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Building A Unified Voice for Agriculture: Agriculture Updates, Supports, and News: July 2024

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Building A Unified Voice for Agriculture: Agriculture Updates, Supports, and News: July 2024

Community Chamber

Agriculture Updates since June 2024

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Primary Agricultural Producers Engagement - Deadline Fast Approaching
Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation (AGI) is seeking feedback from primary producers to better understand challenges and barriers to growth in Alberta’s agriculture sector. Primary agriculture producers can complete an online survey by July 31 to help AGI better understand the specific barriers and opportunities they see in the primary agriculture industry sector. More Information and Survey Here

Sowing Seeds of Success for Future Farmers
Alberta’s government is supporting future farmers and ranchers through changes to Agriculture Financial Services Corporation’s Next Generation Loan program. More Here

Ministers of Agriculture Meet to Advance the Resilience and Growth of the Sector
The annual conference of Federal, Provincial and Territorial (FPT) Ministers of Agriculture was held in Whitehorse, Yukon, from July 17 to 19, 2024. FPT Ministers of Agriculture discussed several areas of interest for Canada's agriculture and agri-food sector. Read About it Here.

Dangers of Blue-Green Algae When Temperatures Rise
Blue-green algae is actually cyanobacteria, and can produce toxins that can be dangerous, says Shawn Elgert, agricultural water engineer with the Alberta government. It can cause organ damage or even death if ingested by livestock or pets. More Here

Biofuel Expansion Set to Grow Market for Canadian Oilseeds
The Canadian oilseed market is benefiting from higher renewable diesel production, including new plants coming online in Canada. More Here

End of Season Disease Assessments
In the latest update from the Prairie Crop Disease Monitoring Network, a reminder that we are fast approaching the time for assessing many diseases in the field. More Here

Building Resiliency for Alberta Beef Farms
The governments of Alberta and Canada are supporting Alberta Beef Producers in expanding its food safety and certification program.
Last year, beef was Alberta's largest agri-food export at $3.9 billion, making up 22% of the province’s total. More Here.

Support for Canadian Beef Export Market
Agriculture Canada has announced an investment of more than $6 million in two beef and cattle organizations through the AgriMarketing Program, an initiative under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership. Learn More Here

Farm Worker Recruitment: 5 Tips to Find New Hires
Finding workers for farm-related jobs can be challenging, given the labour market shortages, which is why, once you find the right people for the job, it’s important to keep them. Learn More

On-Farm Water Stewardship Strategy
In an effort to enhance water stewardship and management practices, producers across Alberta are encouraged to share their insights through the On-Farm Water Stewardship Alberta Producer Survey.
The survey aims to gather valuable feedback from the agricultural community to shape future educational resources and support mechanisms within the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan (EFP). Find the Survey Here

Supplementation Matters - Navigating Trace Mineral Requirements of a Beef Herd
How can I best meet the mineral requirements of my beef herd? It comes as no surprise that the answer to this question is not a simple one. There are many factors impacting the mineral requirements of beef cattle such as stage of production, age, body condition and genetics, More Here

Funding Updates 

Enhancing the Verified Beef Production Plus (VBP+) program  
The governments of Alberta and Canada are enhancing the Verified Beef Production Plus (VBP+) program with a $1.9 million investment to support Alberta Beef Producers. Last year, beef was Alberta's largest agri-food export at $3.9 billion, making up 22 per cent of the province’s total. Under this initiative, farmers and ranchers can receive up to $5,000 for expenses that align their operations with VBP+ certification guidelines. Learn more 

Supporting Genomics Innovation in Alberta
New funding from the province will support cutting-edge genomics research in health, agriculture and environmental technology. The province is investing $15 million over three years into Genome Alberta, a not-for-profit research funding organization working toward a better future through genomic innovation. Read More Here

Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership
The year 2 Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership programs launched in April 2024. Be sure to check out the programs and sign up for updates. While on the Sustainable CAP website go to the bottom of the home page, enter your email, and click ‘send’ to start receiving regular Sustainable CAP updates. Please visit the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership page for program information, including how to apply. 

Labour Resources

Empowering Agriculture Professionals: Unveiling Issue #5 of AgriWorkforce Matters
"It’s that time of year when the hustling and bustling of the season is in full force. Many of you will have finished seeding and started to think about the inputs required to make your crop grow. Others might be hitting the tail end of lambing season and devoting some extra TLC to newborns. Whatever tasks are keeping you occupied, I want to recognize how vitally important your work is to our country’s economic future. Without you, we cannot put food on the table for families here at home and abroad."  -  Jennifer Wright, Executive Director Read it Here

2024 Survey of Compensation Practices in Canadian Agriculture - Executive Summary Report
Across Canada, the highly competitive nature of the talent marketplace has made it an increasingly difficult landscape for agricultural producers to navigate. This salary survey and human resource benchmarking initiative equips producers with relevant and practical data resources to better compete in today’s workplace. More Here

Free Counselling Sessions
Farming is 24-7-365, but you don't have to handle it alone. Get support from AgKnow's farm-informed counsellors and get up to four free counselling sessions. This program covers counselling sessions for farmers, their families, farm employees, veterinarians and registered veterinarian technicians. Learn more and book a counselling session.

Student Work Placement Program (SWPP)
Growing Opportunities through the Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) is available. Visit the SWPP Application Page and complete the online application form. If you'd like to learn more about SWPP, including eligibility criteria and detailed program information, please visit the website. For any questions or additional information, reach out to Megan Lockhart at mlockhart@cahrc-ccrha.ca. 

Phase 2 of the Recognized Employer Pilot under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program
Employers are now able to submit applications for positions on Service Canada’s Phase 2 Recognized Employer Pilot (REP) occupations list. These 84 occupations are in high-demand and show shortage conditions based on the Canadian Occupational Projection System assessment of recent labour market conditions (2019-2021). The deadline to submit applications to become a recognized employer is September 16, 2024, however recognized employers will continue to have access to simplified applications for the 84 designated occupations until the end of the pilot on December 31, 2026. If you have questions on the REP, please visit Canada.ca or contact the Employer Contact Centre. 

Health and Safety on Alberta Farms and Ranches
A guide to rights and obligations for farmers and workers under Alberta's OHS legislation. Provides information about hazard identification and control, incident reporting and investigations.https://ohs-bstore.labour.alberta.ca/bp029 

AgSafe FarmSafe Plan Learning Program Launched
This is a free, self-paced learning program that introduces Alberta producers to health and safety fundamentals and explains how to apply this information to their specific operations. It was designed for both family farms and farms with employees. It will walk you through creating a farm-specific health and safety program, explain why these elements are needed, and support you in putting your farm’s health and safety program into action. Learn more and register.

If you have farm-specific health and safety questions or require support relating to health and safety on your farm, please contact AgSafe Alberta at info@agsafeab.ca.   You may be eligible for onsite farm visits and up to 10 hours of advisor support at no cost!

Canada Alberta Jobs Grant: The Canada-Alberta Job Grant is a training program where an employer applies on behalf of their present or future employees for eligible training costs. Employers decide who gets training and what type of training may be needed for their employees. Learn more: https://www.alberta.ca/canada-alberta-job-grant  

Agriculture Job Connector: https://www.alberta.ca/agriculture-job-connector.aspx 

We were pleased to launch our partnership with the Canadian Agricultural Human Resources Council at our Ag-Forum on February 21. For anyone interested in the HR toolkit, please use this QR code to gain access to the free HR Toolkit offered during the program.


Additional Government & Industry News and Information

Grant Funding for Alberta Producers
Alberta producers, processors and organizations who are looking to secure funding for an upcoming project through Sustainable CAP should be mindful of where they are getting information. Learn More Here

3 ways to create personal income from a farm corporation
Running your farming operation as a corporation is increasingly common, so it’s important to understand how this structure affects your personal spending for plans like retirement and wind-down of your farming career. Methods used decades ago will not have the same success in today’s complex tax system. Understanding that a corporation is only a tax deferral is key to reducing your overall business and personal taxes. Paying the low corporate tax rates on the business is important to enabling your operation to reinvest larger after-tax profits on equipment, land or livestock. Learn more.

Insect Scouting Tips
A reminder from the Canola Council of Canada to scout fields weekly, checking both high and low in the canopy and inspecting all plant parts, including roots. When insect pest numbers approach action threshold levels, sample more frequently. Find the Guide Here

New Sclerotinia Risk Assessment Tool

Growers and agronomists looking for help in making sclerotinia spray decisions this summer now have access to a new online tool from the Canola Council of Canada. The sclerotinia risk assessment tool offers both a recommendation about whether or not to spray a canola crop (at 20%-50% flower) based on several inputs from the user, along with an opportunity to assess the spray decision by rating sclerotinia severity at maturity (30%-60% seed colour change). More Here and Find the Assessment Tool Here

Events, Webinars and Podcasts

AgSmart
AgSmart, produced by Olds College, is an educational expo focused on data and technology across the agriculture industry. Taking place July 30 and 31 producers and industry gather to learn by seeing the latest innovations being demonstrated, hearing from industry experts and engaging with leading innovation focused exhibits.

The unique expo format brings the conference outdoors, showcasing why it makes sense to invest in equipment and technology to capture data and how to implement that data to increase productivity and profitability for farm operations. Learn more and register for this year's event

FCC Events including Business Plan Boot Camp & Young Farmer Summit: https://www.fcc-fac.ca/en/knowledge/events.html

Agri-News online - www.alberta.ca/agri-news.aspx and upcoming events

Other Resources

As always, you can always find more agribusiness resources on our website: https://www.medicinehatchamber.com/agribusiness-resources/    

If you know of someone who may be interested in the work we are doing and might be interested in investing in this work through membership, please feel free to refer them to us. You can also encourage others to subscribe to our agriculture updates through this page. We look forward to continuing our work with you and pushing for our collective priorities on your behalf.

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