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Building A Unified Voice for Agriculture: Agriculture Updates, Supports, and News: November 2025

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Building A Unified Voice for Agriculture: Agriculture Updates, Supports, and News: November 2025

Headlines

2025 RDAR Impact Report

The 2025 RDAR Impact Report is now available — a showcase of how farmer-led research is creating a stronger, more sustainable agriculture sector for all Alberta. Read the full report

Farming Smarter: Fall 2025 Edition

Whether it's helping in the field or supplying you with information you need, we've got you covered. Check out the Fall edition of Farming Smarter's online magazine here: https://www.farmingsmarter.com/fall-2025

Ag Connections 2025: Strengthening Southeast Alberta’s Agricultural Backbone

Agriculture has been the cornerstone of Southeast Alberta’s economy for over a century, and its importance continues to grow. At the recent Ag Connections Conference, organized by Cypress County and Palliser Economic Partnership, producers, agribusiness leaders, and industry experts came together to share insights, explore innovations, and build stronger networks for the future.

The event kicked off with a key note address by Premier Danielle Smith, promoting the breadbasket of Alberta and agriculture as a key economic driver in our region and across Alberta. Jessical Holmes, who many will remember from the Royal Canadian Air Farce, focused on mental health, humour, resilience, while working through challenging times. Shaun Haney focused on the 5 things to Watch out for in Canadian Agriculture, while the whole event was emceed by Katelyn Duban, the WildRose Farmer. 

The Ag Connections 2025 agenda also featured insightful plenary sessions and practical breakout discussions designed to address the most pressing issues in agriculture. Key plenary topics included an economic outlook from FCC and an analysis of tariffs by IG Wealth Management, providing producers with critical market and trade insights. Breakout sessions explored succession planning, financing, insurance, technology, disease control, workforce and education, alongside panels on women in ag leadership, producer perspectives and a focus on agritourism. Additional sessions tackled land-use strategies, risk management in feed supply, and financial literacy for farm businesses. Together, these sessions offered a comprehensive look at innovation, resilience, and growth opportunities shaping the future of Canadian agriculture.

For the Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce, agriculture is more than a sector—it’s the backbone of our regional economy. It fuels jobs, drives investment, and creates ripple effects across transportation, manufacturing, and retail. That’s why we advocate for policies that support agribusiness growth, from improving risk management and regulatory processes to promoting ag education and securing water resources for sustainability.

By championing agriculture, we’re not just supporting farms—we’re building a resilient, innovative, and prosperous Southeast Alberta. Learn more about our advocacy and member benefits at: www.southeastalbertachamber.ca

Made in Alberta launches new app to connect food lovers and local producers

The Made in Alberta program has introduced the Made in Alberta app, which links consumers with food and beverage producers across the province. The app includes an AI-powered search function that allows users to scan food and drink items to see Alberta-made alternatives. With this, shoppers can easily swap in local, high-quality products while keeping their spending in the community. Made in Alberta

Bill 7, the Water Amendment Act 

The Water Act hasn’t been meaningfully updated since 1999. With a growing population, thriving economy and parts of Alberta experiencing water shortages in recent years, updates are needed to help Albertans share, use and access water more effectively. Under Bill 7, the foundation of Alberta’s 120-year-old water system remains firmly in place. The foundation of our system is working, and we are building on that success. There will be no reductions or clawbacks in allocations for existing licences. Alberta’s water licence priority system based on the principles of first-in-time, first-in-right is remaining. And royalties, bulk or volumetric pricing of water are not included in this legislation. Currently, licence holders can face time-consuming approvals and delays when they try to amend licences. Bill 7 will let government set mandatory timelines for reviewing applications and allow farmers, ranchers and others to more easily adjust their licence and bring all their allocations under one licence, making it easier to adapt to conditions on the ground and maximize how effectively water is used. 

The amendments will also make it easier for Alberta communities and others to use rainwater from rooftops and to reuse wastewater. The proposed changes will broaden the definitions and allow the use of alternative sources of water, giving the government the ability to set future policy and regulations to increase water reuse for municipalities, industry and others. Bill 7 would also define a new category of lower-risk inter-basin transfers to be approved by a ministerial order, not a special act of the legislature. Only lower-risk transfers that meet strict environmental standards and limits would be considered. Any high-risk transfers would still require a special act of the legislature. Find out more. 

Funding Resources

RDAR expands grazing program to include virtual fencing

RDAR has expanded its OFCAF rotational grazing program to include virtual fencing, a GPS-based technology helping Alberta producers manage pastures, save labour and improve sustainability with up to $75,000 in funding support. The new funding stream is designed to help cattle producers adopt “invisible fence” systems that use GPS-enabled collars and base stations to create and manage grazing zones through a computer or smartphone. More information

Regional Tariff Response Initiative

The Regional Tariff Response Initiative (RTRI) is now accepting expressions of interests. The initiative is open to all businesses based in the Prairie provinces and affected by recent trade actions or to a not-for-profit organization that supports small and medium enterprises to manage the impact of trade disruptions.

The program aims to:

  • help businesses undertake projects to raise productivity, enhance competitiveness and reduce costs, thereby mitigating impacts within firms.
  • enhance greater resiliency among Canadian businesses through more robust domestic supply chains, enhanced internal trade, market diversification and future-proofing their operations.

 For more information about the initiative and how to apply, visit PrairieCan's RTRI website or contact rtri-irrt.alberta@prairiescan.gc.ca.

Additional Government & Industry News and Information

Workforce Pulse 2025 Findings

This workforce survey gathered input from more than 2,100 Canadian employers to better understand workforce stability, challenges, and priorities. Agricultural employers are facing: 

  • Labour shortages, especially in skilled trades, technical, and supervisory roles,
  • Economic pressures, while still planning to maintain or grow their workforce in the coming months,
  • the need for longer-term workforce planning and training supports, and
  • challenges in hiring farm labour and supervisors and concerns with rising labour costs.

Federal grain fee freeze for Alberta producers

The Canadian Grain Commission will use its surplus to cover operating costs and delay potential fee increases until 2028. The decision provides cost stability for producers and agri-businesses while maintaining essential services—helping sustain Alberta’s agriculture sector amid broader economic pressures. Learn more

Alberta Canola research survey

Alberta Canola has launched a province-wide, in-depth farmer survey on grower needs and research priorities. This survey will benchmark grower awareness and sentiment about Alberta Canola research. It will inform the development of future research priorities and activities within the research portfolio. The survey closes December 17, 2025.

Empowering Minds: A province-wide rural mental health initiative

The Alberta Association of Agricultural Societies has partnered with internationally recognized social innovator and mental health advocate, Ian Hill, to launch Empowering Minds: The First Identifiers Initiative across 60 rural Alberta communities. Learn more about this initiative

Building a legacy - the Century Farm and Ranch Award

Keeping the farm or ranch actively operating from generation to generation is an impressive achievement for any Alberta family. Agriculture and Irrigation recognizes these special families who built the foundation of prairie farming and ranching.

The contributions they have made to Alberta's agriculture sector is immeasurable. Their dedication to agriculture, family and rural communities has helped build a vibrant and sustainable agriculture industry in our province.

Get to know the families who have built the foundation of prairie farming and ranching in Alberta. See our interactive Alberta Century Farm and Ranch Award Dashboard.Hear from past recipient Burke Creek Ranch | Learn more and apply for a Century Farm and Ranch Award

Events, Webinars and Podcasts

Bridging the Gap Farm Transition Workshop - Medicine Hat: Planning the future of your farm is one of the most important steps you’ll take. Bridging the Gap is uniquely designed to bring multiple generations together for open conversation, shared learning, and a stronger understanding of each other’s perspectives. Register now for the November 27th event.

FCC Young Farmer Summit: Sharpen your farm management skills and sign up for this free event designed for young farmers under 40. Learn from industry experts, connect with peers and gain the knowledge you need to take your farm game to the next level. Learn more and register for an event near you

Farm Financial Fluency Training: Producers of all types and across all commodities will benefit from a deeper understanding of their financial situation and the different options available to remain competitive and take calculated risks for continued success. https://fmc-gac.com/fff/

  • Farm Financial Fluency for Farm Women: November 24, 26 & 27
  • Farm Financial Fluency for Young Farmers: December 8, 9 & 11
  • Farm Financial Fluency for All Farmers: January 19, 20 & 22

Economic Update – Navigating today's economic environment: In this recorded webinar, the FCC Economics team reviews the current economic and financial variables affecting farm, food and beverage, and agribusinesses – and what to expect for the remainder of 2025.

Beef Cattle Research Council’s 2025-2026 four-part webinar series. Each session will dig into topics that have an impact on your bottom line, including whether hormone implants are the right fit for your calves, how water quality and systems lead to better herd performance and what you can do to reduce the risk of calf losses. Register here. 

Registration is now open for the Beef Cattle Research Council’s 2025-2026 four-part webinar series starting January 2026

Virtual FCC Young Farmer Summit Part 1 - March 17 | Virtual FCC Young Farmer Summit Part 2 - March 31

Agri-News online - www.alberta.ca/agri-news.aspx (includes upcoming industry events)

Other Resources

As always, you can always find more agribusiness resources on our website: https://www.southeastalbertachamber.ca/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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