Commission to share space
The Alberta Wheat Commission and Alberta Barley Commission plan to share an office in Calgary through a joint lease agreement signed May 14.
The leased 9,000 sq. feet of space will undergo renovations with a planned move-in date sometime in August. It will eventually house nine AWC and 12 ABC personnel.
The shared arrangement will allow creative collaboration and a means of aligning with other industry and individuals. The two groups have shared resources before, including trade show space and communications campaigns. Many farmers belong to both organizations because of their crop mix.
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The other major advantage of shared space is better use of farmers’ check-off dollars that fund both organizations.
AWC, officially formed Aug. 1, 2012, now rents office space on Quarry Park Blvd. in Calgary’s northeast. The ABC has offices on 21st Street, also in the city’s northeast.
Alfalfa program set to go
The Green Gold Program, Alfalfa Scissor Clipping Project is being offered again this year.
The program helps predict the date when pure alfalfa stands are at optimum quality (150 RFV).
For the past 19 years, alfalfa, dairy, beef and sheep producers have used the program to help predict when their alfalfa is at the optimum stage for their specific use. About 500 producers and industry people are receiving the information from the program.
Due to unusual environmental conditions like cool weather and extreme warming, alfalfa can reach optimum quality well before the traditional early bloom (10 percent flower) stage.
In most cases, if producers had waited for the crop to show these signs, harvest would have been delayed by up to two weeks and RFV would have been in the 110 range.
Samples are taken at about 8 a.m., twice a week and delivered to the lab before 11 a.m.
Results are emailed to producers twice weekly by co-ordinator John McGregor as well as posted on the website. To be added to the mailing list email McGregor at jbmcgee@shaw.ca.
Garden Line taking calls
The University of Saskatchewan’s GardenLine is taking calls for this growing season.
The service is offered through the agriculture college to help answer gardening questions and concerns for experts, beginners or commercial businesses.
GardenLine offers help with plant and pest identification, can suggest plants or trees that are ideal for yards and provide other landscaping tips within the province.
The phone line, which is available at 306-966-5865, will run until Aug. 31, Monday to Thursday, from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.
The advice is free, but long-distance charges will apply.
Questions can also be emailed to gardenline@usask.ca
