Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – The Government of Alberta is working with a research team at the University of Lethbridge to measure the snowpack in southern Alberta more accurately, according to a news release. The measurements will help guide water management policies and practices as the province works to better manage its water resources. For seven months […] Read more
Alberta to study snowpack with more accuracy
LiDAR employed to provide more spatially precise data
Alberta boosts irrigation spending for 2024
Irrigation districts get $5.5M bonus to update infrastructure
Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta is increasing the amount it spends on irrigation infrastructure in 2024. The provincial government is boosting its portion of the annual irrigation rehabilitation program this year by providing $19 million — an increase of $5.5 million over 2023. It’s meant to help irrigation districts (IDs) update water infrastructure and allow them to do more […] Read more
Agri-processing incentive lands first big fish
New tax credit program takes off with potato processor’s expansion plan
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Alberta government’s new tax credit has found its first buyer one year after the program was announced. The Little Potato Company (TLPC) just opened its doors on a new $40 million processing plant in Nisku, south of Edmonton, the location of its initial plant. The tipping point appears to have been the government’s Agri-Processing […] Read more
Alberta government asks people with water licence to move their licences online
Moving licences online will simplify things and make sure the government can track water availability
Reading Time: 2 minutes To make things simpler and faster, the government of Alberta is asking thousands of water licence users to move their licences online. The province has a digital system that lets users report on water use and manage their licence through a confidential online tool. A typical water licence allows the holder to divert water and […] Read more
Opinion: Alberta Outrage Machine strikes back at Charlie Angus
His private member’s bill was meant to get an over-the-top reaction. And Alberta fell for it
Reading Time: 4 minutes Well played, Chuck. Well played. You put the landmine out there, with a big neon blinking “TREAD ON ME” marquee, and as you knew they would, a bunch of righteously indignant Albertans goose-stepped right toward your private member’s bill minefield. BLAM. BAM. KAPOWEE. They gave it to you good; just like in a vintage Batman […] Read more
Environmental group set to drill Alberta government on clean energy policies
Pembina Institute report questions fairness of pending recommendations
Reading Time: < 1 minute A prominent clean energy think tank is taking the Government of Alberta to task for its seven-month pause on renewable energy projects in the province. The Pembina Institute is offering the public an assessment document ahead of the moratorium’s February 29 closure. It includes seven criteria for evaluating the Alberta Utilities Commission’s (AUC) forthcoming recommendations […] Read more
Loan limits get beefed up
Reading Time: < 1 minute The provincial government is giving feeder association members more options to purchase and market livestock and to generate better cash flow for their operations. It is amending the Feeder Associations Guarantee Regulation. The changes raise individual and joint membership loan limits, excluding advances, to $3 million from $2 million. Cattle prices have increased 25 per […] Read more
Landowners can request clean-up of abandoned oil wells
Any site that’s been abandoned or inactive for five years is eligible, says Alberta Energy Regulator
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Alberta Energy Regulator is accepting “nominations” from landowners for the clean-up of abandoned oil and gas wells on their property. “Eligible individuals and groups can nominate wells or facilities that have been inactive or abandoned for five or more years and meet certain criteria by submitting a closure nomination form,” the agency said in […] Read more
Business leaders back tax credit to spur more agri-processing
Province to offer 12 per cent tax credit for large-scale value-added projects
Reading Time: 3 minutes A new provincial tax break aimed at boosting the province’s agri-processing sector is getting a thumbs up from business leaders. “We are truly involved in a global economy that includes a rise in demand for food exports,” said Rich Vesta, owner of Harmony Beef, who hosted a government press conference announcing the tax credit. “With […] Read more
‘High-speed’ internet is coming to rural areas — but the yardsticks have moved
Basic high speed will be fine for many, but farming is increasingly a business that needs serious bandwidth
Reading Time: 3 minutes Government’s definition of high-speed internet for rural areas isn’t all that high, especially for farmers taking advantage of new technology. The problem is that the provincial government’s minimum standard (50 megabits per second for downloads and 10 mbps for uploads) is the same baseline Ottawa set seven years ago, and a lot has changed since […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
