Team Alberta is alerting Alberta Agriculture and Forestry officials to over $3 billion in crops that remain in the field to ensure government agencies are prepared to respond promptly to unharvested acre claims and consider all options to help farmers deal with a difficult harvest.

“The conditions at this point in the fall are worse this year than in 2016 when weather caused many acres to remain unharvested in Alberta,” said D’Arcy Hilgartner, Alberta Pulse Growers Chair. “Team Alberta is working to help ease the burden on farmers by initiating proactive discussions with government officials who are in a position to help farmers.”

As of Oct. 10, it was estimated that the amount of harvest completed for Alberta’s major crops included: 26% of canola, 57% of wheat, 57% of barley and 34% of pulses, with approximately 7.8 million acres unharvested overall.

“Farmers need an early and clear indication of what the next steps might be in dealing with severely downgraded and high moisture crops,” said Jason Lenz, Alberta Barley Chair. “Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) needs to make prompt decisions to deal with claims and communicate information to farmers in a timely manner.”

Many of the crops are being harvested wet, which is testing growers’ abilities to dry product to retain some quality considering the challenging situation and also adds additional production costs.

“For growers who have access to grain drying or aeration equipment, there is an additional cost to use of those tools that would not be as prevalent in drier conditions,” said Renn Breitkreuz, Alberta Canola Chair “To add to the problems of farmers without grain dryers, some grain buyers with drying capacity have reportedly stopped accepting grain as they are at capacity.”

“Much of the wheat crop left in the field will be downgraded to feed, even after drying, resulting in losses of up to $240 million from milling quality,” said Kevin Bender, Alberta Wheat Commission Chair. “We remain hopeful farmers can get back to harvesting soon but 2018 will be a major hit to the bottom line.”

Meanwhile, Team Alberta wants to also share resources available to help producers deal with the challenging harvest.

Team Alberta wants to remind our fellow producers that we are in this together. Harvest is usually a stressful time for farmers, but the stress is compounded this year by the pressure of not knowing when or if the crop can be combined since snow started falling in early September.

Resources available to farmers to help manage the added stress include Six Things You Can Do To Stay Resilient This Harvest Season at Domore.ag, and the Alberta Health Services Mental Health Help Line at 1-877-303-2642.

Oct 11 – 18 – NR Team Alberta on Delayed Harvest – Final

Media contacts:

Rachel Peterson
Communications Coordinator
Alberta Pulse Growers
rpeterson@albertapulse.com
780-986-9398 ext. 108

Michelle Chunyua
Communications Coordinator
Alberta Canola
michelle@albertacanola.com
780-224-7970

Victoria Decker
Communications Manager
Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions
vdecker@albertawheat.com

403-219-7906

With the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) proposing the complete cancellation of Strychnine for its use in controlling Richardson’s Ground Squirrel (gopher) populations, Team Alberta says farmers must be able to retain access to this product since there are currently no safe or effective alternatives to protect crops from damage. Severe gopher outbreaks could result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in crop damages to farms. Team Alberta is also calling for a long-term integrated pest management strategy to be in place prior to a final decision being made.

Team Alberta outlined its concerns and made several recommendations in a submission to the PMRA’s 90-day consultation for proposed re-revaluations of several products. Team Alberta recommends: 1) a long-term integrated pest management strategy to control the pests be developed prior to any final decisions from the PMRA, 2) the proposed decision be reconsidered taking into account all available scientific research and be based on peer-reviewed science, and 3) the PMRA should study the effectiveness and safety of alternative chemical options.

“Gophers are a common problem across Alberta and Saskatchewan, and have the potential to cause substantial economic losses, especially in drier years,” said Kevin Bender, AWC Chair.

“It’s absolutely imperative that farmers be able to retain the only tools that allow us to quickly gain control of outbreaks,” said Renn Breitkreuz, Alberta Canola Chair.

The PMRA has cancelled liquid concentrate Strychnine for use in gophers on at least two occasions in the past, only to bring in subsequent emergency product registrations to respond to population surges that caused the decimation of crops across the Prairies.

“Past emergency registrations demonstrate that cancellation is not a long-term solution,” said Jason Lenz, Alberta Barley Chair. “For this reason, one of our recommendations is for the development of a long-term integrated pest management strategy which has been discussed by the PMRA in the past.”

“Not only do farmers find Strychnine effective in protecting their crops, there is no other viable or safer alternative currently available to control severe outbreaks when this product is used according to the label,” said D’Arcy Hilgartner, Alberta Pulse Growers Chair.

Farmers can review the full Team Alberta submission here: PMRA_Strychnine_TeamAB_Submission_Final

View a pdf of the news release here: Oct 4 – 18 – NR Team Alberta on PMRA’s Proposed Cancellation of Strychnine

Media contacts:

Victoria Decker
Communications Manager
Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions
vdecker@albertawheat.com
403-219-7906

Rachel Peterson
Communications Coordinator
Alberta Pulse Growers
rpeterson@albertapulse.com
780-986-9398 ext. 108

Michelle Chunyua
Communications Coordinator
Alberta Canola
michelle@albertacanola.com
780-224-7970

Team Alberta is pleased to launch farmsustainability.ca. This farm sustainability readiness tool is a web-based, voluntary, self-assessment and action planning resource that aims to advance on-farm sustainability in Canada.

“Interest in our food system is ever-increasing,” said Jason Lenz, Chair of Alberta Barley. “Consumers not only want food that is safe, nutritious and affordable, but also grown using environmentally and ethically responsible methods.”

“As end-users grow increasingly interested in sourcing sustainable food options, this tool will increase producers’ readiness to take advantage of sustainability-driven market demands,” said Kevin Bender, Alberta Wheat Commission Chair.

The readiness tool removes the guesswork by asking questions compiled from three of the most comprehensive, internationally recognized, sustainability certification programs in a user-friendly format. The tool addresses the drivers behind sustainable sourcing and certification and will increase producers’ understanding of sustainability in Canada. Farmers can complete an assessment of their farm when they visit farmsustainability.ca, which will generate an action plan tailored to their operation. The aggregated data gleaned from this tool will give the commissions insight for directing future resources for research and extension of beneficial management practices.

“As producers of food and stewards of the land, sustainability has been fundamental to farming with every generation,” said Don Shepert, Vice-Chair of Alberta Pulse Growers and Industry Co-Chair for the Agri-Environmental Partnership of Alberta. “The action plan component of this readiness tool will help farmers continue to improve the overall performance of their operations.”

“The readiness tool is simple and intuitive for farmers to use, especially those who are interested in completing a sustainability certification program. I encourage any grower open to learning more about their operation to check out farmsustainability.ca,” said John Guelly, Vice-Chair of Alberta Canola and industry advisor for the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan. “The readiness tool will help tell our industry’s sustainability story which is important for earning public trust.”

The farm sustainability readiness tool was developed by the four crop commissions in conjunction with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry and Groupe Agéco.

Farm Sustainability Readiness Tool Press Release pdf

The Alberta Pulse Growers Commission is pleased to announce the fifth annual Alberta Pulse Industry Innovator Award. An industry innovator is a person or organization that has worked to help nurture and shape the pulse industry and has helped contribute to the success of the industry as it is today. Innovators may have contributed to the industry through various areas from production, marketing, research, extension, processing, management, promotion and innovation.

To nominate someone please see the Pulse Industry Innovator Nomination Form below.

Nominations may be forwarded to the APG office and will be accepted until December 7, 2018.

2018_APGPulseInnovator_Nomination_Form_final