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	Alberta Farmer ExpressIndigenous Archives - Alberta Farmer Express	</title>
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		<title>Agribition 2024: Indigenous Ag Summit focuses on community, partnership</title>

		<link>
		https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/agribition-2024-indigenous-ag-summit-focuses-on-community-partnership/		 </link>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Nov 2024 23:45:59 +0000</pubDate>
				<dc:creator><![CDATA[Janelle Rudolph]]></dc:creator>
						<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Agribition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Truth and Reconciliation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/agribition-2024-indigenous-ag-summit-focuses-on-community-partnership/</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[<p>Canadian Western Agribition’s 11th Indigenous Agriculture Summit focused on growing opportunities for Indigenous producers and using their ways of knowing to advance the ag industry.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/agribition-2024-indigenous-ag-summit-focuses-on-community-partnership/">Agribition 2024: Indigenous Ag Summit focuses on community, partnership</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Glacier FarmMedia</em>—<a href="https://www.canadiancattlemen.ca/content/agribition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Canadian Western Agribition</a>’s 11th Indigenous Agriculture Summit focused on growing opportunities for Indigenous producers and using their ways of knowing to advance the ag industry.</p>
<p>Topics included growth of wealth and how that can contribute to food sovereignty.</p>
<p>Many of the speakers said community involvement and interest is a main way to address the wealth and agriculture gaps.</p>
<p>A prime example of this was shared by Derrick Meetoos, one of the community members and farmers who are part of Thunder Farms Ltd. of Thunderchild First Nation in Saskatchewan.</p>
<p>Meetoos said Thunder Farms is continuously growing and is currently close to 9,000 acres. The band’s goal is to get to 14,000 acres.</p>
<p>The farm is also completely Indigenous run.</p>
<p>“They started purchasing land around the reserve itself, so we have land base around it that we’ve slowly started taking back from the patrons that used to lease it from the reserve,” he said.</p>
<p>Meetoos said the First Nation’s success was a combined effort of the community and band council, particularly in getting local youth involved and trained.</p>
<p>Former British Columbia premier Christy Clark said that for many Indigenous communities, especially those in remote and rural areas, resource sectors such as agriculture, mining, forestry and oil and gas are some of the most valuable ways to create wealth.</p>
<p>She said that while this may sound counterintuitive at first, given Indigenous values and traditions when it comes to resource extraction, it’s actually a productive and positive way for Indigenous communities to grow their wealth and do what’s best for the land.</p>
<p>“About it being done in a way that is acceptable to Indigenous people,” she said.</p>
<p>“I mean, my experience of that was a lot of long, intense, emotional discussion and negotiation with elected leaders and traditional leaders in communities to find a way to do this that was acceptable.”</p>
<p>Clark offered the example of Haida Gwaii, which operates a forestry business, harvesting only enough trees to ensure good profit while not abusing the land.</p>
<p>This was also touched on by Michael Twigg, program director of land use, nature and agriculture at the Smart Prosperity Institute, who said land rights and sovereignty are intertwined with economic growth — not just for Indigenous communities but for the entire country.</p>
<p>“They&#8217;re firmly integrated and they&#8217;re firmly intertwined into a future vision of what the local community is desiring for prosperity,” Twigg said.</p>
<p>He said promoting and supporting Indigenous communities can achieve a balance of growth while working within the systems of nature and Indigenous practices. This approach will also help with sustainability and address production losses caused by land degradation and loss of biodiversity.</p>
<p>Twigg said failing to care for the land will result in significant loss of production and increased input costs to make up for the loss. Mitigating land damage now is one-fifteenth the cost of post-disaster remediation, he added, which would save everyone billions of dollars.</p>
<p>There are still lessons to be learned from Indigenous people regarding sustainability and biodiversity and how they can help industries such as agriculture, just as it was when Europeans arrived hundreds of years ago.</p>
<p>“It was Indigenous people that we learned that (farming) from, and we shouldn&#8217;t forget that that&#8217;s where it began,” said Clark.</p>
<p>“There is a real opportunity for partnership here, but it has to recognize we will be partners — not adversaries, not takers — sharers and partners in the resources that we create.”</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/agribition-2024-indigenous-ag-summit-focuses-on-community-partnership/">Agribition 2024: Indigenous Ag Summit focuses on community, partnership</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
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		<title>Canada, First Nations agree on unmet agricultural claims</title>

		<link>
		https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/canada-first-nations-agree-on-unmet-agricultural-claims/		 </link>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Oct 2024 18:30:38 +0000</pubDate>
				<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jeff Melchior]]></dc:creator>
						<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[First Nations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Truth and Reconciliation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/canada-first-nations-agree-on-unmet-agricultural-claims/</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[<p>A handful of specific agricultural benefit claims between the federal government and nine First Nations were settled on Friday.<br />
 Once fully settled, these claims—unmet promises in treaties 5, 6 and 10 territories throughout the Prairie provinces—will represent almost $1.4 billion in combined compensation to these First Nations.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/canada-first-nations-agree-on-unmet-agricultural-claims/">Canada, First Nations agree on unmet agricultural claims</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p><em>Glacier FarmMedia</em>—A handful of specific agricultural benefit claims between the federal government and nine First Nations were settled on Friday.</p>



<p>Once fully settled, these claims—unmet promises in treaties 5, 6 and 10 territories throughout the Prairie provinces—will represent almost $1.4 billion in combined compensation to these First Nations.</p>



<p>Through these treaties, Canada promised First Nations ploughs, seeds for important crops, livestock such as cows and bulls and other farming necessities.</p>



<p>“These agricultural benefits were meant to facilitate the economic transition, and as a result of Canada’s failure to fulfil treaty promises, these First Nations did not have the equipment needed to support their members,” read an Oct. 18 news release from Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.</p>



<p>Wrote Tony Alexis of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation: “This settlement recognizes the original promises made under Treaty No. 6 in 1877 and acknowledges the inadequate agricultural benefits that were provided to our people. It is a victory for our nation and a testament to the determination of those who first established these rights.</p>



<p>“Through close work with our people and effective negotiations with the ministry, this settlement marks a significant step forward, ensuring that these long-standing commitments are finally addressed for the benefit of future generations.”</p>



<p>Treaty 5, also known as the Winnipeg Treaty, was signed in 1875–76 by the federal government, Ojibwe peoples and the Swampy Cree of Lake Winnipeg. It covers much of present-day central and northern Manitoba as well as portions of Saskatchewan and Ontario.</p>



<p>Treaty 6 is an agreement between the crown and the Plains and Woods Cree, Assiniboine and other band governments at Fort Carlton and Fort Pitt. It encompasses most of the central area of present-day Saskatchewan and Alberta. Treaty 6 signings began on Aug. 18, 1876, and ran until September 9, 1876.</p>



<p>Treaty 10 was established Aug. 19, 1906, between King Edward VII and various First Nation governments in current northern Saskatchewan and a portion of current eastern Alberta, an area covering 220,000 sq. kilometres.</p>



<p>“The socio-economic gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada are the result of decades of colonial policies, which often led to the denial and dispossession of land and resources,” explained the release.</p>



<p>“Honouring Canada&#8217;s legal obligations and properly compensating Indigenous Peoples for what was unlawfully taken or withheld from them is fundamental to advancing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in order to rebuild trust with Indigenous communities.”</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/canada-first-nations-agree-on-unmet-agricultural-claims/">Canada, First Nations agree on unmet agricultural claims</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
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		<title>CAHRC puts out funding call for Indigenous training initiatives</title>

		<link>
		https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/cahrc-puts-out-funding-call-for-indigenous-training-initiatives/		 </link>
		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Jan 2024 22:45:18 +0000</pubDate>
				<dc:creator><![CDATA[Geralyn Wichers, GFM Network News]]></dc:creator>
						<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agricultural education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CAHRC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canadian Agricultural Human Resources Council]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[employment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[funding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[training]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/cahrc-puts-out-funding-call-for-indigenous-training-initiatives/</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[<p>The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC) is looking to fund agriculture training programs for Indigenous participants this winter, it announced today.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/cahrc-puts-out-funding-call-for-indigenous-training-initiatives/">CAHRC puts out funding call for Indigenous training initiatives</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC) is looking to fund agriculture training programs for Indigenous participants this winter, it announced today.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are currently seeking eligible partners across Canada that have existing training programs that may be in need of further refinement or support,&#8221; it said in an emailed newsletter.</p>
<p>Eligible organizations can access funding between Feb. 1 and March 31 of this year, CAHRC&#8217;s website says. The training programs must be ready for delivery so participants may finish them by the end of March.</p>
<p>Funding may be used for things like enhancement of programs and materials, funding to deliver training in Indigenous communities or at an institution, and for &#8216;wrap around&#8217; supports for participants, such as transportation or childcare allowances.</p>
<p>CAHRC will ask for an in-kind contribution of 10 per cent of the training program&#8217;s total budget.</p>
<p>The deadline to apply is Jan. 31.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;<strong>Geralyn Wicher</strong>s is associate digital editor with AgCanada. She writes from southeast Manitoba</em>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/cahrc-puts-out-funding-call-for-indigenous-training-initiatives/">CAHRC puts out funding call for Indigenous training initiatives</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
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		<title>At Agribition: Northern community integrates tech, education into market garden</title>

		<link>
		https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/at-agribition-northern-community-integrates-tech-education-into-market-garden/		 </link>
		<pubDate>Thu, 23 Nov 2023 20:45:22 +0000</pubDate>
				<dc:creator><![CDATA[Lisa Guenther, GFM Network News]]></dc:creator>
						<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Agribition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bison]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canadian Western Agribition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[First Nations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Land use]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livestock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mapping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[market garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[potatoes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/at-agribition-northern-community-integrates-tech-education-into-market-garden/</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[<p>Riverside Market Garden, operated by Flying Dust First Nation, started in 2009 with two people and an old alfalfa field. Today it employs about 20 people, plus summer students; provides food for the community and some wholesalers; and gives youth a chance to learn about agriculture. Over the years the First Nation, just north of [&#8230;] <a class="read-more" href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/at-agribition-northern-community-integrates-tech-education-into-market-garden/">Read more</a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/at-agribition-northern-community-integrates-tech-education-into-market-garden/">At Agribition: Northern community integrates tech, education into market garden</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Riverside Market Garden, operated by Flying Dust First Nation, started in 2009 with two people and an old alfalfa field. Today it employs about 20 people, plus summer students; provides food for the community and some wholesalers; and gives youth a chance to learn about agriculture.</p>
<p>Over the years the First Nation, just north of Meadow Lake, Sask., has been converting the alfalfa field into a potato field and expanding the vegetable garden. This year, it planted 18 tonnes of seed potatoes and harvested about 90. They expected to harvest about 120 tonnes, but they didn’t beat the frost, says Jason Cardinal.</p>
<p>Cardinal has a background in data science and mechanics, and he brings that high-tech lens to Flying Dusts’s agricultural ventures. Speaking at the 10th annual Indigenous Ag Summit, held during Canadian Western Agribition in Regina, Cardinal explained how they survey the land base with drones, using the images and maps for land use planning, elevation mapping, tree canopy counts, calculating flood risk and checking crops and bison.</p>
<p>That tech also attracts students and young people to the market garden.</p>
<p>“We do a lot of drones and that seems to really entice them because the technology is something they&#8217;re really interested in. It enables them to make videos, TikTok videos and things like that. Get cool footage. We’ve got a lot of bison running and things like that.”</p>
<p>Summer students are put to work doing everything from building a chicken coop to growing and selling produce. A community elder mentors the students, teaching them how to manage the greenhouse, as well as about traditional foods and medicines. This year, they also planted about 200 fruit trees, creating a “food forest.”</p>
<p>Students can also earn their green certification at the market garden over two years through the University of Saskatchewan.</p>
<p>The market garden produces a range of vegetables, including three types of potatoes, cabbage, carrots, peas, lettuce, squash, peppers, tomatoes and more. Right now vegetables are grown on five acres, but there are 20-25 acres available for vegetables.</p>
<p>Along with chickens and bison, the First Nation also has over 150 beehives, which is a relatively new venture for its members. Workers have been taking courses on bees and learning from a beekeeper, who hails from the Philippines, hired by the reserve.</p>
<p>The market garden has a temperature-controlled potato storage facility and commercial kitchen, Flying Dust’s website notes. Supervisors run the market garden, which also has a board of directors.</p>
<p>Cardinal says the biggest challenge right now is distributing the produce, as they are a bit short on transportation-related infrastructure. However, Flying Dust plans to purchase a new truck to help distribute produce in the community, which should alleviate some distribution pain.</p>
<p>The Riverside Market Garden aims to provide fresh produce to the community, as well as other communities within a 100-mile radius, says Cardinal. They’re also building a community meat shop to process meat from bison and cattle.</p>
<p>The market garden sells into the Co-op and the Meadow Lake Farmers&#8217; Market. It also has sales agreements with Sobeys and Thomas Fresh (which sells to Costco and Walmart). Cardinal says they’re looking for more customers, as currently, the market garden is producing more than the people in their community consume.</p>
<p>This year, they did a lot of food preservation, such as freeze-drying and canning, and involved students. “We did pickles and peppers and beets and stuff like that. So it was a really nice experience, getting to see that firsthand.”</p>
<p><strong>&#8212; Lisa Guenther</strong> <em>is editor of</em> <a href="https://www.canadiancattlemen.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Canadian Cattlemen</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/at-agribition-northern-community-integrates-tech-education-into-market-garden/">At Agribition: Northern community integrates tech, education into market garden</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
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				<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">158194</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Alberta First Nations tribe spins hay into gold</title>

		<link>
		https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/news/alberta-first-nations-tribe-spins-hay-into-gold/		 </link>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Aug 2023 17:23:59 +0000</pubDate>
				<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jeff Melchior]]></dc:creator>
						<category><![CDATA[Heartland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[First Nations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kainai Forage]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/?p=155944</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[<p><span class="rt-reading-time" style="display: block;"><span class="rt-label rt-prefix">Reading Time: </span> <span class="rt-time">4</span> <span class="rt-label rt-postfix">minutes</span></span> Four years ago, Kainai Forage set out to increase its premium forage production fivefold by 2024. If its first cut is any indication, it could be on its way to that 100,000-tonne goal. The plant-to-processing company recently set a record-best first cut when it harvested more than 40,000 tonnes of export-destined timothy hay grown under [&#8230;] <a class="read-more" href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/news/alberta-first-nations-tribe-spins-hay-into-gold/">Read more</a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/news/alberta-first-nations-tribe-spins-hay-into-gold/">Alberta First Nations tribe spins hay into gold</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>Four years ago, Kainai Forage set out to increase its premium forage production fivefold by 2024. If its first cut is any indication, it could be on its way to that 100,000-tonne goal.</p>



<p>The plant-to-processing company recently set a record-best first cut when it harvested more than 40,000 tonnes of export-destined timothy hay grown under irrigation. In June, it celebrated a single-day harvest of 8,000 bales.</p>



<p>These are the latest in a series of wins for the nearly 30-year-old company and the Kainai-Blood Tribe, the <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/news/for-the-first-time-in-generations-bison-have-returned-to-traditional-lands/">First Nation</a> in southwestern Alberta that co-owns it.</p>



<p>“That’s great news for us,” said Roy Fox (Blackfoot name Makiinima), chief of the 12,000-strong tribe.</p>



<p>“It assures us that this project was the right kind of project to get into. It ensures that there is a good return coming back to the tribe. It ensures that many of our people find employment, either directly at the forage plant or working for the farmers who have leases, including our own (Blood Tribe) farmers.”</p>



<p>Kainai Forage employs more than 50 people, primarily from the reserve, and leases several parcels of land to tribe farmers. Company employment landed close to 100 people at harvest, said Fox.</p>



<p>The Blood Reserve, at 1,400 square kilometres, is the largest <a href="https://www.canadiancattlemen.ca/features/reconnecting-a-first-nations-community-to-agriculture/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">First Nations</a> reserve in Canada by area. The forage business is a good news story from a place that doesn’t always have the best news to tell.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="1000" height="600" src="https://static.albertafarmexpress.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/22121810/Kainai_Forage2_Overhead.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-156013" srcset="https://static.albertafarmexpress.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/22121810/Kainai_Forage2_Overhead.jpeg 1000w, https://static.albertafarmexpress.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/22121810/Kainai_Forage2_Overhead-768x461.jpeg 768w, https://static.albertafarmexpress.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/22121810/Kainai_Forage2_Overhead-235x141.jpeg 235w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">An overhead view of Kainai Forage, which includes a new plant and hay press that can process more than 125,000 tonnes of hay per year.</figcaption></figure></div>


<p>A Google search for news from the Blood Reserve can be grim: many stories paint a picture of a community in the throes of drug addiction and overdose deaths.</p>



<p>The <a href="https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/news-opinion/news/back-to-the-land-we-used-to-plant-hay-here/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hay operation</a>, which formed in 1997 as the Blood Tribe Forage Processing Plant, has had success over the years, including direct trade relationships with companies in Japan, Ireland, England, the United Arab Emirates and others.</p>



<p>However, its 2019 partnership with Indigena Capital, a venture capital firm focused on First Nations interests, has supercharged its capacity with a $45 million expansion plan that so far has included a new plant and hay press that can process more than 125,000 tonnes of hay per year.</p>



<p>For perspective on how much Kainai Forage’s fortunes have changed, consider that last year it harvested 52,000 tonnes on both cuts, compared to this year’s 40,000 on a single cut. Fox said the true secret of its success is ongoing dedication to sustainable soil practices.</p>



<p>“We have always had a good relationship with the Earth. We’ve always respected the Earth and we wanted to ensure that in this case, we did the same.</p>



<p>“The more that we can provide for ourselves, then the more sovereign we will become. We can get back to that point where our ancestors provided for themselves entirely through their own initiative and their own hard work.”</p>



<p>The story of Kainai Forage goes back to the 1950s and construction of the St. Mary’s Dam irrigation project. It’s a story that underscores the tribe’s changing relationship with government in terms of bargaining power.</p>



<p>“We provided some of the land on which the St. Mary’s Dam is on,” Fox said. “One of the agreements was that whenever the Blood Tribe wanted to go into irrigation farming, the federal government would help in that development.”</p>



<p>That time came in the 1980s and ‘90s with a large project in which the reserve become home to 25,000 acres of irrigation land. The next question was what to do with it.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img decoding="async" width="1000" height="600" src="https://static.albertafarmexpress.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/22121802/Kainai_Forage1_Irrigation.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-156012" srcset="https://static.albertafarmexpress.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/22121802/Kainai_Forage1_Irrigation.jpeg 1000w, https://static.albertafarmexpress.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/22121802/Kainai_Forage1_Irrigation-768x461.jpeg 768w, https://static.albertafarmexpress.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/22121802/Kainai_Forage1_Irrigation-235x141.jpeg 235w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Kainai-Blood Reserve became home to 25,000 acres of irrigated land in the 1990s, the result of a deal made with the federal government four decades earlier.</figcaption></figure></div>


<p>Market and soil studies and a variety of experimental developments played a role in the decision, which ultimately favoured timothy hay as the best crop in terms of return on investment and soil regeneration. Fox said the soil was in rough shape after a number of dryland leasers were finished with it.</p>



<p>“A lot of them did not follow good farming practices so a lot of erosion was occurring,” he said.</p>



<p>“There was an expression that was used, while we were developing, that we would tell others: unfortunately, some of those farmers were mining the lands to death.”</p>



<p>A rotation out of timothy every seven or eight years, usually into cereal crops or oilseeds, seems to work for Kainai Forage, said Fox. Rotations have given the company chances to experiment.</p>



<p>“At one time we grew Kentucky bluegrass seed. We haven’t done that lately. We also grew hybrid canola seed. We’re always looking at how best to rotate the land but mostly it’s there to grow forage crops.”</p>



<p>The needs of an early client from Japan proved a major driver in the Tribe’s decision to grow timothy.</p>



<p>“At that time only about 11 per cent of Japan was arable. There wasn’t even enough land to grow crops to feed their people, let alone their dairy cows. They had to import the forage crops,” said Fox.</p>



<p>A Japanese company learned of land in Alberta that was looking for clientele and could be a fit for the kind of forage it sought for Japanese dairy cattle.</p>



<p>“So it just so happens that during those discussions, they found out that we had huge tracts of irrigated land which we could probably grow timothy on,” Fox said.</p>



<p>Timothy hay has a long, rich history in Japan, said Fox. The country grown and fed timothy for centuries, and at one time the island of Hokkaido had a lot of production.</p>



<p>“So the arrangements were made and we went to Japan and they came here several times. We went to Japan once and we finalized a deal,” Fox said.</p>



<p>“It was a good mix. It was an arrangement where we needed each other. The president and I shared some of our business practices. Some of them are quite similar. In the end, all it took was a handshake and the deal was done.”</p>



<p>Fox signals cautious optimism on when Kainai Forage will reach its 100,000 tonne goal.</p>



<p>“We’re hoping we’ll reach that in about three or four years. I’m being overly optimistic,” he said.</p>



<p>However, Justin Ferguson, vice-president of Indigena Capital, thinks the milestone could be reached sooner.</p>



<p>“We actually could get it even sooner than that, depending on how everything comes together. Next year will potentially be even better. So let’s see how the second cut goes.”</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/news/alberta-first-nations-tribe-spins-hay-into-gold/">Alberta First Nations tribe spins hay into gold</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
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		<title>Brazil justice grants Congress more time on bill limiting Indigenous rights</title>

		<link>
		https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/brazil-justice-grants-congress-more-time-on-bill-limiting-indigenous-rights/		 </link>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Jun 2023 22:14:51 +0000</pubDate>
				<dc:creator><![CDATA[Anthony Boadle, GFM Network News]]></dc:creator>
						<category><![CDATA[Crops]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brazil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farmland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[land claims]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/brazil-justice-grants-congress-more-time-on-bill-limiting-indigenous-rights/</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[<p>Brasilia &#124; Reuters &#8212; A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Wednesday asked for more time to study a case pitting the country&#8217;s Indigenous people against its powerful farm sector, a decision that is likely to give lawmakers more time to pass a measure favouring Big Agriculture. The decision by Justice Andre Mendonca, an Evangelical pastor [&#8230;] <a class="read-more" href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/brazil-justice-grants-congress-more-time-on-bill-limiting-indigenous-rights/">Read more</a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/brazil-justice-grants-congress-more-time-on-bill-limiting-indigenous-rights/">Brazil justice grants Congress more time on bill limiting Indigenous rights</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Brasilia | Reuters &#8212;</em> A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Wednesday asked for more time to study a case pitting the country&#8217;s Indigenous people against its powerful farm sector, a decision that is likely to give lawmakers more time to pass a measure favouring Big Agriculture.</p>
<p>The decision by Justice Andre Mendonca, an Evangelical pastor who was appointed in 2021 by far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, represents a setback for the rights of Brazil&#8217;s roughly one million Indigenous people.</p>
<p>The proposal would impose a cutoff date for ancestral land claims. It has already been approved in the lower house and awaits a vote in a newly conservative Senate. If it passes Congress, all eyes would turn to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has the power of veto.</p>
<p>Lula has staked his global reputation on protecting Indigenous rights and preserving the environment, but he is also increasingly reliant on the ag sector to drive domestic growth.</p>
<p>The landmark case in front of the Supreme Court involves a claim by the Xokleng people of southern Santa Catarina state, whose land was bought decades ago by farmers of European descent. The Xokleng say they have an ancestral right to the land, while the farmers argue they are rightful owners.</p>
<p>Any ruling would set legal jurisprudence for hundreds of other land disputes.</p>
<p>Indigenous groups, including members of the Xokleng community, protested outside the Supreme Court in Brasilia on Wednesday. Other Indigenous protesters blocked a major highway outside Sao Paulo.</p>
<p>Brazil&#8217;s farm sector is also backing a bill in Congress that would set into law a cutoff date for land claims in 1988, the year Brazil&#8217;s current Constitution was enacted. Any Indigenous community that did not occupy their lands by that date would not be allowed to claim them, according to the proposed legislation.</p>
<p>Indigenous leaders say that violates the Constitution that guarantees their people the right to claim ancestral lands. They argue that in many cases, Indigenous groups had been expelled from their land by settlers and no longer occupied them in 1988.</p>
<p>The hearing follows a setback for Indigenous people last week in Congress when the lower chamber passed the bill that limited the recognition of new Indigenous reservations.</p>
<p><strong>&#8212; Anthony Boadle</strong> <em>is a Reuters political correspondent in Brasilia</em>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/brazil-justice-grants-congress-more-time-on-bill-limiting-indigenous-rights/">Brazil justice grants Congress more time on bill limiting Indigenous rights</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
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		<title>Building bridges to Indigenous communities</title>

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		https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/building-bridges-to-indigenous-communities/		 </link>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Mar 2023 22:17:53 +0000</pubDate>
				<dc:creator><![CDATA[Glacier FarmMedia staff, Gord Gilmour, GFM Network News]]></dc:creator>
						<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[First Nations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/building-bridges-to-indigenous-communities/</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[<p>Western Canadian society has a wall running straight down its middle, dividing the world into Indigenous and non-Indigenous spheres. Breaking that wall down is in everyone&#8217;s interest, according to Kendal Netmaker. The Saskatoon-based Indigenous entrepreneur, author and consultant told the Canadian Crops Convention his priority is removing that wall. &#8220;We need to knock it down [&#8230;] <a class="read-more" href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/building-bridges-to-indigenous-communities/">Read more</a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/building-bridges-to-indigenous-communities/">Building bridges to Indigenous communities</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
]]></description>
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<p>Western Canadian society has a wall running straight down its middle, dividing the world into Indigenous and non-Indigenous spheres.</p>
<p>Breaking that wall down is in everyone&#8217;s interest, according to Kendal Netmaker. The Saskatoon-based Indigenous entrepreneur, author and consultant told the Canadian Crops Convention his priority is removing that wall.</p>
<p>&#8220;We need to knock it down so that we can begin talking again,&#8221; he said. &#8220;That invisible wall is hurting us all. I grew up near Cutknife (Saskatchewan) where there were many farms, many rural communities and didn&#8217;t know people from them. We&#8217;re better than that. All of us are better than that.&#8221;</p>
<p>And among the benefits for rural Western Canada will be better relations, closer economic ties and possibly a nearby willing workforce, he said.</p>
<p>Following his presentation he spoke to Gord Gilmour of Glacier FarmMedia, and Karen Briere of the <em>Western Producer</em>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/building-bridges-to-indigenous-communities/">Building bridges to Indigenous communities</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
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				<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">152037</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>B.C. to back Indigenous food system projects</title>

		<link>
		https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/b-c-to-back-indigenous-food-system-projects/		 </link>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Sep 2022 08:22:46 +0000</pubDate>
				<dc:creator><![CDATA[Dave Bedard, GFM Network News]]></dc:creator>
						<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[British Columbia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food processing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[technology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/b-c-to-back-indigenous-food-system-projects/</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[<p>A new British Columbia program will provide up to $80,000 each for projects in agriculture, food processing or other sectors to improve food security in that province&#8217;s Indigenous communities. The province on Wednesday rolled out a new Indigenous Food Systems and Agriculture Partnership Program, which is set up to take applications starting Monday (Sept. 26) [&#8230;] <a class="read-more" href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/b-c-to-back-indigenous-food-system-projects/">Read more</a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/b-c-to-back-indigenous-food-system-projects/">B.C. to back Indigenous food system projects</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A new British Columbia program will provide up to $80,000 each for projects in agriculture, food processing or other sectors to improve food security in that province&#8217;s Indigenous communities.</p>
<p>The province on Wednesday rolled out a new Indigenous Food Systems and Agriculture Partnership Program, which is <a href="https://iafbc.ca/ifsap/">set up to take applications</a> starting Monday (Sept. 26) until the end of October.</p>
<p>The program will provide support for Indigenous-led projects starting on or after Jan. 1, 2023 that &#8220;create benefits to the community, environment or toward increasing food security within local food systems.&#8221;</p>
<p>Eligible activities include agriculture; food processing; food systems planning; training and skills development; technological adoption; scaling up productivity and profitability; and climate change adaptations, the province said.</p>
<p>First Nations and Indigenous communities, businesses and organizations are eligible to apply, the province said, noting projects for both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations will be considered.</p>
<p>Approved projects would &#8220;have the potential to be self-sustaining and demonstrate broad benefits&#8221; &#8212; that is, the benefit of the project&#8217;s activities must extend beyond a single person or business.</p>
<p>Proposals will be reviewed and funding decisions announced in November and December, the province said. If funding is still available, a second application intake will follow next fall.</p>
<p>Approved projects can run up to 24 months and must be completed no later than the end of 2024.</p>
<p>The new program was organized with the support of the B.C. Indigenous Advisory Council on Agriculture and Food (IACAF), which the province set up in July last year to help boost Indigenous participation in B.C.&#8217;s ag and food sectors and to &#8220;strengthen&#8221; Indigenous food systems.</p>
<p>IACAF advised on the new program in support of the council&#8217;s priority to &#8220;strengthen Indigenous food security (and) food sovereignty and build Indigenous and regional food system resilience,&#8221; council member Patrick Michell, a former elected chief with Kanaka Bar Indian Band, said in the province&#8217;s release Wednesday.</p>
<p>The Investment Agriculture Foundation of B.C. will handle program delivery, the province said. &#8211;<em>&#8211; Glacier FarmMedia Network</em></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/b-c-to-back-indigenous-food-system-projects/">B.C. to back Indigenous food system projects</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
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				<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">148016</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Feds apologize for Saskatchewan farming colony scheme</title>

		<link>
		https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/feds-apologize-for-saskatchewan-farming-colony-scheme/		 </link>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Aug 2022 17:08:43 +0000</pubDate>
				<dc:creator><![CDATA[Dave Bedard, GFM Network News]]></dc:creator>
						<category><![CDATA[Crops]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Farm news]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reconciliation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saskatchewan]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/feds-apologize-for-saskatchewan-farming-colony-scheme/</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[<p>Just under a year after Peepeekisis Cree Nation&#8217;s settlement with the Canadian government over the File Hills Colony forced farming scheme, the federal government has made a formal apology. Operating from 1898 to 1954, the File Hills Colony scheme involved what the government today describes as the &#8220;involuntary relocation&#8221; of graduates from residential schools and [&#8230;] <a class="read-more" href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/feds-apologize-for-saskatchewan-farming-colony-scheme/">Read more</a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/feds-apologize-for-saskatchewan-farming-colony-scheme/">Feds apologize for Saskatchewan farming colony scheme</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Just under a year after Peepeekisis Cree Nation&#8217;s settlement with the Canadian government over the File Hills Colony forced farming scheme, the federal government has made a formal apology.</p>
<p>Operating from 1898 to 1954, the File Hills Colony scheme involved what the government today describes as the &#8220;involuntary relocation&#8221; of graduates from residential schools and industrial schools in Saskatchewan and Manitoba to Peepeekisis Cree Nation&#8217;s lands in southeastern Saskatchewan&#8217;s Qu&#8217;Appelle Valley.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 40px"><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://gfmdigital.com/truth-and-reconciliation/reconciling-the-painful-past-creates-hope-for-a-more-promising-future/"><em>Reconciling the painful past creates hope for a more promising future</em></a></p>
<p>Montreal MP and federal Crown–Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller delivered the apology at the Nation on Aug. 3.</p>
<p>&#8220;Canada&#8217;s apology to our Nation and our people, can allow us to move forward on our path to healing our Nation and becoming one people of Peepeekisis,&#8221; Peepeekisis Cree Nation&#8217;s Chief Francis Dieter said.</p>
<p>&#8220;On behalf of the government of Canada, I am truly sorry for the harm, trauma, and significant loss in agricultural land the community of Peepeekisis Cree Nation has experienced due to Canada&#8217;s role in the File Hills Colony scheme,&#8221; Miller said.</p>
<p>The colony scheme was set up by the region&#8217;s Indian agent, William Morris Graham, with the aim of preventing the Indigenous graduates of residential and industrial schools from reverting to traditional lifestyles.</p>
<p>Hand-picked graduates, many of whom had no connection to Peepeekisis Cree Nation, were sent there to farm on land the government now says was &#8220;arbitrarily allocated&#8221; to the scheme with no consent from &#8212; or compensation to &#8212; the Nation.</p>
<p>The graduates were encouraged to adopt a colonial homesteader lifestyle, according to Peepeekisis Cree Nation. They also lost band membership at their home reserves and &#8220;were not permitted to have contact with those who adhered to traditional culture or to engage in cultural ceremonies.&#8221;</p>
<p>Meanwhile, original band members displaced from their homes by the scheme were &#8220;deprived of any use of their communal lands so the graduates could live and work there.&#8221;</p>
<p>The social divide that the scheme created between original band members and the new placements had &#8220;longstanding impacts,&#8221; Peepeekisis Cree Nation said, including a &#8220;loss of identity (which) persists on both sides today.&#8221;</p>
<p>Officially, File Hills Colony was &#8220;touted as a model&#8221; for school programs, but the reality &#8220;was much darker,&#8221; the Nation said. The colony was removed in the mid-1950s following legal action.</p>
<p>Settling a specific claim the Nation first filed in 1986, the federal government on Aug. 10 last year formally announced a negotiated settlement in which Peepeekisis Cree Nation is to be provided with $150 million in total compensation, including the option to acquire up to 18,720 acres of land.</p>
<p>The settlement comes after the specific claim made its way through federal courts over the following three decades, before landing at the federal Specific Claims Tribunal in 2017.</p>
<p>&#8220;Moving forward this settlement agreement will allow our community to close this unfortunate chapter in our shared history, heal and prosper for our future generations,&#8221; Dieter said in a separate government release last August.</p>
<p>&#8220;We cannot change the past, but the resolution of this specific claim provides us with the opportunity to move forward together within Peepeekisis Cree Nation and with Canada.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;In creating and implementing the colony scheme, Canada breached its fiduciary duty to the Nation by failing to protect the Nation&#8217;s interest in (the allocated farmland) and not providing any compensation to the Nation,&#8221; the government said last August.</p>
<p>&#8220;The historic and ongoing harm that the colony scheme caused to the Peepeekisis Nation created community divisions and animosity between families and members. The legacy of the colony scheme continues to impact the Nation to this day.&#8221;</p>
<p>In last week&#8217;s release, the government said it &#8220;will continue to work alongside Peepeekisis Cree Nation to build the relationship between our two nations for the benefit of all Canadians.&#8221; <em>&#8212; Glacier FarmMedia Network</em></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/feds-apologize-for-saskatchewan-farming-colony-scheme/">Feds apologize for Saskatchewan farming colony scheme</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
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		<title>Feds boost Living Labs&#8217; reach to all provinces</title>

		<link>
		https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/feds-boost-living-labs-reach-to-all-provinces/		 </link>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Jul 2022 01:28:46 +0000</pubDate>
				<dc:creator><![CDATA[Dave Bedard, GFM Network News]]></dc:creator>
						<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Machinery]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Weather]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[best management practices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[carbon credits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[carbon sequestration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[emissions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Living Labs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marie-Claude Bibeau]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reconciliation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/feds-boost-living-labs-reach-to-all-provinces/</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[<p>The first crop of federally-funded &#8220;Living Labs&#8221; backed by the Agricultural Climate Solutions (ACS) program, set up to prove carbon-sequestering on-farm processes, takes the concept to the six provinces where such farm-level labs weren&#8217;t yet in place. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, speaking Thursday in Calgary, announced $54 million from the $185 million, 10-year ACS program [&#8230;] <a class="read-more" href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/feds-boost-living-labs-reach-to-all-provinces/">Read more</a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/feds-boost-living-labs-reach-to-all-provinces/">Feds boost Living Labs&#8217; reach to all provinces</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The first crop of federally-funded &#8220;Living Labs&#8221; backed by the Agricultural Climate Solutions (ACS) program, set up to prove carbon-sequestering on-farm processes, takes the concept to the six provinces where such farm-level labs weren&#8217;t yet in place.</p>
<p>Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, speaking Thursday in Calgary, announced $54 million from the $185 million, 10-year ACS program <a href="https://www.agcanada.com/daily/new-federal-program-to-help-develop-on-farm-carbon-sinks">launched last spring</a> has been allocated to nine new Living Lab sites in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.</p>
<p>Included in this round of allocations is the first Indigenous-led Living Lab: the Bridge to Land Water Sky project, to be operated west of Prince Albert, Sask. by the Mistawasis Nêhiyawak and Muskeg Lake Cree Nation.</p>
<p>Each of the nine labs, the feds said, will focus on &#8220;identifying innovative technologies and on-farm management practices that can be adopted by farmers nationwide to tackle climate change.&#8221;</p>
<p>More specifically, the new projects explored at each Living Lab are to focus on carbon sequestration and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions via development and testing of beneficial management practices (BMPs), which &#8220;could then be widely adopted across the region and country.&#8221;</p>
<p>The announced projects &#8212; and their exact final non-repayable funding &#8212; are still subject to negotiation of contribution agreements with the lead recipients, the government said, also noting more living labs are still to be announced &#8220;in the coming year.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Living Labs initiative has been around since 2018 and, at that time, had a broader field of interest across a &#8220;wide range&#8221; of environmental issues. That initiative saw labs set up at sites in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island.</p>
<p>The ACS-backed Living Labs, however, are meant to focus specifically on reducing GHGs and sequestering carbon &#8212; although solutions they develop are also expected to &#8220;help protect biodiversity on farms, improve water and soil quality, and, through the efficient management of resources, strengthen farmers’ bottom lines.&#8221;</p>
<h4>&#8216;Whole farm&#8217;</h4>
<p>The biggest chunk of funding announced Thursday goes to an $8.5 million project spearheaded by Alberta Beef Producers, to &#8220;explore the use of beef, forage and cropping systems to improve soil carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.&#8221;</p>
<p>That project is meant to lead to the development of BMPs in crop rotations and cropping systems, land use changes, grazing management, livestock feeding, nutrient management, and &#8220;increasing carbon on the whole farm.&#8221;</p>
<p>Another $7.7 million goes to the Alberta Conservation Association (ACA) and Food Water Wellness Foundation, collaborating on a Living Lab to &#8220;improve soil health, reduce costs of production and sequester carbon in the soil using regenerative agriculture.&#8221;</p>
<p>BMPs to be examined in the ACA/Food Water Wellness project include cover cropping, intercropping, relay cropping, adaptive multi-paddock grazing, use of perennials and animals in cropping systems, and feeding strategies to cut methane emissions. The projects are also expected to &#8220;amplify and support traditional ecological knowledge and efforts of First Nations.&#8221;</p>
<p>Bibeau and the Alberta groups&#8217; representatives, speaking in Calgary Thursday, noted these projects will be helpful in gathering hard data on how much carbon can be sequestered through these BMPs &#8212; with an aim of having those practices recognized to thus allow cattle producers to become eligible producers of carbon credits.</p>
<p>The other funding allocations announced Thursday include:</p>
<ul>
<li>$8 million for the South of the Divide Conservation Action Program in southern Saskatchewan, focused on four key areas &#8212; avoiding land use conversion, adaptive grazing management, restoring and enhancing perennial plant communities, and livestock grazing of &#8220;diverse annual cover crops;&#8221;</li>
<li>$6 million for the Peace Region Forage Seed Association, looking at &#8220;farms as a whole, including land management, economics and the social aspects of applying new BMPs&#8221; in the Peace region of northern Alberta and B.C.;</li>
<li>$6 million for the B.C. Investment Agriculture Foundation (IAF) and B.C. Agriculture Council, whose lab will also explore BMPs relating to crop rotations and cropping systems, land use changes, grazing management, livestock feeding, nutrient management and increasing carbon on the whole farm;</li>
<li>$4.8 million for the Indigenous-led Bridge to Land Water Sky project in Saskatchewan, focusing on BMPs including crop diversification and cover, 4R nitrogen stewardship, pesticide management, and landscape diversification, &#8220;while committing to the protection of Indigenous values, treaties, communities, lands and resources;&#8221;</li>
<li>$4.5 million for the Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick, exploring BMPs including systems for advanced cropping, enhanced forage management, &#8220;high-performance&#8221; pasture management and efficient nitrogen management, along with landscape use;</li>
<li>$4.5 million for the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture, focused on &#8220;four BMPs important to this region&#8221; including cover cropping in annual and perennial systems, establishing riparian zones and shelterbelts, and land swapping; and</li>
<li>$3.8 million for the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture, exploring BMPs including diversifying forage and vegetable rotations using cover cropping, optimizing fertilizer rates, and adding composts and biochar to sandy soils.</li>
</ul>
<p>Applicants seeking ACS funding for their Living Labs were required form a network of partnerships within a province, such as with producer organizations and other agricultural not-for-profits, along with Indigenous organizations and environmental groups.</p>
<p>The goal, the government said, is to set up at least one such collaboration hub in each province. <em>&#8212; Glacier FarmMedia Network</em></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/feds-boost-living-labs-reach-to-all-provinces/">Feds boost Living Labs&#8217; reach to all provinces</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca">Alberta Farmer Express</a>.</p>
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