom sausage, pastured pork, free-range chicken, lamb, rabbit, venison, goat, duck, dairy products (including cow, goat and sheep’s milk, yogurt and cheese), saskatoon berry juice, and dried soup mixes.

“I am passionate about the products we offer and I want to educate people about the best ways to use them,” says Jennifer.

Saving valuable time

Harvey and Carolyn Van Driesten of Noble Meadows Farm near Nobleford have only had their products at Creative Cleaver for three months, but are already seeing benefits.

“Sales are steadily picking up and it’s more time effective than the farmers’ market,” says Carolyn.

Typically, producers who sell at a farmers’ market get up at four or five o’clock in the morning, pack their product, set up their table, sell for a few hours, and then pack up the remaining product, take it home and put it away. That’s a lot of hours of transporting product for a few hours of sales.

“Creative Cleaver is a nice way for us to get our product into Lethbridge,” says Carolyn. The Van Driestens milk 250 goats and began processing the milk into cheese and yogurt last summer. Their packaged products are also marketed at the Kingsland Market in Calgary.

Karen Goad, a farm-direct marketing specialist with Alberta Agriculture and a member of the Explore Local initiative, says the farm fresh market is young in Alberta but there is great potential.

“We’ve seen a push for local and farm-direct products in the past 10 to 15 years,” says Goad. “Alberta does a really good job in marketing farm direct, but there’s always room for improvement.”

Goad says there a push-pull production requirement where it requires a lot of time to produce a farm product and an equal amount of time to market that product.

“Unless you have a lot of people involved in your operation, there’s never enough time to do everything,” she says. “A partnership, like Creative Cleaver has with producers, is a great way to capture a city audience. The city consumer has week-long access to a place that sells local farm products.”

———

“Iampassionateaboutthe productsweofferandIwantto educatepeopleaboutthebest waystousethem.”

JENNIFER ANDERSON

The post Keeping It Local — All Week Long appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

John Lawson, in his book, “75 Years of Research: 1927-2002 Research Substation, Onefour,” states that even though these countries have “vast areas of land that provide a similar rigorous, stressful environment for the growing of forages and the raising of animals – they do not have the same long-standing research commitment or understanding of the problems and solutions.”

Research highlights

Many significant research results have come out of Onefour, especially in forage and range management, sheep, beef cattle and soils.

Several types of fence post preservatives were tested, resulting in recommendations that extended the life of the posts to 40 years, well beyond the usual three to five years in light, sandy, dryland soils.

Effects of carrying capacity studies became more striking each year, due to the cumulative effects on animals and of grazing treatments on grass cover. The regulation of grazing to conform to the carrying capacity of grazing lands is one of the most important principles in range cattle production. Conservation grazing is key.

Research showed that manure, straw and commercial fertilizers alone, and in combination, increased productivity but also deleteriously changed vegetation in some situations. In general, fertilization of range proved to be uneconomic.

Sheep research

In the early days of settlement, large sheep flocks were prevalent but conditions were harsh and lamb losses were heavy. Research was initiated to optimize production. A new breed, the Romnelet, was developed specifically for range conditions. Several breeds and breed-cross combinations were evaluated for production and prolificacy (adaptability to range conditions).

The four range breeds – Rambouillet, Romnelet, Targhee and Columbia – were essentially the same in fertility, prolificacy and weaned lamb production, but the Suffolk produced more weaned lamb than any of the other breeds. One highlight of a 15-year, five-phase study comparing purebred and two-, three-, four-and five-breed cross ewes was that fertility was improved by crossbreeding but prolificacy was not. The number of lambs weaned per 100 ewes bred and percentage of lambs surviving to the end of the 75-day post-weaning period were highest for three-breed crosses followed by two-breed crosses and then purebreds.

Sheep research at Onefour ended many years ago but cattle and range research continues to this day.

Beef cattle research

Cattle breeding projects began in 1950 and focused on the evaluation of breeds and crosses for hardiness and productivity, the setting out of genetic principles, and the development of selection methodology and technology.

The Cattalo Project (1950 to 1964) demonstrated the advantages of hybrids and cattalo (a mixed breed of cattle and bison) over domestic cattle in hardiness and calf weaning weights, but also showed the disadvantages in total productivity, male fertility (including sterility in first-cross males), female fertility, and feedlot and carcass traits.

In the Ross Project (1963 to 1978), a crossbred line, developed by mating Brown Swiss, Holstein and Red Angus sires to Hereford cows and intermating the progeny, achieved and maintained a high level of reproductive performance under rigorous range conditions. This project was also an example of a 15-year partnership between industry (Ross Ranches) and a government research organization.

The post Cattle And Sheep Top Research At Onefour appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The potato-based plant in Taber was originally built in 1973 under the name Diamond S Produce. It was destroyed by fire in 1982 and rebuilt on the same site. The site occupies just over five acres and the facility is about 70,000 square feet. Frito Lay Canada also operates a corn-based plant in Lethbridge, which was acquired in 1991. The facility and warehouse cover about 150,000 square feet, located on about 34 acres.

The company helps fuel the labour market in southern Alberta, as the Taber plant employs about 225 people, which includes production, administration and management, and the Lethbridge plant employs more than 300.

“Our operating philosophy is one of ‘continuous improvement,’” says Lewington. “Our teams are always looking for ways to improve the quality of our products and the efficiency of our processes.”

Lewington says that Frito Lay Canada is strongly committed to reducing its impact on the environment. “We have set specific goals for reducing our consumption of water, electricity and natural gas and rigorously track our progress against each objective,” he says. “There are long-term benefits to having a sustainability strategy – both for the business and the environment.”

This year Frito Lay Canada has been recognized for several awards. In February, the company received the Diversity Leadership Award from the Alberta Business Awards of Distinction for its Lethbridge plant.

Then in April, it received the Supply Chain and Logistics As sociat ion Canada Green Supply Chain Award, which is sponsored by Transport Canada. Recipients are selected on the basis of strong environmental leadership and their commitment to promoting green transportation standards.

Most recently, in June, Frito Lay Canada’s Lethbridge plant was chosen as the winner of the CCME (Council of Ministers of the Environment) Pollution and Prevention Award in the Medium Business category. Frito Lay Canada was selected for this award for significant and sustainable reductions in water and energy consumption.

The post Southern Alberta Stands Out For Frito Lay appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“The Reason Why We Lowered The Numbers Was To Be Able To Operate More Like A Ranch.”

Research at Agriculture Canada’s Onefour Substation is entering a new era. With the end of the longtime cattle cross-breeding program in the late 1980s and the transfer of the cattle genomics program to the University of Alberta in Edmonton a few years ago, there are more options and opportunities for research at Onefour than ever before.

Ian Walker, ranch manager at Onefour, says the genomics program was one of the longest-running projects at the substation and the biggest change was its move to the university. Today, Walker is busy building a commercial herd to produce stock for cattle studies at the Lethbridge Research Centre.

“We’re in a transition period,” says Walker. “Cattle research here used to be strictly about genetics and genome mapping, but now as we’re rebuilding a commercial-type herd, I expect to see new programs.”

For example, there could be studies on E. coli due to the ability to sample calves from birth, or anything else that needs to be followed from birth to slaughter.

“Basically right now all the calves go to Lethbridge for its feedlot project,” says Walker. “Everything I can raise here for the next three years is already spoken for.”

The herd has always fluctuated in size, from 500 to 1,000 head, but Walker would like to maintain a herd of 550 Hereford-Black Angus and straight Black Angus cows.

“The reason why we lowered the numbers was to be able to operate more like a ranch,” says Walker. “When we had 700 head we began feeding every November and had to use stockpiled grass for winter grazing. With a smaller herd, we can keep it as low input as possible.”

When the genomics program was in place, the herd was half Charolais and half Black Angus. Eventually, the Charolais were sold because they weren’t a “great fit” for the program, despite being ranch raised, says Walker.

“We used to be totally set up to be a purebred place, with single sire breeding and small groups of cattle scattered all over the place,” he says. “Now as we build a commercial herd, we’ve had to remove fence and develop watering systems to handle larger groups of cattle.”

STRICT BREEDING CRITERIA

Despite some challenges, Walker and his crew have held fast to strict breeding and performance criteria, resulting in a superior herd that is closely genetically related. “We haven’t assisted a calving in eight years,” says Walker.

Heifers are exposed to the bulls for only 30 days, while the cow herd is bred for 45 days. Last year, the calves off the first calf heifers were born in March and April, and weaned on September 21. The calves averaged 568 pounds. “It’s a very good herd,” says Walker.

Since the Onefour herd is so similar in genetics, researchers know that the performance will be consistent, enabling accurate and repetitive studies. There’s also the flexibility to collect samples throughout the life cycle of the cattle.

This winter, researchers will be doing projects on castration stress and pain, and trucking stress according to load size and distance, with animals from the Onefour herd. The cattle are also used for a variety of grazing studies, where livestock movement and activities are monitored with satellite tracking collars. Other research projects at the substation in recent years include studies on dung beetles, liver flukes and wood ticks.

While Walker runs the cattle program at Onefour, he receives direction from Brian Freeze, research manager at Lethbridge Research Centre. Onefour represents one of the types of grazing areas for cattle operations – shortgrass prairie. The grazing land at Onefour is really the tip of the top of the Great Plains that go all the way into Texas, says Freeze.

As such, it is a valuable research site for Agriculture Canada, although one of the main grazing researchers, Walter Willms, will be retiring in the next few years and any further studies will be determined by his successor. “The future is uncertain because we’re still looking at what kind of long-term research we’re going to do there,” says Freeze.

Still, Agriculture Canada operates 20 research centres and about as many substations across the country, each of which represents a unique agricultural area. “We don’t want to lose any of them as they will all become more important in the future,” says Freeze.

As a unique example of shortgrass prairie, the substation also welcomes researchers from other institutions such as universities and Environment Canada who are interested in what the area has to offer in terms of landscape and habitat.

The post Onefour Remains An Ideal Location For Great Plains Research appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“It’s amazing what’s been done here.”

Tucked into the southeast corner of Alberta is a short-grass prairie ranch not too different from its neighbours, but at the same time unique in its characteristics and activities. As a research substation of Agriculture Canada, Onefour is a stronghold of forage and cattle research.

Ian Walker, ranch manager at Onefour for the past 10 years and a member of the ranch’s cattle crew in the 1980s, has seen the substation go through many changes, especially in operations. “It’s amazing what’s been done here,” he says.

The 42,600-acre ranch, located about 2.5 hours south of Medicine Hat, is characterized by abundant sunshine, low precipitation, extremes in temperature and frequent high winds. Part of the land is owned by Agriculture Canada, while the rest is leased from the Alberta government.

Anywhere from 500 to 1,000 cattle have roamed the landscape as part of the substation’s cattle research program, although today Walker aims to maintain a herd of 550. In the past, sheep were also a fixture on the fields. Established in 1927, the headquarters area of the substation has evolved from tents near a spring to a town-like cluster of houses, offices and animal-handling facilities.

According to John Lawson in his book, 75 Years of Research: 1927-2002 Research Substation, Onefour,” in the summer of 1927, L.B. Thomson, a field husbandman and later first head of the PFRA, and S.E. Clarke, an assistant agrologist, set up camp to survey topography, soil and vegetation, and start preparing grazing projects. Permanent headquarters were developed nearby, with an office building, small forage laboratory, cookhouse and homesteader shacks.

The land location of the original site was SW15 T1 R4, hence the name Onefour. As the ranch

grew, headquarters moved to SW15 T2 R4, but Walker said no one was interested in changing the name to “Twofour.”

Buildings Evolve

In 1929, a residence was constructed for the superintendent and another one was built in 1935. Office buildings were built in 1939 and 1958 to accommodate an increased number of staff and research projects. Other residences were constructed or moved onto the ranch, buildings changed uses and eventually the headquarters became a busy hub with a store, school and assembly hall.

By 2002,however, two duplexes, a few houses, the cookhouse and two trailers were the only remaining residences at the substation. While the ranch itself has undergone major changes throughout its history, some things never change, like its remote location.

Lawson reports that the first telephone line came to the substation in 1931. It was a single wire, built on small poles attached to fence posts. In 1981, the substation had buried telephone cable, but it was the last rural area in Alberta to receive it. Today, cellphones are commonly used but the Internet is still dialup, so “don’t send any photos,” says Walker.

It is recorded that as many as 23 granaries (the earliest built in 1924) were located on the substation, most of which were constructed from the mid-1940s to the late 1950s. Livestockhandling facilities included sheep corrals, shearing sheds and lambing sheds, until the sheep program was discontinued in 1978.

Since initial cattle research focused on management procedures for handling, treating or marketing cattle, determining the effects of climate and assessing forages and feed supplements for range cattle, the only infrastructure required were small corrals and a small barn.

However, when bison and cattalo (a mixed breed of cattle and bison) arrived in 1950 at the outset of the substation’s genomics program, a sturdy set of corrals were required. A steel shed, feedlot and feed mill soon followed.

In 1998, a new calving facility was completed, housing an office and laboratory, two hospital pens, 10 maternity pens and a work area used for calving assistance that contained a chute and squeeze on a scale. “We have as good cattle-handling facilities as anywhere,” says Walker. “We’re a big ranch with the capability for growth.”

Today, there are four full-time staff, including Walker, a senior herdsman and two other herdsmen or cowboys. Some of the staff have houses away from the ranch and they all work 10 days on, four days off.

Together, the four staff manage the livestock, 250 miles of barbed wire fence and 25 active wells on about 66 sections of land. Walker says they like to use horses as much as possible to check fences and fields, but off-highways vehicles are also used, especially for fencing.

Walker recognizes that the ranch is a government entity that theoretically could end at any time, but he doubts that will happen due to more than 80 years of valuable research, including unprecedented cattle herd data and genetics.

The post Onefour Continues To Evolve After More Than 80 Years appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“Some yields won’t ever recover, but producers might be feeling a bit better”

Crop insurance is getting a run for its money this year, with large numbers of claims coming in due to frost damage and dry conditions. Alberta Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) is looking at alternative ways to expedite all those claims in the most affected areas.

One solution announced by the province earlier this month is average area yields on a township level. This gives producers the options of having their crops released over the phone without an inspection.

Lorelei Hulston, insurance manager for AFSC’s central region, said in an interview that officers were falling behind with claims due to a flood of applications. By determining average area yields for the most severely affected areas, AFSC can delegate its adjusting resources to more moderately affected areas. Some adjusters have been moved around, but AFSC hasn’t added additional staff. “If a producer accepts the average yields for his area, then we can release the crops and follow up later on,” Hulston said.

She said there are typically many hail claims at this time of year, but most this year are related to frost and drought. As of July 6, there were 484 claims for crops, 330 claims for hay and 52 claims for hail in the central region. Hulston said hay and pasture crops are the most affected, as well as canola. “Some claims may be withdrawn as producers are still deciding whether to keep the crop or do something else.”

The central region received some relief on July 6, as it rained through the night. “Some yields won’t ever recover, but producers might be feeling a bit better,” Hulston said.

It also rained in the north region, where insurance claims are the highest in the province, improving the outlook for hay and pasture. There were 746 crop claims as of July 6, mostly for canola and cereal crops. Hail caused 47 claims, while producers submitted 178 claims for their hay.

In the driest areas, the first cut of hay is leaving barely anything behind to bale, said Faye Branden, insurance manager for AFSC’s north region. “Most of the region is in the same situation, except for some very dry pockets south and east of Camrose, where the pastures are affected in a big way,” said Branden. There’s a shortage of pastures across the region, with many producers converting poor cereal crops to make up for the lack of pasture.

Peace doing better

While there are dry patches in the Peace, most of the area is doing better than the rest of the north region, said Branden. “As a result, some crops are not doing too badly.”

Frost in late spring precipitated the high number of claims in the north so far this year. “We had frost every night for the first week of June, and that started the whole thing rolling. The drought put the icing on the cake,” Branden said. It’s had a very dramatic effect, especially on canola on peat-based soil. “We’re certainly using all the resources we have to process the claims,” said Branden. “If we are in need, that is, if we get further behind than we are, we will look at an alternate process.”

The south region has the fewest claims so far this year, with 102 crop, 38 hail and 62 hay claims as of July 6. Last year at this time, there were thousands of claim for hail damage. While it has been dry in the south, there is also more irrigation to aid crop development, although irrigated crops are a week or two behind. “We’ve recently had the challenge of dry weather and dormancy due to cold – crops are slow,” said Doug Dueck, AFSC’s insurance manager for the south region.

Frost in early June caused damage to some dry beans and canola, while drought is affecting dryland crops in the north part of the region, near Oyen and Brooks. “We have clients in Oyen and Brooks who are converting crops to pasture or taking them off for feed or spraying them out to conserve some nutrition and moisture for next year,” said Dueck.

As in the other regions, adjusters in the south are very busy. “They are trying to target folks who are trying to salvage some crops for feed,” said Dueck. “Secondly, anyone with hail damage or who is spraying out crops is also a priority.”

The corporation reminds producers that acres being put to an alternate use (including grazing or spraying) must be inspected and released by AFSC first. Producers should contact their AFSC district office five days prior to any alternate use, which allows AFSC to manage its adjusting resources and provide timely client service.

AFSC’s AgriInsurance is provided on a cost-shared basis, which typically is split with producers covering 40 per cent, the federal government covering 36 per cent, and the provincial government covering 24 per cent.

The post Crop Insurance Claims Could Be Highest Ever appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“If hawks and owls weren’t eating gophers, there’d be a million more.”

It started as a storm water retention site, which it still is. But 20 years later, it’s a full-fledged nature centre specializing in saving injured raptors.

“Quite often all you hear about is the extreme stories, where hawks and owls are being threatened, but I have yet to meet a farmer or rancher who is not positively geared towards nature,” says Colin Weir, managing director and president of the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale.

“Farmers and ranchers want hawks and owls on their property to control gopher, mice and grasshopper populations.”

Weir says producers will call about everything from baby hawks and owls falling out of their nests to trees being blown over to birds stuck on barbed-wire fences. There are also many concerns in the summer about running over the nests of short-eared owls in the fields. “They want to know how to attract more birds of prey,” says Weir. “If hawks and owls weren’t eating gophers, there’d be a million more.”

The Birds of Prey Centre offers advice to farmers and ranchers about maintaining bird populations and attracting more by building nest boxes and baskets. Weir notes that most of the rescue birds at the centre come from the agricultural regions of Alberta.

One of the centre’s champions is Spirit, a golden eagle who was rescued from the roadside and brought to the centre in 2007. At first, staff thought Spirit had been hit by a car because his head was so swollen and his right eye was swollen shut. Examination by veterinary Dr. Jacob Adserballe of Uplands Pet Hospital in Lethbridge revealed some startling news. Spirit had been shot – a pellet went through his eye and was lodged in the back of his head; two more pellets were in his chest.

As it was too risky to remove the pellets, Spirit would remain permanently vision impaired, preventing his return to the wild. Although virtually blind, Spirit

learned to trust the staff at the Birds of Prey Centre, as they gently touched his beak with morsels of food. He is now an ambassador for the centre, travelling to various venues for educational and media purposes.

Most of the birds at the centre do not make public appearances, but for those birds who are the right fit and cannot be released to the wild, such handling and travelling is enriching for their lives in captivity.

Weir, who has been involved in bird rescue in southern Alberta for about 25 years, says the centre’s success is linked closely to connections with the rural community.

“I don’t think anyone else could’ve pulled it off anywhere else in Canada. Everyone here really bought into the concept and has supported the centre.”

Weir is the only year-round full-time staff. He is a jack-of-all-trades and is just as comfortable in the office or making public appearances or mucking out the pens. Many of the responsibilities during the open season from May 10 to September 10 are met by volunteers and summer students.

Creative solution

The Birds of Prey Centre has evolved from being solely a rescue organization, opened in 1991, to a full-fledged nature education centre, complete with gift shop, duck ponds, a flying field and one of the largest flight aviaries for eagles in North America.

When the idea for the centre was first born, the town of Coaldale was experiencing severe flooding from storm water runoff. At that time, Weir proposed a creative solution to build a rescue facility in conjunction with a storm water retention site by restoring a drained wetland – the entire site would be called the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre.

Today, the centre is the site of Alberta’s first privately licensed (registered charity) raptor rescue and conservation organization. It operates on donations and admission fees, as well as municipal or provincial subsidies. Grants and major donations from government or private industry are on a project-by-project basis.

For its environmental efforts and wildlife rehabilitation, the centre received an Emerald Award this year. In the future, Weir says the centre hopes to partner with the Oldman Watershed Council to provide education about the importance of water conservation and wetlands.

The post Raptors Get A Second Chance In Coaldale appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“Rather than finding out what’s the best date to plant, perhaps we should be thinking about what stage is best for overwintering.”

Determining the best seeding date is important for producers of winter crops, but one expert suggests the better measure might be what stage of plant growth is best going into winter.

“Rather than finding out what’s the best date to plant, perhaps we should be thinking about what stage is best for overwintering,” says Mark Olson, provincial pulse industry development specialist with Alberta Agriculture. Olson was on hand at the Southern Applied Research Association’s (SARA) annual diagnostic field school in July to answer questions about winter crops.

Last fall, Olson participated in a study where winter pulses were planted September 1 and three more times 10 days’ apart. Sites were at Lethbridge, Brooks, Lacombe and Edmonton.

This spring, Lethbridge had the best survivability at about 60 per cent, while no plants survived in Edmonton, which was not surprising due to different climates. Further results will be released later.

Another issue that deserves some attention is the optimal depth to plant. “This is one of the most controversial issue we come across,” says Olson. He says it depends on soil moisture.

Interest in winter pulses in Alberta really began in 2004. The next year, researchers began trials with Austrian winter pulses, which have continued every year since. Even though winter pulses are gaining popularity, there are still no registered varieties in Canada, with most of the seed, breeding and research coming from the United States.

Ken Coles, SARA’s general manager, says there are many benefits to growing winter crops. First of all, winter crops have earlier flowering dates, meaning they can beat the hottest parts of the summer and avoid flower blasting. Winter crops also spread out the workload over the year, although some would say it’s more work when you’re trying to harvest and seed at the same time.

The longer growing season also means a potential for higher yields and winter pulses can fix more nitrogen. For organic growers, winter crops are quite competitive with weeds, reducing the need for other weed control methods.

One downside is that winter crops, specifically pulses, might be more susceptible to disease and pests. For that reason, winter pulses have been used in research trials as a trap crop for the pea leaf weevil.

During a field tour of test plots, Coles pointed out that better varieties are needed for winter barley. He also noted a plot of winter triticale, which he says was the nicest crop until frost hit in early June.

Even though winter triticale is not a significant crop in southern Alberta, it has much potential, says Cole. It is very adaptable, competitive and easily identifiable. Furthermore, it is said that triticale could be the next canola when it comes to bioprocessing capacities.

The post Winter Pulses — Promising, But More Research Needed appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“I just can’t help but wonder why did it take, you know, 14,000 years for this meeting to happen?”

– Dixon Hammond, Beaver Creek Watershed Group

Southern Alberta is home to about 60 per cent of the province’s population, but only 40 per cent of the water resources. Therefore, stewardship groups are a vital part of water conservation in the area, says Jacqueline Nelson, chair of the Alberta Stewardship Network.

At the organization’s annual meeting and workshop called “Stewards in Motion” here in June, several stewardship groups had the opportunity to share their stories. The Alberta Stewardship Network was created in 2004 as a way to support and recognize the efforts of such groups across Alberta.

Dixon Hammond, a fourth-generation rancher-turned-mechanic to support his “hobby of ranching,” lives in the Beaver Creek area about 40 kilometres west of Fort Macleod and is an active member of the Beaver Creek Watershed Group. Poor water quality in 1999 spurred local landowners to take a closer look at Beaver Creek, holding an inaugural meeting early the next year. “I just can’t help but wonder why did it take, you know, 14,000 years for this meeting to happen?” said Hammond.

By 2002, water development in the Beaver Creek area was underway with offstream watering and fencing projects. In 2004, the group initiated a water quality monitoring program, and in 2005, they received an Emerald Award for their efforts, although heavy rain on the day of the awards ceremony prevented the group from attending the ceremony. “We received more rain on that one day in June than we did the rest of the year,” said Hammond.

By 2007, the group had five years of data, which has yet to be organized and presented. “We know the water is still bad sometimes but it has turned into a better picture from 1999.”

In 2008, the Beaver Creek Watershed Group organized a tour to count fish in the creek. “It was an encouraging event for me as a landowner to see the array and abundance of fish,” said Hammond.

Now, in its 10th year, the group continues to plan projects and seek funding for ways to enhance its water resources. “We are doing our best to make it better,” said Hammond.

Reducing bear conflicts

Another group to share its success stories was the Drywood/Yarrow Conservation Partnership. Chair Tony Bruder, along with Dennis Lastuka and Dick Hardy, talked about its three-year history, which included a trail ride along the creeks to familiarize people in the area with the resource. The partnership is also taking steps to reduce human-bear conflicts by following a model of the Blackfoot Challenge in Montana, which uses preventive measures to reduce attractants.

In April, the group introduced a bear-proof livestock disposal unit.

“Everyone thought it was a good idea, but no one wanted it on their place,” said Hardy. In addition to the contained disposal units, the group would like to eventually replace wooden grain storage bins, which are often raided by bears, with steel bins with hopper bottoms. By working with other organizations and the government, the partnership will continue its effort to improve water resources and reduce human-bear conflicts.

Corlaine Gardner of the Grasslands Naturalists-Medicine Hat Interpretive Program knows what it takes to educate people about water resources. Through the program at Police Point Park, Gardner and her team have developed a map of wetlands in the city for every classroom in the city. “Teachers know where the wetlands are and where to walk to places that are important for education,” says Gardner. She engages the public through various projects, such as frog calling, tree planting and geocaching.

Gardner advises other stewardship groups to take advantage of media and not to assume that no one else is interested in water conservation activities. “Don’t try and do it all yourselves,” she said. The program is in close contact with the local newspaper and also provides a “Nature Break” on local television.

The Alberta Stewardship Networks contact number is (1-877-7-ASK-ASN) for directing stewards and stewardship groups to existing resources, and a web-site www.ab.stewardshipcanada.ca), which features stewardship organization profiles, funding resources and scientific and technical information. There is also a directory of watershed stewardship that contains contact information for more than 250 stewardship groups and supporting agencies.

The post Ranchers, Conservationists Take Action To Protect Habitat appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“I would not have any problem with it if producers had had a chance to vote on it.”

While the repercussions of Bill 43 may not be realized for a few years, the Potato Growers of Alberta are acting now to ensure that the organization stays strong. “We won’t know the consequences until 2010 or 2011, but we have to keep moving forward,” says chairman Jerry Zeinstra.

Bill 43, officially passed on June 2, eliminates the ability of the Potato Growers of Alberta to retain mandatory checkoffs. Under the bill, producers now have to right to request a refund of their checkoffs to all Alberta commodity organizations.

Details of how the new regulation will be applied will be determined through consultation between the Alberta Agricultural Products Marketing Council and the Potato Growers of Alberta in the coming months. The bill will come into affect for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, which ends July 31, 2011 for the Potato Growers of Alberta.

The Potato Growers of Alberta are opposed to Bill 43 because it undermines a process already in place that allowed the membership to introduce change to the organization and then vote on it in a democratic process. “Every organization has internal issues but we were able to solve those with the growers,” says Zeinstra. “Now, if someone doesn’t like something he can just throw his hands up and say, ‘I want my money back.’”

He doesn’t expect many requests for refunds since about 95 per cent of members are opposed to the bill. The Potato Growers of Alberta represents about 150 producers and the checkoffs amount to less than one per cent of the value of the producer’s crop.

Zeinstra says his biggest issue is how the government went about introducing the bill.

“At the time we were notified about the bill, it was already basically a done deal. It should’ve been introduced in a democratic way by a plebiscite through the Marketing Council to give each commodity group the option to vote on the bill,” says Zeinstra. “I would not have any problem with it if producers had had a chance to vote on it.”

Free riders?

Edzo Kok, executive director of the Potato Growers of Alberta, says the way the act reads, it obligates the commissions to provide the same services to all producers, whether they request a refund or not.

Kok says the Potato Growers of Alberta will continue to deliver benefits to producers financially through contract negotiations and price setting, technically through research and information exchange, and by marketing and promoting the Alberta advantage, communicating industry information, and lobbying on producers’ behalf.

Without the mandatory nonrefundable checkoffs, though, it is difficult for the commission to budget for these activities, as it is funded solely by the checkoffs. “If there is a loss in income due to requested refunds, there is no way to make up the difference,” says Kok. “We’d have to reduce our programs and activities.”

The Potato Growers of Alberta represents growers nationally and internationally through the Canadian Horticultural Council, the United Potato Growers of Canada, the United Potato Growers of America, the Potato Marketing Association of North America, the Potato Association of America, and the Western Potato Council.

Staff and elected officials also attend trade shows in Canada and the United States to market seed and fresh potatoes. About 80 per cent of potatoes grown in Alberta are for processing, and are thereby under contract, eliminating the need for marketing activities.

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