CAMROSE, Alta. – A government study on market opportunities for Alberta’s northern Peace River region has been released, but another study must be done on ways to implement the recommendations, said the executive director of the research division.
“The next step is to find out how to make it happen or how to influence it to happen,” said Ralph Christian with the Alberta Agriculture Research Institute.
“I don’t see the government putting money into ways of making it happen,” he said.
The study, requested last spring by the provincial agriculture minister, Walter Paszkowski, made 16 recommendations to help northern farmers “seize emerging opportunities” in agriculture.
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Over the next two months, Christian said the department will be looking at the best ways to implement the advantages pointed out in the report.
He said while market signals will likely cause the biggest change, the report may be able to “create awareness of opportunities that may cause change to a sufficient degree.”
The study said priority should continue to be placed on research aimed at reducing farm costs, developing new disease resistance, earlier maturing, higher yielding varieties of cereals, oilseeds and pulses.
It recommended private research be expanded, all sources of available funding be tapped and different organizations co-ordinate their research.
The report said there was little optimism among producers for value-added processing in the region given the current economic and transportation constraints.
Christian said with the two main beef processors expanding, the Peace region would be well located to expand its beef industry.
