MNP donates to college
MNP has donated $1 million to Assiniboine Community College’s Prairie Innovation Centre for Sustainable Agriculture.
The donation was made in honour of the late Don Penny, who co-founded the firm in Brandon in 1958.
The money will help provide a space at the school for collaboration among producers, industry, researchers, government and students.
In 2017, Assiniboine recognized Penny with its first Courage Award for his boldness to take risks and pursue a vision that saw the firm become a business consulting leader.
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The Prairie Innovation Centre will bring together learning spaces, applied research laboratories, multipurpose spaces and amenities.
New college certificate launched
Olds College has launched a new certificate program in agriculture sales and customer support.
The program has been developed alongside industry and includes on-the-job training for students, which will provide them with experience, skills and knowledge for a career in agriculture sales and customer support.
The one-year program consists of four courses completed on campus within the first term.
The remaining six months will be spent in a faculty-supported paid job placement.
Applications are open for the first intake of students, who are scheduled to start Oct. 31.
The program is set to expand in 2023 to offer on-campus and online delivery.
B.C. offers tree fruit assistance
The British Columbia Decision Aid System (DAS) is expanding to support Creston Valley farmers with pest-management technology.
More tree-fruit growers and their orchards will benefit from time-sensitive advice about pest management as the B.C. adapted software becomes available in the Kootenays.
The B.C. government is providing about $375,000 over three years so more people can use B.C. DAS in the Creston Valley, Similkameen and the Okanagan.
Five new weather stations in the Creston area will collect data used to forecast insect population trends so growers can better respond to pest-management issues.
More information is at oksir.org/bcdas/.
SaskCanola nominations sought
Nominations are being accepted until noon Oct. 14 to fill four positions on SaskCanola’s eight-member board of directors.
Four-year board terms begin in January.
Nominees must be a registered producer, who is any producer who has sold canola in either of the previous two crop years and who has not requested a levy refund in the past year.
Requirements also include submitting a biography and supporting signatures from five registered canola producers.
A nomination package is available at saskcanola.com/governance-regulations, or by calling SaskCanola at 306-975-0262.
