Reading Time: 2 minutes It was a low-key announcement with some very sizable numbers. A historic expansion of Alberta’s irrigation network is getting bigger — another 30,000 acres are being added at a cost of $118 million. The expansion was announced earlier this month by Premier Jason Kenney without the fanfare of the original announcement a year ago, which […] Read more
The province’s ‘historic’ irrigation expansion has got even bigger
Two new districts join in and now nearly a quarter of a million more acres will be irrigated
Irrigation adds stability in unstable times
The timing is right for a historic investment in Alberta’s irrigation system
Reading Time: 5 minutes By early July, Richard Stamp already knew he wouldn’t be harvesting his dryland acres this year. “Last year, we had a relatively good crop — double what we would expect on it — but this year, we will not be combining it,” said the Enchant-area pedigreed seed grower. “It’s definitely a big difference this year, […] Read more
AGI to buy into soil microbe breeding firm
Machinery maker to take minority stake in MyLand
A U.S. company ramping up a system to harvest, reproduce and restore beneficial microbes from a field’s own soils, as a way to restore peak fertility, expects to get backing soon from a Canadian farm equipment maker. Winnipeg-based Ag Growth International (AGI) said Monday it has signed a conditional letter of intent with Phoenix-based MyLand […] Read more
Specialty crop farmer leverages the power of irrigation
And others will do the same as massive irrigation expansion comes online, says Dale Thacker
Reading Time: 5 minutes If you’ve ever chewed a stick of gum or used a minty toothpaste, there’s a reasonable chance the spearmint inside is from Dale Thacker’s farm. The southeastern Alberta producer has been growing specialty crops — starting with spearmint and expanding into a host of others — for more than three decades. Most depend on irrigation […] Read more
More irrigation being contemplated
Reading Time: < 1 minute More irrigation could be coming to Alberta. A study will be undertaken to see if expanding irrigation in the Special Areas and the MD of Acadia is doable, the province says. The Special Areas board and municipality are working with the province and the Canada Infrastructure Bank (which put up most of the money for […] Read more
Major expansion of Chin Reservoir being planned
The Chin will be one of two reservoir expansions in historic 200,000-acre irrigation project
Reading Time: 4 minutes Details of an $815-million irrigation expansion agreement are slowly trickling in. The Chin Reservoir is one of two off-stream reservoirs to be expanded as part of adding more than 200,000 acres to the province’s 1.7 million acres of existing irrigation, an irrigation district official said. “We’re still in the planning stages of how much we’re […] Read more
Irrigation mega-project takes next big step
Farmers in southeast back plan for huge expansion of Snake Lake Reservoir
Reading Time: 4 minutes Farmers in southeast Alberta have given a big thumbs up to a major chunk of a historic $815-million expansion of the province’s irrigation system. Three-quarters of the 648 producers in the Eastern Irrigation District who voted in a plebiscite last month cast ballots in favour of an irrigation allotment increase that allows a $170-million expansion […] Read more
No extra water required in irrigation acreage expansion, says report
Move to underground pipe and low-pressure pivots means more crop per drop
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Eastern Irrigation District’s decision to expand its irrigation acres brings up a couple of questions. Perhaps the biggest is: Where is the extra water coming from? The answer: There’s no extra water required. According to a feasibility study conducted by the province, the 34,000-acre expansion will not require any additional draw from river sources. […] Read more
New research digs into value of subsurface fertigation
Delivering water and nutrients straight to root zones is nice in theory, but the payoff isn’t known
Reading Time: 2 minutes Subsurface drip irrigation is gaining popularity in Alberta, and is now in use on 1,090 hectares. But while it’s more water efficient compared to surface irrigation, there are few scientific studies on subsurface fertigation (SDF) specific to Alberta crops and soil conditions. “Most of the data we have is from the U.S. on crops like […] Read more
Precision irrigation has great potential, but it’s tricky
Understanding how moisture moves through parts of the field is one of the goals of the four-year study
Reading Time: 4 minutes Water has always been at a premium in the Irrigation Belt of southern Alberta. “Our water system is closed,” said Willemijn Appels, an irrigation scientist with Lethbridge College. “There is no more extra water that can be withdrawn for agriculture. Our water licences are already allocated. “We need to use water more wisely and make […] Read more
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