FORT VERMILION, Alta. — It was with little fanfare that Alberta’s largest county took ownership last year of one of Canada’s oldest research stations.
Mackenzie County paid the federal government $555,000 in November for the 450 acre Agriculture Canada Experimental Farm in Fort Vermilion.
The farm was a valuable resource for local farmers hundreds of kilo-metres from other research plots and government researchers.
Greg Newman, chair of the Mackenzie Applied Research Association (MARA) and a former reeve of Mackenzie County, said farmers could whine about the provincial government eliminating its district agriculturists and the federal government closing the experimental farm, or they could look it at as an opportunity to direct their future.
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“We have a unique opportunity here. We control our own mandate.”
Newman said it is a natural evolution for farmers to take back control of the experimental farm.
Robert Jones, a local farmer, wrote to the federal government in 1907 asking for seed to grow on the fertile land on the banks of the Peace River.
By 1912, Agriculture Canada had established the research station to conduct research in northern Alberta.
“It was initiated by local producers. Local producers have always realized the importance of local research,” said Newman.
Mackenzie County officials found unanimous support to buy the facility and keep it operating as a research facility.
“Farming is one of the main activities in the municipality. It is a way of life. Some of the best crops in the province are grown here,” said Joulia Whittleton, chief administrative officer with the county.
“There was no question from council …. The local farmers and research people applauded the decision. It was viewed as a positive. It was very important to continue agriculture research in this area.”
The county has almost 700,000 acres of farmland, and local research is key for the area’s unique climate of long, summer days and cool nights.
Farmers will direct research at the experimental farm through MARA.
Jacob Marfo, assistant research co-ordinator with the association, said private companies and organizations such as the Alberta Canola Producers Commission and Alberta Pulse Growers contract 40 percent of the research plots.
The farmer board directs re-search on the rest of the plots in consultation with local farmers.
“If we want research, we’ve got to provide it,” said Newman.
“The goal is to make a reasonably self-sustaining facility that can benefit and help the local agriculture industry.”
Some of this year’s research is looking at the effectiveness of seed treatment on wheat and peas. Many small producers grow their own seed, and the experiment will show them if buying pre-treated seed is beneficial.
MARA board member Manfred Gross said soil tests on his farm show a copper and manganese deficiency in the grey wooded soil. He hopes to find out if using copper and manganese seed treatments will solve these problems.
“We’re limited only by our imagination,” Gross said about what can be researched at the experimental farm.
Gross, who attends the giant Agritechnica agriculture exhibition in Germany every two years, said ideas for northern agricultural research may come from Europe.
Marfo said lodging is one of the biggest barriers to growing peas in the region. Some of this year’s research will explore various nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium treatments to see if any combination will help stop that problem.
A five-year trial with the Alberta Canola Producers Commission is looking at different nitrogen treatments on canola.
MARA has also seeded 75 organic oat plots in conjunction with the University of Manitoba. Marfo said a large portion of the province’s organic growers are in Mackenzie County, and good research on organic practices is important.
“The focus is for local farmers,” he said.
Marilee Toews, a local organic producer, said organic farmers have benefitted from research at the experimental farm, and MARA board members are open to suggestions for organic farming research.
MARA staff also test dugout quality water for local farmers, offer soil courses, lead Environmental Farm Plan courses and act as a resource for farmers who want help determining the correct chemical application. A recent survey of farmers showed a desire for MARA to offer book keeping and farm accounting courses.
No one seems to know how the experimental farm became so large. At one time there was a full-time gardener in charge of beautification of the 30-acre yard site, cattle, pigs and chickens for demonstration and hayland to feed the animals.
Part of the area was once fenced for bison research, but that has since been dismantled.
With its barebones staff and budget, only a portion of the land is now used for research.
About 250 acres are seeded and harvested by farmers, who volunteer time and equipment. Local businesses donate much of the fertilizer, seed and herbicide for the field scale seeding. Grain is sold and used to fund research.
“It’s a very lucrative fundraiser for the association,” said Newman. “Last fall, nine combines pulled out of their own crops and helped thrash. It was like an old-fashioned barn raising.”
