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Building A Unified Voice for Agriculture: Agriculture Updates, Supports, and News: October 2023

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Building A Unified Voice for Agriculture: Agriculture Updates, Supports, and News: October 2023

Agriculture Updates since September, 2023

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Delegate nominations open for 2024

Alberta Beef Producers’ (ABP) delegate nominations are now open, with 2-year positions available in all 5 zones, and one-year positions available in Central, Northwest, and Southeast Zones. The nomination deadline is November 15, 2023. Learn more about becoming a delegate.

Growing opportunity for Medicine Hat

With help from the Investment and Growth Fund, Alberta will be home to a new manufacturing facility, S3 Group’s sixth facility in North America and first in Alberta. Saskatchewan-based S3 Group builds tynes, harrows, air seeder blowers and other custom equipment. The new 22,000-square-foot facility is projected to be manufacture-ready at the end of 2023. S3 Group also plans to establish an engineering centre of excellence in Medicine Hat by 2028 to support new product development. Read more

Extended online chat hours

Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) will be extending its online chat hours from October 23 through November 15 to better support clients as they file their Harvest Production Reports. During this period, online chat on AFSC.ca and AFSC Connect will be available from 8:15 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. Regular chat hours resume November 16.

Funding Updates 

Drought relief support for livestock producers now open 

The governments of Alberta and Canada are providing $165 million to support livestock producers affected by drought and extreme growing conditions. Funding for this joint AgriRecovery initiative is cost-shared through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP), with the federal government providing $99 million and Alberta’s government providing $66 million. Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) will administer the program. 

Sustainable CAP is a five-year program, beginning this year, and includes a $3.5 billion investment by federal, provincial and territorial governments to strengthen competitiveness, innovation and resiliency in the agriculture, agri-food and agri-based products sector. This investment includes $1 billion in federal programs and $2.5 billion in cost-shared programs funded 60 per cent federally and 40 per cent provincially-territorially. Livestock producers who altered their usual grazing practices due to drought conditions for more than 21 days this season can apply for financial support to cover losses incurred to manage and maintain female breeding animals such as cattle, bison, horses, elk, sheep, goats, alpacas, yak, musk ox, deer, water buffalo and llamas. A minimum of 15 animals per type of livestock are required to qualify. Benefits will be based on a feed-need calculation for feed costs incurred from lost grazing days for eligible breeding animals on hand as of Dec. 31, 2023. Eligible producers could access up to $150 per head to help maintain the breeding herd in drought regions. The application deadline is Jan. 15, 2024 and extraordinary costs can be incurred until March 31, 2024. Read more.

Apply for a cash advance under the Advance Payments Program

Cash advances under this program provide cash flow to help meet financial needs until sale of the secured agricultural products. Neil Blue, provincial crops market analyst with the Alberta government, says the federal Advance Payments Program has been expanded over time to accommodate a wider range of farming enterprises. Under the program, producers can obtain up to $1,000,000 per program year in total advances. Read the article

FCC supports cattle producers

Farm Credit Canada (FCC) is announcing a new FCC Replacement Heifer Program to help Canadian cattle producers in maintaining or expanding their herds. Sophie Perreault, FCC’s chief operations officer, says the drought conditions this summer affected a large cattle producing area in Western Canada and right now ranchers are making decisions about how to best manage their herds. She adds the Heifer Replacement Program will help reduce cash flow pressures for those who want to maintain or grow their herd. Learn more about the program

Accelerating Agricultural Innovations 2.0 program now open

RDAR (Results Driven Agriculture Research) invites eligible applicants to submit Letters of Intent to the Accelerating Agricultural Innovations (AAI) 2.0 program.

The launch of AAI 2.0 marks an ambitious path forward in Alberta. Supporting RDAR’s mandate to target strategic investment in producer-led, results-driven agriculture research, AAI 2.0 program funding will power new projects that increase competitiveness, profitability, productivity, and sustainability in Alberta agriculture. Learn more about this funding opportunity

AFSC's Grassroots Fund supports 4-H at the local level

Any new or existing 4-H Alberta sanctioned club can apply for up to $300 to be used to support activities, programs, events or initiatives that fall into the areas of Agriculture/Agri-Food, Education and Outreach, and Community Well-Being. Funds are distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis until all funds are allotted.

Applications opened on October 3. Learn more and apply

Investing in ag societies and local communities

The province has launched a new capital grant that will help Alberta’s agricultural societies with facility repairs and upgrades. The Agricultural Societies Infrastructure Revitalization Program allocates $2.5 million annually to help ag societies update existing facilities. The program will allow agricultural societies to address issues related to aging infrastructure, ultimately extending the useful life of their community buildings. Applications for eligible projects are now open and the grant can be used to make improvements, including roof repairs, accessibility enhancements, heating upgrades and window installations. Read the media release. Learn more and apply

The Northern and Regional Economic Development (NRED) now open

NRED was created in 2022 to help attract job-creating investment and support economic growth and diversification across Alberta. Eligible projects can receive funding of up to $200,000 to help deliver business support, increase labour force attraction and retention, enhance tourism and build capacity for economic growth. A new intake is now open for the NRED program and applications will be accepted until December 20. Read more about this program from Alberta Jobs, Economy and Trade. Program details.

Labour Resources

Check out this new magazine from the Canadian Agriculture Human Resource Council (CAHRC) focused on Agri Workforce matters:

 

  1. Agriculture Job Connector: https://www.alberta.ca/agriculture-job-connector.aspx 
  2. Chamber Agriculture Labour survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2019AgribusinessLabour   
  3.  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   

Additional Government & Industry News and Information

Preconditioning and backgrounding calculator

What is the most profitable post-weaning choice for your calves? Should you background for a few weeks? Or a few months? Use this preconditioning calculator to help weigh your options.

The calculator evaluates the economic opportunity from preconditioning by providing a summary of estimated net returns and projected breakeven price premiums of 3 different precondition programs. Check out the calculator

Strategic management and farm success

Farm Management Canada in partnership with Agri-Food Management Excellence Inc. has released a new research report, titled “The Relationship Between Strategic Management and Farm Success.” This comprehensive study reveals farmers who invest in strategic management practices see a 100% return on investment. Learn more and read the report

Keeping grains safe in storage

Grain temperature and moisture are the 2 key factors for safe grain storage. If one or both factors are not properly managed, the risk of spoiled grain can increase significantly. To help prevent spoilage, the Canadian Grain Commission has developed storage charts for safe range of grain moisture and temperatures. Learn more

Cyber security and your farming business

As agricultural and agri-food businesses become more and more digitized and connected online, the risk of cyber disruptions increases. Cyber disruptions can have devastating effects including interrupting key services, impacting consumer trust and affecting business profitability. Put cyber security measures in place to prevent cyber disruptions, and to protect your business.

Minimize your risk of a cyber disruption

Listen to The First Sixteen Podcast on cyber security

Events, Webinars and Podcasts

Register now for the 2023-2024 BCRC Webinar Series starting November 15

This year’s BCRC (Beef Cattle Research Council) Webinar Series covers a range of topics all focused on practical, science-based information for Canadian beef producers and veterinary teams. Topics include managing the long-term implications of drought, heifer development and calf management from calving to early calfhood. Learn more and register for one or all of the webinars

November 28-30: Agri-Food Innovation Expo

December 13: Cool Family Solutions - Helping Families with Mental Health & Substance Related Disorders

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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