Re: Does prairie prevail over politics, potatoes? By Lorne Fitch, Nov. 3 WP.
It might be interesting to note the reference to the land in question as growing only potatoes shows the uneducated comments of the writer.
Under the current commercial growing of potatoes for companies like Frito Lay, McCain Foods or Old Dutch, contracts require up to a five-year crop rotation. The norm suggested is four years, meaning you can only grow a crop of potatoes once every four years. An ideal crop rotation is potatoes, sugar beets, grain and then canola.
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Because of the similarity of hosts for insect and disease control, rotations for sugar beets and canola are limited. In this case, the proposal is to develop a three-year static crop such as irrigated pasture or alfalfa.
Of course irrigation and high heat units are required for all of these high return crops. Under these current practices for crop production, expansion for irrigated land is required.
Agriculture and value-added production is second only to oil and gas revenues in Alberta. The growth of Lethbridge was and is mainly due to it being a service center to agriculture.
Southern Alberta has missed the current economic depression mainly due to the irrigated crops and agricultural crops in general. Also, take note that the college and university came after the growth of the value-added processors were being established.
Sugar factories, potato processing plants, vegetable processing plants, canola (both seed and oil) processing plants, alfalfa plants, beef and pork plants are all value-added industries that have added to the economic growth of southern Alberta.
Irrigated pasture of 135 acres would graze 100 cows and calves where native dry land pasture would require the equivalent of 8,700 acres. The food chain for wildlife, including burrowing owls and even the endangered leopard frog, are enhanced by irrigation land development.
During a normal drought in southern Alberta, wildlife become nearly extinct on these public lands. Only after a drought does the word “endangered species” become headlines.
… Surely there must be a compromise between environmental concerns, politicians, and farmers capable of developing good classified farmlands for the development of 50,000 acres … of good irrigated farmland.…
Pat Shimbashi,Barnwell, Alta.
