Due to a significant reduction in international student enrolment and a decline in operational grant funding from the Alberta government, Olds College is suspending intake into three program areas for the fall 2025 term:

• Agriculture technology integration (post-diploma certificate)

• Craft beverage and brewery operations (diploma)

• Hospitality and tourism management (certificate, diploma, post-diploma certificate)

As well, intake into the business management diploma three-day cohort on campus and the business management diploma at Concordia University College (Edmonton) are also suspended.

“Olds College remains committed to providing high-quality education, experiences and support to our students,” Debbie Thompson, Olds College interim president, said in a news release Feb. 27.

“In order to navigate the growing demands and complex issues in the post-secondary system, we’ve been reviewing our program mix to ensure we align with industry needs, student demand and institutional priorities to ensure long-term stability for Olds College. The educational journey and success of our students remain our top priority.”

Olds College will continue with second-year courses for the affected programs for current students as they complete their studies.

IRCC announced in January 2024, that a cap would be set on international student permit applications for the next two years. In 2024, that cap was set at approximately 360,000 approved study permits, which was a decrease of 35 per cent from the previous year.

However, in reality that number ended up being around 280,000 approved permits. Only 91,000 of those were approved for new students in post-secondary institutions.

In January 2025, IRCC announced it expects a 10 per cent decrease in permit approvals from the previous year.

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“If we’re getting the types of rain we normally get, water infiltration probably isn’t that big of a deal,” said Ken Lewis, conservation co-ordinator with Red Deer County.

“But in a year like this, when we’re not getting a lot of rainfall, you want the pasture to capture every bit of moisture that we do get.”

That often boils down to better management.

“Some of the management practices we’re using are making it difficult for the soil to really capture the water that comes down,” said Aimee Delaney, conservation assistant with the county.

The county — along with Clearwater County and Alberta Agriculture — recently showcased a brand new system that demonstrates how much water infiltration and run-off results from different management practices. The tool simulates water infiltration and run-off from a typical rainfall of about one inch on five small patches of land. These land samples mimic what you might find on an average Alberta farm: natural forest, conventional till stubble, lightly grazed, heavily grazed, and riparian (or wetland).

In fact, all of the samples came from the same farm (within 50 feet of each other, in some cases), so the differences in water infiltration and run-off came down to management practices — not soil or regional variations.

The differences became very clear very quickly during the short demonstration.

Natural forest had the least run-off and the best water infiltration, followed closely by the riparian and the slightly grazed lands, said Lewis.

“In the lightly grazed example, where there’s very little run-off, all the water is getting captured by the land, and the plants are able to use it.”

The heavily grazed land had poor water infiltration and a significant amount of run-off — more than twice as much as the lightly grazed land.

“The soil is so compacted that it’s just not soaking in the way we would hope,” said Delaney.

But the conventionally tilled lands fared worst, both with increased run-off and a higher level of sediment in the water.

“It’s vastly different,” said Delaney. “With conventional tillage, there’s a lot of run-off and the colour of it is very dark, so that’s telling us that a lot of the soil is washing away with any rainstorm that happens.”

That shows the benefit of low or no tillage, Lewis added.

“It affects how much run-off we’re seeing if there’s more ground cover and litter in the fields,” he said.

The demonstration was a real eye-opener for Allison Ammeter, who was on the tour.

“We’re a minimum-till to zero-till farm, and we really believe in the process,” said Ammeter, who farms with husband Mike near Sylvan Lake. “I want my great-great-grandchildren to be able to farm if they want to, and the only way that’s going to happen is if we do a few things right, right now.

“We carry that through to everything we do. And I think we’d have a lot more water problems if we weren’t zero till.”

This new demonstration tool is a tangible way to show the difference between those management practices, Lewis added.

“This is a great way to see what happens in the real world when your fields are overgrazed and the soil is extra compacted,” he said. “If a bunch of the moisture that we’re getting is running off, that’s no good for your pasture and it’s no good for your cows.

“It gets the wheels turning on the little tweaks people can do to their management.”

For producers who are thinking about how to improve their pasture and water management, Red Deer County and several other counties offer financial support through the ALUS program, which can help pay for the upfront costs of conservation projects and ongoing maintenance of the land.

“This tool can help us see what a difference management makes on individual pastures — but take that across a million acres in Red Deer County and think about what a difference that would mean for water in the landscape,” said Lewis. “How we manage the land impacts how much water is going into the land — on a small localized scale, but on a big scale too.

“This unit helps drive that point home.”

The post Rain, rain don’t go away: How to capture more moisture on your land appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Premier Rachel Notley on Tuesday put through an order in council appointing Andre Corbould as Alberta’s deputy minister of agriculture and forestry effective Wednesday, replacing Beverly Yee.

Corbould, the province’s deputy minister for environment and parks since February 2016, previously served the same role in ministries including jobs, skills, training and labour; transportation; and municipal affairs, and as chief assistant deputy minister for the southern Alberta flood recovery task force.

According to his biography as a director with the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute, Corbould, a fellow in the Canadian Academy of Engineers, studied civil engineering at the Royal Military College of Canada and also has master’s degrees in management and in defence management and policy.

Reaching the rank of brigadier general during his career in the Forces, Corbould did tours in Iraq, Kuwait, Bosnia, East Timor and Afghanistan, the latter including a stint as deputy commanding general of the U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division.

Domestic operations in which Corbould took part during his career in the Forces included the 1997 flood in Manitoba’s Red River Valley, the Swiss Air recovery mission in 1998, and commanding security operations during the Olympics in 2010.

Yee, the deputy minister for agriculture and forestry since October 2015, moves over to become deputy minister for intergovernmental relations, also effective Wednesday through the same order in council. — AGCanada.com Network

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• Never stop learning;
• Make business decisions using accurate financial data;
• Seek the help of business advisers/consultants;
• Have a written business plan, follow it, and review it annually;
• Know and monitor your cost of production and what it means for your profits;
• Assess risks and have a plan to manage and mitigate risk;
• Use a budget and financial plan to monitor financial position and options.

“The research says that no matter how big or small your operation is, what you produce or where you farm in Canada, investing in farm business management will drive your success,” said Heather Watson, executive director of Farm Management Canada.

“For years, industry has been hearing this, and now, we finally have the concrete data to back it.”

The agricultural division of market research firm Ipsos surveyed more than 600 farmers as part of the study. Those surveyed were from a cross-section of the grain and oilseed, dairy, beef, hog, poultry and egg, and horticultural sectors from across the country.

The Dollars and Sense report can be found at fmc-gac.com.

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Maple Leaf, one of the country’s biggest pork processors, said the majority of the job cuts would be completed by the end of 2015 and the rest in 2016.

Nearly half of the positions are based in the Mississauga head office, said spokesman Dave Bauer. Sixty-four are based at the new Hamilton, Ont. meat plant, where analysts noted excess staff and supervisors during a recent tour. The rest of the job cuts are scattered across Canada.

Senior management, led by CEO Michael McCain, remains intact, Bauer said.

Maple Leaf rolled out a program in 2010 to boost earnings by shutting some plants and modernizing others, and the company has struggled to be profitable during that period.

Its third-quarter profit was only its second in the past 11 quarters, and was slightly smaller than expected as the company flagged inefficiencies in starting new plants.

“After years of change and transformation, we’re now in a position to streamline the organization so we can operate as efficiently as possible,” Bauer said. He declined to disclose the savings or one-time costs involved with the cuts.

Reuters reported the job cuts on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Last month, Maple Leaf delayed into 2016 its target for increasing earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization as a percentage of revenue to 10 per cent.

Bauer said the job cuts would have only a small impact on reaching that target.

Maple Leaf’s free cash flow is set to grow next year, and the company has said it is interested in acquisitions in poultry processing or meat production.

The job cuts are not intended to make Maple Leaf more attractive for takeover, Bauer said.

Maple Leaf employs about 12,000 people in Canada.

— Reporting for Reuters by Anet Josline Pinto and Sneha Banerjee in Bangalore and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg; additional reporting for Reuters by Euan Rocha in Toronto.

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