Implement inspector; Traceability system; Horse industry award
Implement inspector
Alberta’s Farmers’ Advocate Office has named Robert I. Martin as its farm implement inspector.
Martin has an agriculture diploma from the University of Saskatchewan and has owned and operated a 2,000 acre grain farm in central Saskatchewan for 15 years.
He was also a founding partner and business manager of DeerStar Systems Inc., in Stettler, Alta., and a former equipment manager with Agricore United in Winnipeg.
He worked extensively with fertilizer and chemical application equipment in Western Canada for more than 18 years.
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Martin is a member of the Agriculture Institute of Canada.
Producers who have questions about farm implement purchases, leases, parts availability and warranties can contact him toll free in Alberta at 310-3276.
For more information, visit www.farmersadvocate.gov.ab.ca.
Traceability system
The Manitoba government will spend more than $400,000 to develop a traceability system to track food from producers to consumers.
The agri-food premises identification system will locate and register all farms and places where animals are raised, kept or sold.
Registration will begin with the livestock sector but will be expanded to include all farms that grow food, as well as processing plants and food storage facilities.
The system will build on expertise that was developed and tested in a recent pilot project with International Business Machines Corp.
Producer and processor organizations have already developed animal and product identification systems.
Manitoba will work with existing groups and federal and provincial partners to track movements of animals, other commodities and food across Canada.
The $400,000 budget will be used for technical equipment, database development and staffing.
Horse industry award
Alberta horse breeders Peggy McDonald and Eldon Bienert of Leduc, Alta., are the 2009 recipients of the Horse Industry Association of Alberta’s distinguished service award.
The award is presented annually to horse breeders or owners who have made significant contributions to the equine industry in Alberta.
McDonald and Bienert have worked in the Alberta horse industry for more than 50 years.
This husband and wife team established Dawnville Farms in 1973 and started an internationally respected Morgan horse breeding program.
McDonald, a founding member of the Canadian Morgan Horse Association, and Bienert have held executive positions with the association, the Alberta Morgan Horse Club and the charity organization Equine Foundation of Canada.
Bienert, a member of a homesteading family raised in Leduc, was among the first to bring electricity, telephone and gas to the area, was involved in 4-H and served as director and president of the Leduc Light Horse Association. In 1985, he was named Leduc’s Citizen of the Year.
