“As you near the Old Man River, there’s a grassy basin, and it’s part of a grazing co-op owned by a group of ranchers called the Waldron Grazing Co-operative,” said Larry Simpson, senior advisor to the Alberta region of the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

In 1999, the Bob Creek Wildland Park was created thanks to British Petroleum, a company which donated 2,900 acres of its mineral interests to the Nature Conservancy of Canada to create the park. The park was about 70,000 acres.

In 2013, the Nature Conservancy of Canada entered into an agreement with the Waldron Grazing Co-operative to preserve the 13,000-acre Waldron Ranch.

Simpson said the piece of land at that time was the largest conservation easement in Canadian history. The Waldron Grazing Co-operative, possibly the largest grazing co-op in North America, used some of the money paid to them by the Nature Conservancy of Canada to buy the King Ranch.

“The last piece is the Bob Creek Ranch,” said Simpson. The ranch connects with miles of riverfront on the Old Man River and is bordered on two sides by the Bob Creek Wildland Park. The ranch is more than 2,400 acres.

The first phase of the project is done, and the groups are moving on to the second phase.

Conserving it will create a continuous land block of over 100,000 acres of conserved and protected lands within the headwaters of the South Saskatchewan watershed.

“When you put them all together, it creates connectivity between the Rocky Mountains and a forest reserve called the Porcupine Hills Forest Reserve. It creates 20 miles of connectivity in between two big blocks of land that are frequented by all kinds of wildlife and all kinds of people,” said Simpson.

When the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Waldron Grazing Co-operative put a conservation easement on the land, it does not mean that the Nature Conservancy of Canada owns it.

“It means they (the Waldron Grazing Co-op) still own it, but they have agreed to register restrictions on the title of their land, that they won’t subdivide the land, they won’t cultivate it, but they will still own it,” said Simpson.

The land can still be used for grazing and sold if future owners do not subdivide it or break it up in any way.

The Bob Creek Ranch was purchased by the Waldron Grazing Co-operative about two and a half years ago.

“We are looking to preserve this land so it can’t be developed. It can stay in the state that we’ve acquired it in, and it will be forever undeveloped and uncultivated and grazing cattle,” said Kim Wachtler, a member of the board of directors of the Waldron Grazing Co-operative and a fourth-generation rancher at Burke Creek Ranch.

“It’s important for people to know that we’re using cattle to keep these landscapes intact,” said Wachtler.

Negotiations to acquire the first piece of the Bob Creek Ranch began in 2021, and the land was acquired in 2022, said Wachtler. The Waldron Grazing Co-operative entered negotiations immediately with the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

“It took a while for them to get their funds together and go through terms to be worked out,” said Wachtler.

The conservation easement on the Bob Creek Ranch has been done in two phases. The first part of the conservation easement on the Bob Creek Ranch was finalized in May 2025. Wachtler said the second phase has acreages that are a bit different and there is more waterfront on the second piece.

The Waldron Grazing Co-operative was created in 1962 and took over a private ranch at that time. Since then, the co-operative has brought little pieces of land and attached them onto the ranch. There are currently 80 ranching families involved with the co-operative.

“As the shareholders, we find a lot more economies of scale. We can do things as a group that we couldn’t do as individual ranchers,” said Wachtler.

Both Simpson and Wachtler agree the Bob Creek Ranch is a unique area that can also be used for hiking, as well as grazing.

Wachtler said the area is very diverse and contains ecologically sensitive grasslands. Many species of risk pass through the land, including black bears, grizzly bears, moose and large herds of elk.

“There are different species at risk that they’re seeing out there right now. Some of these are things that you wouldn’t be so aware of, like leopard salamanders and different kinds of bats,” said Watchler. MULTISAR, an organization that collaborates with partners throughout Alberta to work towards conserving species at risk in the province, is currently doing a study on the land.

“They’re out there right now, assessing the range health and doing a wildlife species count and looking at the riparian areas,” she said.

Simpson said the area has an interesting mix of wildlife that you would find on the Prairies as well as the Rocky Mountains.

“Part of the Bob Creek Ranch is part of the Bob Creek Wildland Park, and it’s the largest block of uneroded montane. It’s not mountain, it’s just in between,” said Simpson.

There are big ridges, with partial forest with lots of open spaces.

Simpson said the area was Napi’s playground. Napi is a trickster figure in Blackfoot culture.

The Nature Conservancy of Canda is seeking support to help fund the second phase of the conservation easement and complete the Bob Creek Ranch project. When the second section of the Bob Creek Ranch is preserved, three quarters of a section will be added to the conservation easement.

“That’s going to happen here, this fall,” said Simpson.

“And so we need to raise $100,000 for that as well.”

The post Saving southern Alberta’s Bob Creek Ranch appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“It’s the largest piece of fescue grasslands remaining on the planet. It’s a significant place. And it’s still intact because of the great work that the Thrall family, and the McIntyres before them, have done concerning those grasslands and ranching sustainably on them,” said Jeremy Hogan, director of Prairie Grassland Conservation for the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Hogan said the easement took about five years to complete. Funders for the project include the government of Alberta, the Canadian government, corporate supporters such as Cenovus Energy, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and private funders such as the Gerald A. Cooper-Key Foundation and the Weston Family Foundation.

In February 2013, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada and Ralph Thrall III announced the start of a fundraising campaign to put a conservation easement on the ranch. They completed the campaign in April 2024. Thrall, general manager and chief executive officer of McIntyre Ranch, said he and his siblings had considered the idea of an easement for years. A conservation easement is a legal agreement that protects the natural value of the land through a voluntary agreement restricting land use change in perpetuity. The property can no longer be broken up. It can’t be converted to cropland, subdivided for acreages, or host solar panels or wind generators. The landowner continues to own the land and is still able to conduct their ranching business.

The McIntyre Ranch has an incredible range of native grasslands and over 1,000 hectares of wetlands. The property is home to over 150 species of birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and fish. Twenty-seven species of concern can be found on the ranch, including the ferruginous hawk and the chestnut-collared longspur. It’s also home to important grassland songbird populations.

Preserving diversity

Thrall said the Nature Conservancy of Canada, through its conservation easements, is trying to preserve natural habitats and species diversity. Keeping cattle on the landscape helps keep the grasslands healthy and productive.

“The truth of cattle is that they are essential for wildlife and carbon sequestration,” said Thrall. Cattle are also a benefit for grassland health. Grasslands play an important part in the ecosystem, a role that’s often overlooked, he said.

“The fact is that the grasslands of Canada are every bit as important as the rainforests of South America. Eighty per cent of Canadian grasslands have been lost to farming, urbanization or industrial development. Every piece of conservation, all lands that are conserved, are important. We happen to be associated with one that is exceptionally large. We’re just proud of the fact that we are preserving grasslands for species diversity and wildlife habitat.”

Thrall runs about 3,000 cows. Calves are kept over winter, backgrounded and put on grass. “We also have a purebred Hereford and a purebred Red Angus herd of about 200 females, and our main herd is a crossbred herd of both breeds.”

Thrall said he and his siblings have had a very positive experience working with NCC and DUC.

“It’s a win-win for our family, a win-win for the ranch, and a win-win for organizations like the Nature Conservancy of Canada and Ducks Unlimited to create this easement. And it’s been a great challenge. The greater the challenge, the greater the reward. And this has been extremely rewarding for us.”

The NCC’s Hogan said it will be doing ecological monitoring, inventories of the plants and animals that live on the ranch and baseline assessments. “They will continue to operate, business as usual. Hopefully, we can support their stewardship practices. We’re working with Environment and Climate Change Canada to look at what the risks are on the ranch. And once those are identified, we’ll identify what stewardship actions would benefit those specific species and then we can help fundraise for them and find grant opportunities to pay for that kind of work.”

Thrall recommended that anyone who has questions about preserving their farm or ranch contact the NCC. It has launched the Prairie Grassland Action Plan to conserve 500,000 hectares of grassland by 2030. “That’s the number we chose based on the current rate of grassland loss in Canada,” Hogan said. “It’s important to know that only 20 per cent of Canada’s prairie grasslands remain.”

More information can be found at prairiegrasslands.ca.

The post Largest fescue ranch on Earth preserved appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The McIntyre Ranch, south of Lethbridge, is a 54,000-acre (22,000-hectare) ranch started in 1894 and is one of the largest private landholdings in Canada.

It’s owned by the Thrall family, who are partnering up with Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) to protect it from future development, while remaining a working ranch.

Ralph Thrall III, chief executive officer and owner of the McIntyre Ranch, says the agreement will establish a conservation easement on the ranch that will preserve it forever.

“The process has been very rewarding and [this is] a win-win agreement, that will have little impact on how the ranch is operated,” Thrall said.

“Thanks to a landmark agreement between the owners of the ranch, the Thrall family, NCC and Ducks Unlimited Canada — one of the largest tracts of private grassland in North America will be conserved forever,” said Catherine Grenier, president and chief executive officer of The Nature Conservancy of Canada.

The 129-year-old ranch is 40 kilometres south of Lethbridge and covers an area a quarter the size of Calgary. Thrall said it can take 90 minutes to drive it corner-to-corner. It has a unique collection of flora and fauna.

An announcement on the easement was made during an online event June 15. During that meeting, the NCC launched a public campaign to raise the remaining $3 million needed to finish the project. The cost of the total project is not being released.

“The McIntyre Ranch is one of the largest ranches in Alberta and we’ll have the opportunity to conserve it forever,” said Tom Lynch-Staunton, Alberta vice-president with the NCC.

Grenier said less than a third of Alberta’s grassland remains. Up to 70 per cent of wetlands have already been lost in Canada, she said.

The McIntyre ranch has more than 300 wetland basins.

“Because of the intense root system, the grasslands can also protect against fire and drought. They can capture and catch carbon, fighting against climate change,” she said.

“Conserving the McIntyre Ranch pushes back against this loss. It’s a monumental step to stop biodiversity loss.”

Grenier added that the Thrall family’s long-term stewardship over the landscape and their desire to collaborate with the conservation groups made the “once in a lfetime opportunity” possible.

The ranch will be preserved from development in perpetuity once the agreement has come to fruition.

“NCC and DUC have created a stewardship plan, which will help the Thralls reach their goal of making the McIntyre Ranch the most sustainable it can be,” said Lynch-Staunton.

Many organizations have already made financial contributions, including the Alberta Land Stewardship Fund, the Alberta land trust program, and both federal and provincial governments.

Lynch-Staunton called it the largest conservation project in Canadian history.

Another major contributor is the federal government, which has provided more that $4.1 million for the project.

Winnipeg MP Tery Duguid, parliamentary secretary to the minister of environment and climate change, participated in the announcement, noting the government’s support to the Natural Heritage Conservation Program, which is administered by NCC.

“Their commitment to conservation paved the way for this remarkable initiative as well as others across the country,” said Duguid.

NCC says a key part of the project will be demonstrating that ranching and conservation can and do go hand-in-hand.

“The McIntyre Ranch not only holds immense ecological value, but it is also a shining example of western ranching culture and the ranching economy,” said Lynch-Staunton. “We can have both sustainable land stewardship and ranching as well as conservation and biodiversity outcomes. Sustainable grazing has proven once again to be vital to the long-term conservation of grasslands as they evolved with grazing pressure.”

He also noted that the ranch’s owners have built a generations-long tradition of conservation that’s now set to continue in perpetuity.

“The Thrall family have set a shining example for us all,” he said.

However, he also noted that the project is at a “critical juncture” and fundraising needs to be completed to fully fund the undertaking.

“ NCC still needs to raise another $3 million to complete this project,” he said. “We’re creating a call to action to all of you to encourage you to get involved in prairie grassland conservation.”

He noted that could be in the form of individual contributions, corporate sponsorships, and people willing to volunteer with the group.

“Conservation is a collective task and a whole of society approach.” he said. “Together, as we have shown in this remarkable partnership, we have a chance to make a difference on the land that we cherish. And together we can preserve the ranch and protect its own ecological and ranching heritage.”

Lynch-Staunton said the conservation easement ensures the natural wetlands and prairie ecosystem “will never be converted to another use.” But he said that’s just the first step.

“What comes with that is stewardship. With every project we do with a rancher, we also raise a stewardship endowment fund. This supports stewardship on ranches and maintaining the health or helping improve the health of the landscape. This is a long-term partnership, but it still allows ranchers to maintain ranching cattle or other livestock species on the landscape.”

Thrall said the family “is very proud of the collaborative effort between NCC, DUC and our family to establish a conservation easement on the McIntyre Ranch that will conserve it forever.”

The post Alberta ranch to be largest Canadian conservation project ever appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“It really is one of the most unique and incredible properties I’ve ever personally been to,” said Jeremy Hogan, director of prairie grassland with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. He said the project encompasses a variety of microhabitats as well as wetlands.

“There was a species assessment done on it a few years ago that found there were 100 animal species, including 27 species at risk. That was the most we’ve seen on a property in Alberta,” he said.

The NCC has completed the purchase and a fundraising campaign so the property will be protected in perpetuity.

“The Yarrow is right outside of a public land in Waterton (Lakes) National Park, but it provides a bit of a buffer and a corridor for animals to move about.”

Hogan said the acquisition is important considering the steady disappearance of Canadian grasslands.

“We humans like the same type of habitat that plants and animals do. There is often competition over space. In Canada today, less than 27 per cent of native grasslands remain because most of it is converted for human use, whether that is converting it to cropland or building out subdivisions or acreages, in the case of Waterton, things like that.

“Each year, the current rate of loss is 60,000 hectares annually, across all three Prairie provinces. That’s the equivalent of 100,000 football fields.”

Hogan said the area is also vital to various bird species.

“This area is one of the densest waterfowl breeding areas in the world. So, you get migratory ducks, geese, swans and sandpipers coming up every year. They settle on these wetlands that are dotted through the area to breed and feed on their way up north to northern Canada, even as far as the Arctic.

“The other unique thing about the area just east of the Rocky Mountains is that all North American’s major migratory flyways converge in that area. Animals from South America and the Arctic, going south and north every year, will come right through there. Having that habitat intact is an incredible opportunity,” he said.

The Yarrow will allow public access.

“We manage a booking system online that people can secure times in, just for safety issues, particularly during hunting season, for example,” he said, noting it will also be available for grazing.

“The native grasslands of Canada require a little bit of disturbance to remain healthy,” said Hogan. “Because there are no bison available, cattle are the next best thing.”

Another NCC project of a similar nature will be announced soon, he added.

“Grasslands contain more species at risk than any other ecosystem in Canada. It’s a really important place to start thinking about protection for the benefit of plants and animals.

Among other benefits, they regulate water flow and infiltration by slowing flow rate during spring runoff.

“The big deep root network of grasslands keep the water in place and filter out a lot of particulate and things like that, before it gets into the river systems that we use for drinking water,” said Hogan.

Grasslands also play a role in carbon sequestration.

“Because of those big, deep root networks, the grasslands have their carbon store in the ground. So across the world, 30 per cent of the world’s carbon is stored in temperate grasslands.

“In Canada, we estimate that there are 15 billion tonnes of carbon in the Prairie grasslands. It’s the single largest opportunity from a natural climate change solution that we have to just protect the carbon stores and not release them any further.

“Our estimate is that every hectare of grasslands has 340 tonnes of carbon. From breaking the soils and converting that to crop, you lose up to 50 per cent or more of that carbon. … I think it’s important that all Albertans and Canadians know how important grasslands are,” he said.

“We tend to overlook them and we don’t think about them as much as we should. They are the most endangered ecosystem in Canada and they’re still declining at an unsustainable rate.

“So we really need to put pressure on governments, and start considering financial incentives for landowners to keep intact grasslands that way, forever.”

The post Yarrow Project extends grassland preservation appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Although the 630-acre purchase “may seem like a relatively small addition … it will result in a large benefit for nature,” the organization said. 

The properties, located just south of Twin Butte, are a mix of fescue grasslands, forests and wetlands.

The corridor will allow wildlife to access the park and provide habitat for species at risk, including American badgers, bobolinks and horned grebes. 

“We are ensuring it will continue to offer habitat and safe movement routes for these incredible animals, while also being available to the livestock of local ranchers for grazing,” said conservancy vice-president Tom Lynch-Staunton.

The post Nature Conservancy adds wildlife corridor appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“I’m passionate about conservation and stewardship, that’s why I am in this role,” said Lynch-Staunton, who became the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s new Alberta vice-president this summer.

His family has been ranching in Alberta since the 1890s and for many years Lynch-Staunton co-managed Antelope Butte Ranch near Lundbreck with his brother. He has since worked for Livestock Gentec, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and, most recently Alberta Beef Producers.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada is a natural fit because of its focus on conserving grasslands, he said.

“Why this complements the beef industry so well is because all these grasslands that we’re trying to conserve can become working landscapes where you can still raise cattle on them, and have a positive environmental impact.”

But grasslands are still being lost to cultivation and development.

“We’d like to try and preserve the 20 to 25 per cent that we’ve got left on the Prairies, for ranchers and for other grazing,” said Lynch-Staunton.

In announcing his hiring, the conservancy pointed to the completion of the Jim Prentice Wildlife Corridor (connecting wildlife corridors in the Crowsnest Pass) and connecting protected spaces in the Beaver Hills Biosphere Reserve as priorities. But there are numerous others, said Lynch-Staunton, citing aspen parklands around Edmonton, an area east of Red Deer, the Rocky Mountain Front near Sundre, and the eastern Prairies to the Saskatchewan border.

Over the past 50 years, the Nature Conservancy of Canada says it has done more than 200 projects in Alberta, covering 1.1 million acres. It has about 35 employees here, many of them field staff who have developed strong collaborative relationships with landowners and ranchers, said Lynch-Staunton.

“That’s where you can get double benefits,” he said. “We’re trying to keep ranchers on the landscape. Sometimes we help with financial resources to be able to do so. Not only can we get environmental outcomes, but we can also get economic outcomes for ranchers.”

The pandemic has given many people who work on the land a renewed appreciation for the natural world, and prompted many more to get out and enjoy nature, he said.

“We’re self-reflecting and realizing what is important. Nature, for me, is at the top of the list. I think so many people are trying to get out of their house and the cities and enjoy some of the nature we have in Alberta.”

That increased awareness will be the spark for more conservation, he predicted.

“It’s quite an opportunity to do such great work with Alberta — with communities, the government of Alberta and businesses that are investing in nature. We are so lucky to have natural capital in its native, natural state. We should be able to conserve it well into perpetuity.”

The stewardship of farmers and ranchers is critical and Lynch-Staunton said it’s important for landowners to realize the impact they have on the landscape.

“We’re trying to conserve space for people to enjoy wildlife diversity and birds. I think we’re going to do something that is beneficial for the world,” he said.

The post Moving from cows to conservation a natural fit appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Very little of Canada’s grasslands remain and the cattle sector is essential to preserving what’s left, conservation organizations told the federal environment minister in a letter in April.

“A healthy beef industry is an important conservation partner, and with their support, enables us to conserve what’s left of Canada’s grasslands,” said the letter from groups such as Ducks Unlimited, Birds Canada and the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

“As conservationists, we are not oblivious to the individual financial realities of farmers and ranchers. The Canadian beef industry must be able to compete economically on the agricultural landscape to conserve and restore grassland habitats.”

Government needs to realize that the cattle sector’s economic crisis caused by the pandemic can lead to an environmental crisis, said Karla Guyn, chief executive officer of Ducks Canada.

“We saw the situation that the cattle industry was in with COVID, and with some of the packing plants closing down, and the repercussions from that, and the implications to some of the cow-calf producers,” said Guyn.

“It was important to us to come out and make a statement as the coalition of conservation groups to the federal government, what the impacts could potentially be to grassland conservation.”

Grasslands are critical habitat to many species of birds, said Birds Canada president Steven Price, another signatory to the letter.

“No other group has been declining more quickly than grassland birds,” said Price. “They are really suffering from lack of protected areas and the rapid rate of conversion to cropland.”

Bird species in danger include burrowing owls, sage grouse, Sprague’s pipit, Baird’s sparrow and the chestnut-collared longspur.

“In conservation, we also need protected areas. The situation in the Prairies is that we don’t have large protected areas,” he said.

Grasslands filter water, help prevent flooding and drought, and store and sequester carbon, the groups noted. More than 60 different species at risk depend on Canada’s grasslands.

“Temperate grasslands are one of the most endangered terrestrial ecosystems on the planet,” said Kevin Teneycke, regional vice-president of the Nature Conservancy of Canada in Manitoba.

“And in Canada, over 70 per cent of our grasslands have already been lost and they continue to disappear at a steady rate.”

According to Nature Canada, less than one per cent of the 137,000 square kilometres of the remaining grasslands in Alberta and Saskatchewan are protected.

“In 50 years, these unique habitats may be gone,” the organization warned last year.

The looming threat

The rate of loss will be hastened by the pandemic if it forces cattle producers out of business, the conservation groups say.

You only have to look at what happened during the BSE crisis, Guyn said during a recent webinar hosted by the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef.

“For many, ranching no longer provided a profitable and sustainable way of preserving their land,” she said.

“And as a result, Canada lost nearly 27,000 ranching operations and with that, nearly five million acres of grasslands.”

Ranchers manage 44 million acres of grasslands, Canadian Cattlemen’s Association president Bob Lowe noted during the webinar.

But while that sounds like a large number, the area covered by temperate grasslands on the Prairies has “declined by 57 per cent since the 1970s, and birds that are dependent on grasslands have declined by 87 per cent,” said Teneycke.

“When we lose beef producers, we lose grasslands and we lose them forever.”

Other than an acknowledgment that their April letter has been received, the conservation groups haven’t received a response from the federal government.

But if there isn’t enough financial support and large numbers of producers exit the cattle sector, the environmental fallout is predictable, Guyn said during the webinar.

“Looking back to BSE, we never expected how hard economic times for beef producers would transcend into habitat loss,” she said. “Today, we have a far better understanding of the consequences and we have a far better chance to try to avoid them.

“There is so much we don’t know about COVID-19, but the decisions we make today will have implications for the beef industry and for conservation for years to come.”

The post Conservation groups rally behind beef sector appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Common tansy: Has yellow, button-like flowers and can grow 1.5 metres tall. It impacts stream banks and native grasslands and outcompetes native plants. It also produces a toxic compound harmful to cattle and wildlife.

Yellow flag iris: A wetland plant with pale-yellow flowers that have six segments (three downward-facing petals and three erect petals) with delicate purple flecks.

Purple loosestrife: Still sold in some places as an ornamental plant, it crowds out most native vegetation and creates near monocultures. A single plant can produce over two million seeds each year.

Leafy spurge: Has yellow-greenish flowers, and its leaves and stems have a white, milky sap. It spreads quickly in open areas and threatens habitats, such as tall grass prairie.

Common toadflax: Has smooth green stems and numerous hairless leaves which are wide and pointed at both ends. Densely spaced flowers are bright yellow with an orange spot like snapdragon flowers, to which they are related.

For detailed descriptions and photos, go to the ‘invasive species gallery’ at natureconservancy.ca.

The post Watch for these invasive plants appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Grain farmer Kim Good and lawyer-rancher Stan Carscallen say the Alberta Farmland Trust should be a registered charity by early in the coming year. And they’re hopeful the *federal government will make the tax changes that will put top-quality cultivated land on the same footing as ecologically sensitive land.

Right now, the door to preserving cultivated land through a conservation easement is firmly shut.

“People will contact a land trust and as soon as (they learn) it is mostly agriculture, the land trust will say, ‘This will be a regular capital gift and when you make the donation, capital gains will be triggered,’ — and that usually stops the conversation right there,” said Good.

“Basically you end up having to pay to give something away.”

And there is a critical need to protect good cropland in the province, Good and Carscallen say.

“Much of the land in Alberta, especially farmland in some of our best soil areas has competition that is not agriculture,” said Good, a Carstairs producer who has worked with land trusts since 1996.

This is especially true for land with Class 1 and 2 soils along the Highway 2 corridor, said Carscallen, who practises law in Calgary and ranches near Priddis.

A lot of people don’t even try to put their land into an agricultural trust because they know it won’t work, and those who do are in for a rude surprise, said Good.

“There was a couple from High River that had about 600 acres and they wanted to put it into a conservation easement,” she said. “But because most of their upland was hay, agricultural, (the federal Ecological Gifts Program) wouldn’t certify it. They had gone through the process to draft the easement and everything, but were not able to go through it, because the tax hit would have been so high with it not being eco-gift certified.

“So they didn’t go ahead and do it, and very sadly, the woman was diagnosed with cancer not long after and passed away without her land being protected. And I don’t know what happened with the property since. I assume the husband probably sold it and moved on.”

Most of the conservation easements in Alberta have been used for environmental purposes, by organizations such as Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Under the federal Ecological Gifts Program, land that is ecologically sensitive, is an important wildlife habitat or deemed to be of “national or provincial significance” qualifies for a tax credit.

“One of the challenges right now is that if a farm family wants to invoke a conservation easement to protect their land for agriculture indefinitely, they are deemed to have disposed of a part interest in their land and that triggers a tax on the capital gain,” said Carscallen. “When there is an eco-gift in Canada, where conservation easements are placed to protect the ecological integrity of a special property, the tax on the capital gain is waived.

“We’re asking government to set up a farmland gift program to give the same incentive to landowners to do just that.”

That would open a door to farmers who want to see their land continue to grow crops.

“There’s really been no organization (doing this), which is really why Alberta Farmland Trust is coming on board,” said Good. “If you are a landowner who has land to sell, why wouldn’t you sell it at fair market value? This way you could downgrade the price a little bit and guarantee that it could stay in farming.”

The Alberta Farmland Trust would do that by holding conservation easements on land and will be responsible for monitoring that land into the future.

Carscallen and Good met with senior officials from Alberta Agriculture and Forestry last month to discuss their proposal.

“The current government may have a good deal of interest in this,” said Carscallen. “The policy branch in Alberta Agriculture has a lot of people who are thinking and writing policy development on this very point. They were very receptive to the submissions that we made to them.”

Meanwhile, Good and Carscallen are completing the process of becoming a registered charity, including recruiting board members.

“We just haven’t been qualified to issue tax receipts to donors,” said Carscallen. “We are getting very close to being able to receive donations.”

The organization, which will be funded through grants and donations from individuals and corporations, will administer conservation easements and management agreements throughout Alberta. When landowners come to the Alberta Farmland Trust, the organization will help them determine what they want to do with their land and, if they want to go that route, help them develop an easement (which would take about a year to 18 months to complete).

Ontario has the Ontario Farmland Trust, and the U.S. has the American Farmland Trust (which covers the entire country).

“We want to make sure Alberta has the same opportunity,” said Good.

To get involved or learn more about the Alberta Farmland Trust, contact Good at kimberly.good94@gmail.com.

*UPDATE: The article previously stated the provincial government will make tax changes.

The post New farmland trust aims to preserve good soil appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

But the beef sector is fighting back — even if its efforts don’t get the same kind of headline-grabbing attention.

One of the main initiatives is being conducted by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association that seeks to amplify the efforts by other organizations, including provincial cattle commissions, Canada Beef, and the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef.

“This is something that the provinces saw as a very complementary type of program to what they were already doing in their communications departments,” said Jill Harvie, the CCA’s manager of public and stakeholder engagement. “We aim to help those who are out there representing the beef industry.”

A team was created a year ago to find more effective ways to tell the sector’s story — such as how grazing preserves habitat and how the sector’s environmental footprint has been shrinking.

“The first few months in the role, we were getting some messages out there but we were more so bombarded by a need to respond to things,” said Harvie. “Once we had proper funding (from checkoff dollars) for the program, we started aligning with so many people already doing great work. Now we’re trying to be the glue that brings everyone together.

“We have a more unified message, and that will become even clearer as we get further ahead.”

One of the goals is to be able to have people — both industry reps and everyday producers — be able to quickly and effectively respond to issues as they arise.

One project is called the Content Corral where various provincial organizations and groups such as the sustainable beef roundtable can upload everything from beef recipes to information about how cows benefit the environment. Up to 500 users, which can include producers, companies and organizations, are now able to access the material in the Content Corral.

People who want to access the website and use its material must first take a free online training course for those who want to become advocates for the beef sector. (For details on that training go to beefadvocacy.ca.)

The goal of this initiative is to help ranchers and others in the industry who are already great advocates to extend their reach.

“We’ve been doing training of advocates on Content Corral,” said Harvie. “So far, by looking at the metrics, there’s been great uptake, especially by those in the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders program.”

Anywhere from 20 to 80 new pieces of content are uploaded every week, which can be shared by cattle organizations and individual advocates.

“We encourage people to get on there and be able to share content through Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook,” said Harvie. “What’s really great about it is that people can still put their hashtags on there, or put something that is tailored to their audience in with the post. It allows it to be shared more organically as well, so you actually get more viewers than you would if you just shared something on social media.”

The outreach team set up by the cattlemen’s association is also building links to conservation groups such as Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

“We’re also working with people we haven’t always typically worked with — like an environmental activist,” said Harvie. “We’ve been working with getting him to various ranches and research centres across the country when he was travelling.”

That environmentalist is Steven Lee, a climate change activist and an advocate for environmental policy for the United Nations. He is the executive director of the Foundation for Environmental Stewardship. It created the Three Percent Project, which aims to mobilize one million Canadian students (three per cent of the population) by going to schools and talking about the effect youth can have in the effort to combat climate change.

“We engaged with Steve to provide information about sustainable beef and sustainable beef practices,” said Harvie. “He was open to it.”

Lee toured beef operations (and one dairy) in the Maritimes, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, learning things such as how beef can be part of the climate solution by capturing carbon in grasslands. On the Alberta leg of his tour, he went to Water Valley and learned about how forages support bee populations, and visited Harvie’s ranch near Olds, where she showed him the watering systems and explained how the ranch got its sustainable beef certification.

“And then we went to visit Stephen Hughes in Longview, to cap it all off and see the beautiful area of Longview,” said Harvie. “I think that was pretty amazing. He really loved that. We’re going to continue to send information Steve’s way.”

The public engagement team has also produced tools tailored to broader audiences, which can be used at trade shows, for children’s projects, or at farmers’ markets. People can find more information at www.raisingcdnbeef.ca to learn facts about production, the environmental aspects of beef, sustainability and the nutritional benefits of beef.

“It’s a good way to have something there that is easy for anyone to access and not get bombarded by too much information,” she said.

The group is also working with the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity, and Agriculture in the Classroom.

“We’re looking at ways we can have various tools that can be used for various curriculums across the country, and have that high-level, unified message,” said Harvie.

Focusing on the same key points is a major part of this advocacy work but equally important is the tone.

Many beef producers feel they are almost personally under attack — and it’s only natural to respond in an emotional way, she said.

But that tends to backfire.

“If we respond emotionally instead of with a well-thought-out, cool response without proper links (to information), we stand a chance to look defensive,” she said.

She advises producers to follow organizations such as Canada Beef and Alberta Beef Producers and imitate their responses to questions.

“Lift up the product, talk about the great attributes and have a positive story — then the general public will think about us in a positive way,” she said.

“If they see that everything we put out is defensive or negative; they might start thinking about us in a negative way.”

The post The behind-the-scenes effort to tell beef’s story appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.