Ag tech classes offered to high schools
Olds College of Agriculture Technology and the Calgary Board of Education have teamed up to bring agriculture technology classes to Calgary high school students.
Students in the Calgary Board of Education high schools will be able to earn high school and college credits, while learning about agriculture technology through the college’s dual-credit program.
The first course being offering is Design Thinking in Agriculture.
Students will use different technologies, like 3D printing and robotics, to design and evaluate a prototype that addresses an issue in the agriculture industry.
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The first course will be offered to Calgary high school students in Grade 11 or 12 during the second semester in February. Students will earn five high school credits, and three post-secondary credits by completing the course.
More information is at cbe.ab.ca/uniquepathways.
Philanthropy celebrated
Individuals, business and non-profits from southern Saskatchewan were recognized during the 21st annual National Philanthropy Day Nov. 15.
DCG Philanthropic Services presented the National Philanthropy Day Awards and also sponsored the Outstanding Philanthropist Award.
This year’s award recipients are Murad and Michelle Al-Katib, recognized for their efforts in promoting multiple causes in their community.
The Outstanding Community Partner Award went to the Regina General Hospital and Pasqua Hospital Auxiliaries.
More information is at community.afpnet.org/afpsouthsask/npd48/npd-awards.
Farmers Care launches new programs
AgSafe Alberta has launched two offerings in its Farmers Care program designed to better serve farms and ranches.
A redesigned Farmers Care Level 1 and new Farmers Care Level 2 are available at AgSafeAB.ca.
These free resources provide safety information in a format that agricultural producers can navigate at their own pace.
The first level helps producers identify common agricultural hazards and learn how to control them, while introducing basic health and safety concepts.
The second level introduces the topics of training, orientation and communication to manage hazards and risks on all operations.
CGC extends harvest sample deadline
The Canadian Grain Commission has extended the deadline of its Harvest Sample Program to Dec. 30.
Through the voluntary and no-cost program, producers receive unofficial grade and quality information for their crop sample, which can help them make delivery decisions.
The commission is also offering dockage assessments for mustard samples in addition to canola.
Harvest samples are used to generate crop quality data that marketers can use to promote the sale of Canadian grain.
Producers not registered for the program have until Dec. 12 to do so online at www.grainscanada.gc.ca/hsp.
Alberta Milk has new board member
Stuart Boeve was re-elected as chair of Alberta Milk and Gerrit Haarman was elected as vice-chair at the organization’s Nov. 23 annual meeting.
Dave Morey, who farms in the Rochester area, was elected as a new board member.
SaskBarley announces scholarship recipients
Dilini Adihetty, Jonathan Beutler and Michael Taylor have been selected as recipients of the SaskBarley 2022-23 scholarship, which the group deems an investment in barley research at the university level.
Adihetty, in the University of Alberta’s Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science department, will receive $6,000 for research on managing the negative effects of spot blotch in western Canadian barley.
The $4,000 scholarships were given to plant science student Michael Taylor at the University of Saskatchewan and Jonathan Beutler in the Land and Food Systems department at the University of British Columbia.
Taylor’s research is focused on mitigation of lodging in barley through an examination of root system imaging and field data collection.
Beutler’s project seeks to help barley breeders develop net blotch resistant pre-breeding germplasm, which could lead to development of resistant varieties for Canadian growers.
Viterra, foodgrains bank celebrate partnership
Canadian Foodgrains Bank, volunteer farmers and Viterra teamed up for their seventh consecutive year in this crop year.
About 180 acres of land were provided at Viterra facilities in Stettler and Trochu in Alberta as well as Balgonie, Raymore and Grenfell in Saskatchewan.
Proceeds from the harvested crops from that land are donated to the foodgrains bank, which uses them to address hunger around the world.
Food security resource available
Agriculture in the Classroom Saskatchewan has launched the Food Security Budget Game for students to use outside the classroom.
The game is designed to help students explore the obstacles that prevent food security and learn the skills of budgeting and cost-effective food choices.
It allows them to plan a real-life budgeting activity that highlights a variety of lifestyles and financial situations such as varying incomes, family structures and other necessities.
The students create a budget for the month and are then handed an emergency expense they must account for.
The activity promotes critical thinking and problem solving, increasing food and financial literacy for high school students.
Based on the latest data from Statistics Canada, 5.8 million Canadians, including 1.4 million children, lived in food insecure households in 2021.
Teachers can order The Food Security Budget Game for free by visitingwww.aitc.sk.ca.
Contest launched about resistance
A new online contest wants Canadian growers to share their pesticide resistance management tips.
The Pest Management Challenge: How do you outsmart resistance on your farm? is operated by CropLife Canada to raise awareness and promote the adoption of strategies to manage weed, insect and disease resistance to common crop protection products.
The contest (pestmanagementchallenge.ca) is open to all Canadian growers from Nov. 29 to March 3.
Oat growers celebrate anniversary
The Prairie Oat Growers Association is celebrating 25 years.
It was organized in 1998 after a few farmers recognized that oat producers needed a strong prairie-wide advocacy group that would require stable funding.
Jack Shymko, a producer from Ituna, Sask., was one of the leaders and later became the first president of the association. Current president is Jenneth Johanson from Manitoba.
The commodity organization was funded first by voluntary membership and later pooled check-off revenue of 50 cents per tonne of provincially marketed oats.
Three provincial associations were established: Saskatchewan Oat Growers Commission in 2006 (SaskOats); Manitoba Oat Growers Association in 2008; and Alberta Oat Growers Commission in 2012.
These associations have supported more than 55 research and marketing projects.
Assiniboine celebrates Mazer
Assiniboine Community College has designated Mazergroup Main Street, a student space in the Len Evans Centre for Trades and Technology at the college’s North Hill campus. The name recognizes a $500,000 donation and support from Mazergroup, a Westman-born agricultural staple.
Bob Mazer has been a long-time supporter of trades programming at the college, providing an entrance award each year to students in the Agriculture Equipment Technician and Heavy Duty Technician programs and regularly loaning equipment for hands-on learning opportunities.
In fall 2021, the college announced that Mazergroup was expanding its support with a $500,000 donation to Assiniboine’s ongoing campaign for the Prairie Innovation Centre for Sustainable Agriculture.
“This announcement is just another step in a very long, close relationship between Mazergroup and Assiniboine. All of us at Mazergroup believe very emphatically that Assiniboine helps Manitobans create better lives for themselves and their families through all kinds of training, but specifically, within the ag sector,” said Mazer, president and CEO of Mazergroup.
Mazergroup Main Street is part of a common area where students can meet, relax and converse in their free time.
$10 million for wetlands partnership
The effectiveness of Canada’s wetlands in helping achieve climate targets is the focus of study and funds.
Wetlands provide habitat for wildlife, filtration for water and play a role in drought protection.
A group of Canadian researchers, including Larry Flanagan and Matthew Bogard from the University of Lethbridge, will study them to learn more about their exact role in combating climate change.
Led by Irena Creed, vice-principal of research and innovation at the University of Toronto, Scarborough, the project will build scientific understanding of wetlands, their function and the services they provide.
“There’s an assumption that nature is storing carbon to a certain degree, but we need stronger evidence to truly know how effective wetlands are as a nature-based climate solution,” says Creed.
“This work is highly relevant to southern Alberta and the Lethbridge area, because wetland protection and restoration is front and centre in many discussions related to sustainable agriculture and watershed management,” says Bogard.
By teaming up, Bogard, an aquatic scientist, and Flanagan, a terrestrial ecologist, will provide a land-to-water picture of wetlands and how they cycle carbon and nutrients.
The project is funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Climate Action and Awareness Fund.
