2024 Agriculture Section & Salute to Farmers

Local vet clinic stresses importance of vet oral hygiene

Local vet clinic stresses pet oral hygiene

Kari Janzen Staff Reporter

Hastings Lake Animal Hospital has extended dental health month, commonly held in February, to be held from December to April. Located about 15 minutes west of Tofield, the full-service veterinary clinic offers care for companion animals and a whole host of farm pets.

“We see farm pets like poultry, fowl, pot belly pigs, pygmy goats, but only if they have a name and can walk into the clinic politely,” said Dr. Karen Allen, owner of Hastings Lake Animal Hospital.

Allen has been running a dental health month program in her practices since 1999, and many colleagues of hers run similar programs in their practices across North America.

“We are going into our

ninth year at Hastings Lake, but I first practiced on Vancouver Island in a mixed animal practice, then Edmonton where I started Mill Creek Animal Hospital which I later sold, then across Canada with a corporate group as their National Medical Director and partner, and then I landed right here working next door to my home!” Allen said.

In an ideal world, Allen said, pets need their teeth cleaned every day, and the frequency of a regularly scheduled professional cleaning by a veterinarian is determined on a caseby-case basis.

“Brushing teeth at home is never as easy as it sounds. There are many new products on the market that support home oral hygiene programs for pets where brushing is not going to happen on a daily (or ever!)

basis. We have dental wipes, water supplements, dental diets, oral rinses and various chews. I did not list bones...bones are bad, no two ways about it. They causebroken teeth, gastrointestinal issues and many a dog has been stitched up after fighting over bones. In my opinion, dogs should never be given bones.

“Some pets are not amenable to oral exam without sedation; they would prefer to give us a dental impression on our arms! For those pets there are a variety of pre-visit sedatives or sedations that can be used to get a good look in their mouths to determine what the best course of action would be. There are some outlets that provide teeth cleaning by non-veterinary staff. I always advise my clients that dental cleaning in pets requires general

anesthesia because we can’t properly clean under the gumline or get to the back teeth (which are often the problem area) in an awake patient. I also really worry about sharp instruments so close to eyes in awake, wiggly patients!” Allen said.

The program is designed to promote oral health for dogs and cats, and inform pet owners of common diseases.

“Periodontal disease, an infection of the tissues that hold teeth in place, is one of the most common conditions we see in pets. This can sometimes result in very serious health issues. People often think bad breath is normal in pets, but it certainly is not. Just because a pet is eating does not mean they are not having dental pain. They have no option but to eat, pain or not. Dogs rarely get caries, (tooth decay, also known

as cavities) like humans; they get periodontal disease and dental abscesses instead, which can be very painful,” Allen said.

Allen said the best way to determine how to best keep a pet’s mouth healthy and maintain oral health is to take the animal for an exam.

“This program helps us to create opportunities to talk to clients about their pet’s oral health and options for getting their pet’s mouth healthy again. The first step is always an exam and then we can make recommendations from there. As a general rule, most small breed dogs need their teeth professionally cleaned by a veterinarian annually starting between 2-4 years of age. In my experience, large breed dogs need dental exams annually to look for broken premolars/molars which are common in our big

chewers and active dogs. Large breed dogs also frequently need professional dental cleaning, but usually not starting as young as the small breed dogs,” Allen said.

“Cats are highly variable in their need for professional dental cleanings and an annual dental exam will help you know if your cat is predisposed to dental issues. Cats get a particular issue called Feline Odontoclastic Resorptive Lesions where the tooth resorbs and exposes the nerve which is very painful and will affect eating. With such cases those teeth will need to be extracted,” she said.

The program, most often held in the month of February, is set at this time due to the fact that winter is often less busy for vet clinics.

“Winter is a slower time for veterinary clinics,

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Our community is enhanced by the many family operated farms in the district. They have demonstrated their ability to cope with both prosperity and adversity to achieve economic stability. We salute all those families now and all year round.

Mayor Dueck and Council

LAMONT COUNTY

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• W4-20-55-27-SE Plan 1023701 Block 1 Lot 1A Lamont County. 138.09 acres in the Lamont Heartland for industrial use. Located North of Highway 15 on Range Road 202. Price $2,990,000

STRATHCONA COUNTY

• SW Part of NW –23 –53 –23 –W4 40.55 acres North of Highway 16 on Range Road 232 in proposed medium industrial zoning with CP rail line at the border of the property. Price $7,200,000

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Lauren Hill Steven Hill

Norman Hill

A lesson in perseverance: Millions spent, equipment failures, and a pandemic did not stop Bruderheim Hemp facility

BY JANA SEMENIUK Aaron Barr, Chief Executive Officer of

the Canadian Rockies Hemp Corporation (CRHC) located in Bruderheim, is finally seeing production out of his multi-milliondollar hemp processing facility, five years after the company first came to town.

Barr, 40, dreamt of being able to grow and process the plant on a large scale, which can be used to produce a wide variety of products including building materials, clothing and paper.

Although hemp is related to cannabis, it contains less than 0.3 percent THC (the chemical which gives cannabis it’s psychoactive effects) while today, cannabis contains an average of 15 percent or more.

“We don't need to be cutting down more

forests and making more polyester and fiberglass when this plant-based material can substitute all of that,” said Barr.

“It's a pretty cool opportunity to be able to grow a crop and process it for your clothes to building materials to composite panels in your vehicles. It can all be made out of hemp.”

Barr’s operation uses a process called decortication to separate the outer hemp fiber from its woody core, enabling the production of several products using both parts, including textiles, insulation, construction materials and animal bedding. Barr said nothing goes to waste.

His initial plans in 2019 for the 75-acre property, was the construction of a 40,000 square foot building that would handle up to 50,000 acres

of hemp production per year. Construction was first delayed by a large amount of rain as well as waiting for approval of their development permit. Construction finally began in late 2019 but was shuttered in the spring of 2020 by the COVID pandemic.

“COVID came and just shut everything down.

And then the whole world's supply chain of trying to get machinery and parts and finish the construction came to a crashing halt,” he said, adding that construction on the building was finally finished in 2021.

Barr said finally it seemed as though things were looking up. Local farmers were contracted

to grow the hemp and Barr purchased special processing equipment from England spending both 2021 and 2022 having it shipped and installed. As soon as he tried to use it, however, there was trouble.

“We got all the equipment in place and went to go stick in the first bale and it wouldn't even make it past the first 20 feet of the equipment,” he said.

“It was supposed to do four tons per hour and produce 98 percent purity, and then the first six months it wouldn’t even produce one ton an hour at 80 percent purity. So we had to re-engineer, re-design, rebuild a whole bunch of equipment to even get it to 50 percent capacity of what they sold it to us at.”

Barr said he had no time to consider law-

suits. As his engineering team was learning how to process the hemp fiber on a scale that had never been done here before and rebuilding the equipment to handle it, large bales of hemp were being brought to the facility for processing.

The bales continued to pile up in the yard of the facility and today amount to 20,000 tonnes.

“In 2022 we (had) 6,500 acres (grown) in preparation for that equipment turning on and being able to process right out of the gate,” he said.

“This year, we'll probably do next to no farm production just because we have so many bales to get through over this year. We'll look back to start ramping up the farm production in 2025.”

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Canadian Rockies Hemp Corporation team during the 2022 hemp harvest; (L-R) Aaron Barr, Chief Executive Officer, Cam Parsons, AG Operations Manager, and Spencer Tighe, Chief Operating Officer. Photo: Aaron Barr

Leslie Cholowsky

April showers bring May flowers, and also signals the hopeful start of true spring to many Albertans.

For those who are outdoor enthusiasts and like to traverse the scenic foothills on the western side of the province, April also presents the opportunity to get a glimpse of the newest members of Alberta’s wild horse population.

Spring is typically the time that new wild horse foals arrive, and an Alberta advocacy group is asking the public to be aware and cautious if planning a trip in the backcountry. Alberta’s feral horse populations range the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains between the Sheep and Brazeau Rivers, according to the Province’s Feral Horse Management framework.

Help Alberta Wildies Society (HAWS) President Darrell R. Glover says, “Wild horses throughout the province start foaling in April, and it’s not uncommon for outdoor and recreational users on Crown land to see them while out enjoying a day in the backcountry.

“Newborn and young foals are particularly vulnerable during this time as they can easily become separated from their mothers and their natal bands if disturbed, making them prime targets for starvation or predation.”

Glover says when a group of wild horses or mares are spotted, this time of year often means a young foal may be resting, lying in the bushes.

He says getting too close to the herd, or travelling too fast through the area can cause the herd to flee, leaving the young foals behind.

“Alberta’s wild horses are a precious natural resource and attract scores of visitors and photographers from around the world who want to see them roaming wild and free in the backcountry, especially in the spring

when foals begin to arrive,” says Glover. “We just ask that when doing so, people are respectful and cautious Give the horses some space; don’t scare them or give them a reason to flee.”

Glover says the wild horse foaling season is critical to the sustainabil-

ity of the species - a species that is unique to Alberta according to DNA analysis and unlike any other horses in the world.

“Predation in the backcountry especially in the Sundre Equine Management Zone (EMZ) is particularly high. We

estimate only 10 per cent of the foals born annually survive, so it’s critical as many foals as possible make it to adulthood.”

According to the Province, the Sundre EMZ has the highest population of wild horses, determined in 2021 to be just shy of 800 animals.

Heather Cameron Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The 2024 Farming Smarter Conference and Trade Show recently kicked off with a Fireside Chat between John Kolk of Farming Smarter and Robert Andjelic of Andjelic Land Inc., Canada’s largest farmland holder.

Andjelic explained that he has a long history of entrepreneurship and investing, starting with him buying his first house for renovation at the age of 17 and later, he was a cofounder of a masonry company, that started with doing masonry housefront, then drifting into doing commercial buildings. In 1987, Andjelic says, he went into commercial real estate independently. After foreseeing the coming recession with the demise of the subprime market he and his family put their entire portfolio of over 250,000 square feet up for sale.

“This was my and my family’s lifetime of work, so it wasn’t an easy decision, but I foresaw the market crash coming and I didn’t think that I had any choice,” said Andjelic. “My idea was to sell at the top, then get back into the market at 50 cents on the dollar, after

the economic crash took its toll. In between I played the commodities market for around four years and eventually I decided to look for something else, that I thought would have a better future. Being in commercial real-estate most of my life I’ve seen manufacture’s, distributors and other businesses go broke as China took a bigger and bigger market share. Before going into another business venture, I wanted to see what was Canada’s advantage that we had that couldn’t be easily duplicated and produced in the other countries, no matter which one wins the manufacturing and technological race and increases their buying power of the middle class.”

The answer that he came up with, Andjelic said, was agriculture and water, and that is what led him to invest into farmland, so he slowly liquidated all his commodities holdings and started to buy farmland. His first acquisitions, Andjelic said, were acquired in 2010 and his first farmland acquisitions were under his name and then eventually incorporated under Andjelic Land Inc.

When Kolk asked And-

jelic what economic indicators he looked at to get into farmland, Andjelic explained that it was mostly associated with climate change. Climate change, Andjelic said, will limit most countries from getting top yields or yields that they are used to.

That trend, Andjelic said, was identified around 15 years back, during his research into climate change and study of solar cycles as well as the Gleissberg cycles. In his research, Andjelic said, he found that the United States will be out of commission, as we knew 30 or 40 years back, as far as agricultural production is concerned, specifically the western

Continued on Page 7

half of the U.S. including California and the furthest south portion. Andjelic also said that during his discussions with some US cattle buyers they told him that the wells in the US central and western parts, are going deeper and deeper. Fifty years ago the wells were 150 to 200 feet deep and they had plenty of water. With time, Andjelic said, they had to go deeper and deeper from 500 to 1,000 feet and now they are 1,500 feet plus.

Kolk then asked if Andjelic saw his move into land as farming or an investment. Andjelic stated that it was both because his company is partners with the producers, and they all want what’s best for the land, so it is also definitely an investment.

Then, Kolk wanted to know what Andjelic looked for in people he wanted to purchase land from. Andjelic explained that Andjelic Land Inc. likes to work with likeminded thinking producers, particularly the ones that do a lot of soil testing and return back any nutrients to the fields, and they also like to work with producers that are technically advanced, use the latest equipment and follow the latest and best farming practices.

When Kolk asked Andjelic about some of the challenges he saw for broad scale agriculture in the prairies over the next five to 10 years, Andjelic explained that he saw many including geopolitical issues, interest rates, how climate change is going to affect producers, and how he feels demand is going to outstrip supply.

As far as interest rates are concerned, Andjelic said he believes that there will be contradicting data coming out in the short term, but longer term, but he sees possible recession on the horizon.

In terms of investing in farmland, Andjelic said, today it is virtually impossible to get a return of more than 3 per cent on rental farmland. However, he bought most of his portfolio when the per acre price was $500 to $1,000

per acre and that land has the same rental rate as today’s $4,000 per acre land.

“This is no different than most of today’s producers who bought land way back at even lower prices than mine, then buy some at $4,000 or more, this just makes their total cost base a little higher,” said Andjelic. “Some producers out there are carrying land that they bought at $100 per acre way back, so it is no problem for them to pay today’s price and still be very viable.”

Agriculture, Andjelic said, is a very capital-intensive business, hence very difficult to get into.

“We got several well motivated individuals, who were also employed by our tenants, started farming by way of us, giving an individual a quarter section of land for the first

year rent free, but rent payments start after that," said Andjelic. "The individual’s employer, also our tenant, would allow him the use of all his equipment for only the price of fuel. After a few years he bought his own quarter of land, as by now he had a production and credit track record. For new entrants into farming, land is only one component, they also have the high cost of equipment as well as inputs. As a matter of fact, land, which is the most critical component, is the lowest cost, especially if you are renting. Let’s take an average rent of $100 per acre, if you were to buy your land, at today’s interest rates, based on let’s say 7 per cent and a cost of $4,000 your interest on that amount is equal to $280 per acre. Renting land is by far the cheaper route."

Leslie Cholowsky

The RCMP RAVE app has been credited with the quick return of stolen property after an incident of theft in Wainwright.

RCMP say that on March 7, Wainwright RCMP were able to return a stolen truck, trailer, and ATV to the rightful owner with the help of the Rave Mobile Safety mass notification system and the people of the community.

The theft was reported to policy early that morning and RCMP promptly shared the information with the public through a Rave alert. By 11 a.m. a citizen reported seeing the truck with the stolen property in a nearby community, Fabyan. At 2 p.m. a local farmer reported the location of the ATV and trailer. Both individuals recognized the stolen property from the Rave alert’s description,

police say.

RCMP advise that by mid-afternoon the rightful owner of the property arrived to return the stolen property to their home in Wainwright.

RCMP Alberta says, “The rapid return of stolen property demonstrates the advantages of the Rave Mobile Safety mass notification system.

“Rave enables community members to assist police and be a useful resource to their local detachment and their respective community.

“By staying informed about public safety, residents and the police can work together to reduce crime and improve the safety of their communities.”

To start receiving Rave notifications, users can register online and then select the region or regions they wish to receive alerts for, as well as the

type of information they want to receive, including: Traffic advisory notifications; Crime watch notifications; Crime prevention tips; Requests for public assistance; and General public safety messaging. Users can decide how they will receive alerts issued on the app.

For more information, or to sign up, visit

ruralcrimewatch.ab.ca/l/rave

The Alberta RCMP encourages residents to sign up for the Rave Mobile Safety mass notification system as an additional tool to be used in crime prevention and community safety.

Rave alerts provide Albertans with real-time, trusted information around public safety and crime prevention.

What’s different about PowerRich Fertilizer

When you compare the PowerRich fertilizer program with traditional fertilizer you’ll notice 3 big differences and they are:

PowerRich, along with your present nitrogen program, provides a total fertilizer. In addition to phosphorus and potassium PowerRich also provides all of the other nutrients that are either absent from your soil or in a form unavailable to your crops.

PowerRich fertilizer uses nutrients that are all compatible with one another. PowerRich uses primary, secondary and micronutrients which are compatible and are readily available to your crop. 3

The third main difference with the PowerRich fertilizer program and traditional fertilizer, is that rather than applying the fertilizer all in one shot, the PowerRich program is a 3 part program that is tailored to the different requirements of your crop as it grows.

When Barr initially recruited farmers to grow the hemp, he said the plan was to provide the seed and fertilizer while the farmer would harvest the crop and deliver the bales of hemp to the facility. Barr said those plans changed.

“(The farmer planting, harvesting and delivering bales) is pretty much what every other hemp coordinator does in the world. We quickly found out that farmers don't want to go buy new equipment and don't want to experiment. So, we had to really take on that whole cultivation model (ourselves),” he said.

“We are pretty unique in that we do that whole production. We’ve become a full custom harvesting operation. We didn't ever think that we would become full farmers ourselves, but it's allowed us to kind of prove our model (and) farmers take less risk of not having to go buy new equipment. The farmer only has to seed spray and walk away. They can go focus on their other crops, we’ll come in and do that full harvest so It's a really good reliever of operational efficiency for the

farmer.”

In light of the added harvesting operation, Barr said two full harvest crews are currently being hired. He said CRHC already has a staff of 20 and will be looking to add 12 more this year with another 20 next year.

“We’ll have close to 60 full time people by this time next year,” he said. Barr said that hemp crops also increase soil health and help increase yields for subsequent crops planted.

“It’s crazy what it does to the soil. We’re seeing that deep tap root system go three meters down into the soil bed helping micronize those nutrients that are further down and making them more available for the next year’s crop,” he said. “So we're making food production and crop production more productive here with this crop, which is the whole point of adding crop rotations.”

Meanwhile, Barr has also been spreading the word about hemp by appearing as a guest speaker at various conferences around the world. He said the response has been very positive, but added that he would like to see more Canadian manufacturers get on board.

“It's sad to say, but less

than 10 percent of our production is seen within Canada. We're going to really start to promote and educate more in Canada to try and get manufacturers on board,” he said. “Instead of just exporting this material out of our country, it's a great material that we can use and consume here.”

Barr said CRHC is expected to process 500,000 pounds of hemp per week by the end of this year.

While it’s been a hard road for CRHC, with seemingly insurmount-

able challenges at times, Barr said he can’t imagine doing anything else.

“It’s what gets me out of bed in the morning. The demand for this product is so much more substantial than we ever thought it was. Learning how to create new crops and harvest and process and then create new markets that’s never been done before in Canada is definitely a learning process. As stressful as it's been, I couldn't imagine doing something more beneficial not only for the farming community, but for the environ-

ment,” he said.

“I know everyone's pushing towards net zero and carbon reductions. Growing this crop and processing it into sustainable materials is a way that we can definitely reach those net zero goals. So we really see ourselves expanding the

production out of this Bruderheim facility. Our goal is by 2026 to be maximized at this facility, which would do about 40 to 50,000 acres per year, and then start duplicating these facilities across Alberta and Saskatchewan.”

2024 Agriculture Section (The Community Press, Weekly Review, Tofield Mercury, Lamont Leader) -

Rural residents schooled on water management during a drought

By John Mather

Rural residents filled the Lamont Community on Feb. 7 as Melissa OrrLangner, a farm water specialist from Alberta Agriculture, gave a seminar on how to deal with a drought situation on farms and proper construction of a dugout.

Her talk she stated would be about planning for a drought and how to create sustainable water sources for the farm.

“Mostly I’ll be touching on dugouts because those are the things most impacted during a drought,” she said.

“I’ll talk about wells, and I’ll talk about our funding programs available.”

She said the first thing a farmer had to do was to determine the water requirements for the farm and create a longterm water management plan.

Through the use of charts she explained how

the water needs for a farm is calculated and stated during the summer months water requirements would be greater.

Orr-Langner left copies of her slide presentation with Lamont County’s Hannah Musterer, who hosted the seminar and these are available through the County Agriculture Services Department.

“Once you have determined your water needs, then look at what you have for water sources from wells, dugouts, water courses to determine your water capabilities.”

Concerns surrounding the viability of a well could be its age and the quality of the water.

The same thing applied to dugouts, she added.

Once the water inventory is determined, she said, and the farmer knows their water sources, any shortfalls

must be determined such as lower water volumes in the dugouts, and potential drying up of water sources which livestock can no longer feed from.

“Overpumping and overuse is definitely a concern during drought times,” she said. “We have heard from people concerned about shallow groundwater. It has been pointed out that in the southern part of the province some of the wells have been drying up.”

She stated once the shortfalls had been determined then solutions could be sought, and using the resources of the province was a good place to begin.

“Farmers usually know what they want to do on their farms, but we can provide help with possible funding, determining volumes of water need and how to achieve maximum results from the

water sources available.”

She added experts in her department could assist in choosing the best locations for new dugouts if they were needed on the farm.

Continued

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Registration now open for hosts of Alberta Open Farm Days

Leslie Cholowsky

Registration is now open for farms and ranches to be part of the 2024 Open Farm Days, set for the weekend of Aug. 17 and 18.

Since 2013, Open Farm Days has seen over 183,000 visits, injecting almost $1.5 million into the rural economy through on-farm sales.

In 2023 alone, $300,000 in on-farm sales were generated from this event.

Since its launch the public has enjoyed over 1000 Alberta farms and the number of culinary events, celebrating farm to table, has increased to 74, from just 12 back in 2013.

Host farms in the program have included traditional farms, livestock (bison, cattle, alpaca, sheep, llama, goat, poultry) farms and ranches, organic operations, corn mazes, wineries, craft distilleries, meaderies, craft breweries, stables, and petting zoos, along with honey, fruit,

vegetable, grain, and u-pick farms.

2024 Open Farm Days will shine a spotlight on the alpaca.

While a relatively new species to Alberta farms, these animals are now an important part of Alberta’s thriving fibre industry, which also includes products such as goats wool (cashmere), sheep wool, and hemp.

It’s estimated that there are

28,500 alpacas in Canada, with 40 per cent of those in Alberta.

The United Nations designated 2024 as the International Year of the Camelid, which includes alpacas and llamas.

Alpaca fibre comes in a variety of colours, and is much warmer and stronger than sheep’s wool. It’s also non-allergenic and repels water.

For producers new to the concept, there is training available.

Host farm training sessions are free, and open to anyone interested, whether farms or organizations interested in

For 2024, Alberta Open Farm Days has partnered with artist Kaylee Wray to celebrate this year’s theme. Colouring book images of Wray’s art, depicting alpacas, is available at albertaopenfarmdays.ca

participating in an Open Farm Days event.

Training sessions include Insurance, Serving and Selling Food on your Farm, Planning and Booking your Food, Exploring Activities for Children, Marketing, and more. Recordings are available for those training sessions which have already taken place. Registration is open until April 30.

2024 Agriculture Section (The Community Press, Weekly Review, Tofield Mercury, Lamont Leader) - April 3, 2024 - Page

Water management during drought

Continued

Another way to provide water to the farm would be to use pipelines, she said.

“You can use a pasture pipeline from a nearby water source and can pipe to a water basin.”

She added the pipeline could be buried and it wouldn’t interfere with any cultivation.

The biggest thing for dugouts she said was proper design and location.

Beside using it for livestock, she said it could be used for watering trees and gardens and provide a form of fire suppression.

Orr-Langner said when choosing a location, look to an area where runoff from winter snow or heavy rainfall would drain in the dugout to keep it filled.

She suggested the size of the dugout should be capable of holding a fiveyear water supply because it must also take into account evaporation.

She told the crowded hall she felt most dugouts she saw were undersized.

She told the group Alberta Agriculture has maps which show suggested sizes for dugouts based on water requirements, as well as maps showing evaporation rates across the province.

A deeper dugout is more desirable than one spread over a larger area because it would reduce evaporation rates.

She also suggested what dugout side angles should be for maximum safety.

A stable slope also prevents some water loss in the dugout, she said.

A dugout could also be located near an existing water course, but she said a permit from Alberta Environment would be required to move water from the water course to the dugout.

Dugouts in poor locations could be located in a water course, or a groundwater fed dugout or spring fed dugout. It would also need approval from Alberta Environment.

Another thing to consider when locating a dugout, she said, was to avoid areas where the ground may be contaminated by chemicals or fertilizers that could then leach into the water.

Orr-Langner also touched on wells on a farm and some of the rules to consider when they are constructed.

“You do have to be sure where it is located that you’re not going to interfere with a neighbour’s well,” she said.

“You also have to be very careful when a well is built that you don’t over pump the water from it.”

Using the well longer than previous years, increasing the pump capacity to obtain more water are both situations where the well is being over pumped.

Water wells for livestock in a pasture, she said, did require a licence.

‘Grey Market’ farm machinery finding its way to Canada

The Alberta Farmer’s Advocate Office released an advisory recently warning farmers about “grey market” machinery finding its way to Canada.

“Grey Market” machines are those that are manufactured for use outside of North America.

“This equipment may find its way back to North America as used or lightly used equipment that is sold online, through auctions, or by private equipment dealers.”

The danger is that this machinery is not eligible for warranty work, and that service and repair parts are not available locally for these grey market machines, including software programs and even sometimes engines.

The Farmer’s Advocate office warns that even though the imported equipment may be a well-known brand, these items are manufactured and designed for use outside of Canada and the US.

“What you save on the purchase price may cost you more when you are unable to find

parts or repair your equipment.”

The Farmer’s Advocate says that Alberta dealers may assist potential buyers by checking the serial

number of the equipment, which should indicate whether the unit is in the North American system, and whether local service and repairs are available.

The Farmer’s Advocate office warns, “The Farm Implement and Dealership Act provides protection for producers who buy new equipment through a licensed dealer so implements

You have what it takes to run a farm. We have what it takes to get you started.

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bought online, at auction, or out of province are not covered.”

Continued from page

presumably because our patients are indoors staying warm with their owners. Many years ago, the veterinary industry started to promote/celebrate Dental Month in February. We have expanded it over the winter because we have so many patients that need dental care and we need more than just February to fit everyone in! Our dental program is completely full for this year and ends April 30,” Allen said.

Hastings Lake Animal Hospital also offers a farm cat spay and neuter clinic, which is held annually in the fall.

“I started the farm cat spay and neuter program in about 2009. When my children were students at Ministik Elementary, we all knew that there were many

unwanted kittens and cats in our rural community. We were brainstorming fundraisers to raise money for student programming at the schoolso I suggested this wild and crazy idea...which people loved!” Allen said.

“Statistics at that time showed that a surprising percentage of surrendered cats and litters were coming from rural communities like ours. So, I decided to start the Ministik Farm Cat Spay & Neuter Program which was a one-day event where the cats were dropped off at the Ministik School gymnasium and driven by parent volunteers to my practice in the city. It was a by-donation program and we have spayed and neutered hundreds of cats since starting this program which we run

every year,” Allen said.

One of Allen’s fond memories in the beginnings of the program included a generous farmer who wanted to support the student programming at the school.

“There was this crusty old rancher who came in with an equally crusty old tomcat and he donated $200 to the kids to neuter this cat! I guarantee you he would have never paid a veterinarian a single cent to neuter that cat but he wanted to support the kids, so the tomcat was wrangled up and presented to the kids,” Allen said.

At the beginning, the students had a great learning experience with helping out with the program, and Allen said they were very involved with the whole process, from admission and surgery, to recovery and

discharge.

“I was always so proud of the kids because they really got the message that we do not need any more litters of kittens in our community, and that cats should be spayed and neutered at six months of age. The closure of the Ministik School led to the program morphing in the Farm Cat Spay and Neuter Program that we now offer on site at Hastings Lake Animal Hospital. All the proceeds from the spay and neuter program used to go to The Ministik School Parents’ Association, a couple years to the Ardrossan Band Parents Association, and now all the proceeds go to our Hastings Lake Animal Hospital Rescue,” she said.

Allen says that it is important to neuter male

cats early in life, when undesirable behaviours have not yet begun.

“In order to prevent undesirable male cat behaviours, it’s really important to neuter them before they start the behaviours (spraying urine, wandering, fighting), we recommend neutering at five and a half months of age now. Neutering a male at any age will improve the undesirable tomcat behaviours but may not extinguish the behaviour,” she said.

This clinic has been so popular, Allen said they can never serve all the clients that apply each year.

“Our clients get first dibs on the slots and then it opens up to the general public. We have served hundreds of clients over the years, many who are annual

supporters who spay or neuter cats that show up on their properties,” Allen said.

As for her veterinary work as a whole, Allen says she rarely has a day where it feels like she’s working.

“I’ve been doing this a long time; I love what I do. I’m surrounded by a team of highly skilled and supportive women, and one man, who make it all possible. We all live in the community and absolutely love helping our neighbours, friends, and families keep their pets healthy and safe. It’s really been an honour to be able to work right in my community.

Everyone has been super supportive of the practice and I am extremely grateful to each and every one of my clients,” she said.

Partial solar eclipse coming to Alberta next Monday

Leslie Cholowsky

While government officials in the Niagra region have declared a state of emergency ahead of the full solar eclipse expected on Monday, April 8, residents of Central Alberta will only see a partial eclipse of the sun that day.

While Niagra Falls has been pinpointed as one of the best places of the world to watch the solar eclipse, as it is located in the path of totality, most places in Alberta will see a partial eclipse, as the moon passes over the lower part of the sun, starting just before noon that day, and lasting until about 1:45 p.m. The point where the impact will be the largest will be seen closest to 12:40 p.m.,

when the moon will cover the lower left quarter of the sun, about 23-4 per cent in total.

Southern areas of the Province will see the highest percentage of coverage.

Even with a partial eclipse, it is not safe to look at the sun without certified eye protection.

That means specially manufactured solar viewing glasses, with ISO 12312-2 certification, or at the very least, pinhole projection.

Pinhole projection involves poking a small hole in a material, like cardboard, that is completely opaque, then putting a piece of paper underneath the light coming through the hole.

To ensure that the hole

has no debris, cut out a square, and cover that square with aluminum foil, then poke a small hole in the foil.

The light coming through the tiny hole will reflect the image of the moon moving in front of the sun in an indirect way that is safe to view.

The further the paper is away from the cardboard, the larger the image on the paper will be. Do not look through the pinhole at the sun.

Note that direct viewing using telescopes, binoculars, or cameras does not provide protection against eye damage, unless they are equipped with proper solar filters.

Sunglasses do not provide the necessary protection.

“Looking at the sun on any given day, whether it be an eclipse day or not, is very dangerous. People have become totally blinded by that.

“You don’t want an eclipse to be the last thing you ever see,” Frank Florian, senior manager of planetarium space sciences at the popular Edmonton science centre told the Edmonton Journal.

Partial eclipses offer the most danger for viewers, when the moon doesn’t fully cover the sun.

Alberta will see a full solar eclipse on Aug. 22, 2044, a once-in-400-years event. Until then, there will be eight more partial eclipses, starting August

2026.

Of course, any solar event requires a clear sky to view. According to The

Weather Network, the 14day forecast including Monday, April 8, calls for mainly sunny skies.

George Lee Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Rural municipalities are “cautiously optimistic” that a provincial police service would enhance rural safety, a news item on their association website says.

But members of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta are disappointed they weren’t consulted in the lead-up to the government’s first reading of Bill 11 on March 13, the association for 69 counties and municipal districts said.

The RMA said loose ends remain about how a provincial police service would jive with the RCMP in Alberta’s countryside. The group singled out a lack of clarity on issues like collaboration, the development of community safety plans, the gathering of community input and the implementation of priorities.

“If supported by proper governance and local input, enhanced police capacity is beneficial to rural communities,” says the RMA item, “but there are risks around having two different entities providing similar services within the same community.”

Less enthusiastic is Alberta Municipalities, which speaks for municipalities other than MDs and counties – big cities down to summer villages. It says that the way Bill 11 came into being is symptomatic of a non-consultive approach.

The province has “a tendency to avoid consultation and engagement,” says an ABmunis new release. “We ask that ABmunis be informed and consulted from this point onwards on this vitally important issue. Much greater collaboration between the two orders of government is needed.”

The organization supports efforts to make life safer and more secure for Albertans, the release says. But it needs to know more about things like costs, governance and any new policing agency’s mandate.

Opposition Leader Rachel Notley, meanwhile, slammed the UCP government for pursuing what she calls an expensive and unpopular provincial agency.

“Another day, another broken promise,” Notley said March 14, reacting to the successful first reading the day before of the Public Safety Statutes Amendment

Act, 2024

“Before the election, the premier promised she would not pursue a provincial police force. During the election, the premier promised she wouldn’t pursue a provincial police force.

After the election, the premier promised she would not pursue a provincial police force,” said Notley, the member for EdmontonStrathcona.

“Yet, Mr. Speaker, yesterday the premier’s government tabled legislation to –wait for it – pursue a provincial police force.”

Premier Danielle Smith maintained that the opposition has got it all wrong. The bill is about complementing existing police services and giving Alberta’s sheriffs arms-length governance and civilian oversight, she said.

“We want to govern and regulate them in exactly the same way as the Calgary Police Service, the Edmonton Police Service, the RCMP, with that kind of oversight,” said Smith, the member for Brooks-Medicine Hat. “That is going to augment safety. It’s going to augment our services.”

The premier maintained that issues addressed in the bill are ones her party ran on, and she accused the NDP of wanting to defund police.

“On this side of the chamber we want to give enhanced coverage for the police and enhanced coverage for policing in communities, and that is exactly what we’ve done,” said Smith.

Irfan Sabir, the official opposition’s deputy house leader, said municipalities, unions and Albertans don’t want a new police service. “So why has this government broken its promise and introduced an Alberta police force which no one is asking for?” he said.

The UCP is “ignoring the will of the people and introducing another pet project of the Premier,” said Sabir, the member for CalgaryBhullar-McCall.

Deputy Premier Mike Ellis said the NDP is out of touch. “I can tell you that policing comes up all the time. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about large cities, mid-size municipalities, RMA: they sit there and say that we need law enforcement. That’s why we have unprecedented support.”

Ellis, the member for Calgary-West, added: “I suggest the members opposite try to disconnect themselves in some way from the unions and actually speak to the boots on the ground. When you talk to the actual sheriffs, when you talk to the people in the community, I can tell you that they want police.”

Ellis, who is also the minister of public safety and emergency services, continued: “I, quite frankly, don’t care what the uniform is. When somebody calls 9-1-1, we’re going to make sure an officer shows up, regardless of what the members opposite say.”

According to the website Keep Alberta RCMP, transitioning to a policing model with no RCMP contracts would cost Alberta $371.5 million. Total ongoing annual costs would rise from $595 million shared by the province, municipalities, and Ottawa to $759 million shared by only the province and municipalities, says the site.

Keep Alberta RCMP is a campaign run by the National Police Federation, the union for about 20,000 RCMP members. Based on earlier policing ideas floated by the government, the site estimates the total number of actual police officers and staff in Alberta would drop slightly to under 5,000.

The Court and Prisoner Service was renamed Alberta Sheriffs in the early

2000s and expanded into a new area of service called Sheriff Traffic Operations, the forerunner of today’s Sheriff Highway Patrol, press secretary Aurthur Green of the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services told the Local Journalism Initiative in an emailed statement.

Alberta Sheriffs are responsible for courthouse security and prisoner transport, traffic and commercial vehicle enforcement on provincial highways, and conservation law enforcement for Fish and Wildlife Services. Sheriffs also provide personal protection for senior provincial government officials, as well as security at the legislature and other provincial facilities, Green said.

One way rural Albertans benefit is through surveillance of criminal targets provided by the Sheriff Investigative Support Unit. SISU does the work in support of the RCMP and Alberta Law Enforcement Teams, or ALERT.

Also under the sheriff umbrella is the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods unit. SCAN, as it's called, uses legal sanctions and court orders to hold owners responsible for illegal activities on their properties.

About 1,160 positions make up the Alberta Sheriffs, and about 1,000 of those are peace officers, Green said.

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Most common fatal injury on the farm are rollovers and runovers

Most common fatal injury on the farm are rollovers and runovers

Kari Janzen Staff Reporter

Earlier this month Canada Safety Council (CSC) acknowledged the week of March 14-20 as National Farm Safety Week and chose to focus their attention on awareness of farm rollovers and runovers, due to the fact that most commonly, fatal injuries on the farm are machine-related.

“The most common causes of fatal injuries on the farm are machine-related (66 per cent), with nearly 30 per cent of these being due to machine rollovers and runovers,” the media release said.

In the most recent study conducted by the Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting (CAIR), it was determined that in the last 10 years, 91 people died on the farm in machine related rollover

incidents, and 90 died in runover fatalities.

“Over the 10-year period from 2011 to 2020, there were 91 machinerelated rollover fatalities. (In that same time frame,) there were 90 agriculturerelated runover fatalities,” the report said.

The CSC says that among the numerous industries in Canada, the agricultural industry is one of the most dangerous.

“The agricultural industry is among the most hazardous ones in Canada from the perspective of raw fatalities. As a profession and a calling, farming offers a unique look at risk — rather than being something to avoid, it’s an attitude and culture which is baked into the job and an accepted fact of life,” their media release said.

The CSC defines a rollover as when a piece

of heavy equipment tips onto its side or roof, and a runover occurring when a machine under power or rolling on an incline runs over the victim.

“Most rollover fatalities in Canada involve tractors, While many rollovers lack documentation to determine the direction in which the vehicle rolled, almost half of known rollover fatalities occurred when the machine rolled on its side.

“Runovers occur most frequently with unmanned vehicles. This is most often seen when a machine is left running or unblocked on a slope. It is also a common occurrence for bystanders to be victimized by runovers — the operator does not expect them to be in the area — and for operators to fall off the machine and fall under the wheels. Notably, bystander fatal-

ities tend to disproportionately include children between one and four years of age,” said the release from the CSC.

To prevent such tragic events from happening, the CSC suggests that machine operators should avoid driving too closely to edges that have a steep drop off, saying these conditions are the most immediate known causes of rollovers.

“When traveling on an incline, use the shallowest slope available. Follow the vehicle manufacturer’s recommendation on what an acceptable slope is and avoid traveling on a diagonal. Install a Roll-Over Protection Structure on your tractor. These are roll bars or cages that are designed to create a protective zone around the operator in case of rollover,” the CSC release says.

As for runovers, the CSC says that children should be supervised closely and kept away from running machinery.

“Never stand in the direct path of a running tractor, even if it is not actively in motion. Always block off machines that are not currently in use to eliminate the risk of it rolling of its own accord,” says the CSC release.

“From 2011 to 2020, alighted operator runovers (unmanned machines) were the most frequent type of fatal runover (35 per cent). In this kind of injury event, the victim is runover by a vehicle they had left running or unblocked on a slope. Bystander runovers were the secondlargest percentage of runover fatalities (24 per cent), followed by fallen operator runovers (21 per cent), and passenger/extra

rider runovers (17 per cent),” says the report from CAIR.

The CSC suggests that the question to be asked in any given situation should switch from weighing the risks when life could hang in the balance, and instead thinking about the safest way to perform tasks.

“Safety on the farm is so often about weighing the risks and determining which are risks worth taking — the risk, for example, of whether it will rain enough to make a certain crop viable, is one many agricultural workers deem worth the reward. However, where lives enter the equation, the thought process must switch away from, “Is this a risk worth taking?” and move toward “How can I do this in the safest way possible?”

There are about 25,000 water licences in Alberta. The province now has an easy-to-use digital system that lets users report on water use and manage their licence through a confidential online tool.

However, many water licences issued before November 2021 still report in using older electronic and paperbased systems that are slow and hard to track.

The Alberta government is asking all Albertans with water licences issued before November 2021 to move them into the online system by the end of this year.

This will help licence holders save time and help the province understand how much water is available during a severe drought.

Alberta’s Digital

Regulatory Assurance System is a secure and 100 per cent confidential online platform. It helps licence holders submit reports, apply for renewals or amendments, receive email reminders and track their status.

https://www.alberta.ca/digital-regulatory-assurancesystem

Alberta drought to linger according to experts

Brett McKay Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Canada's official drought monitor calls the current dry period on parts of the prairies "extreme" or "exceptional." The parched fields and drained reservoirs characteristic of recent, abnormally warm seasons in southern Alberta may also be a glimpse into the region's future, researchers say.

"This period right now of low water in Alberta was completely anticipated," said Dr. Tricia Stadnyk, Tier II Canada Research Chair in hydrologic modelling and a professor in Civil Engineering at the Schulich School of Engineering.

"The modelling that we've done globally with these climate models shows that Alberta is one of only three major hotspots in the world where we actually have confidence that we're going to have more frequent drought,"

For a study now published in Nature's Climate and Atmospheric Science journal, Stadnyk and masters student Michael Vieira combined various climate models from international bodies like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to produce projections of temperature and precipitation around the world.

Any one representation of future climates isn't nec-

essarily accurate, Stadnyk explained, "but if you put them all together, then they paint a picture of what it could look like. And because there's so many of these simulations, if you get agreement among them, then it's a pretty strong indicator of what's going to happen in the future."

In the picture produced by these sympathetic models, the Canadian prairies and parts of North and South Africa emerged as regions likely to experience more severe and long-lasting droughts.

Alberta livestock producers received $165 million in aid last year through the AgriRecovery initiative following months of devastating drought. Originally conceived of as a once in fifteen year disaster relief program, 2023 was the second time in three years the province turned to AgriRecovery to help farmers and ranchers recover.

As Alberta's government has rolled out drought response plans in anticipation of another dry year ahead, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz has repeatedly emphasized how the El Niño global weather pattern is causing diminished rain and snow and increased temperatures.

“We've had El Niño events in the past," she said. "What has caught climate scientists and anyone in the water resources world off guard is how far above any other historic El Niño event this year is.”

Brett McKay Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

As of March 1, fire season is officially underway in the Alberta. But rural municipalities say they're still waiting on millions in provincial support payments to help cover costs incurred responding to 2023's disastrous wildfires.

In total, last year's wildfires cost rural municipalities an estimated $78.5 million, according to a survey conducted by the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA). Communities surveyed said they had requested more than $60 million in provincial support through the Disaster Recovery Program, which provides financial assistance for uninsured losses caused by emergencies and natural disasters. Nearly half of respondents had yet to receive any of the funds requested, and none had received the full amount.

Because municipal governments can't run deficits, the emergency expenses largely are drawn from financial reserves, said RMA president Paul McLauchlin. Delays in repayment from the DRP can cause future cash flow issues, or mean funds have to be diverted from other areas of the budget.

The average amount incurred in damages or recovery efforts by rural municipalities that responded to the survey was $2.7 million.

"That's quite a bit of money that really is not available to municipalities for all the other goods and services we provide the folks in rural Alberta," McLauchlin said.

"Because we're talking about some fairly large numbers, I have the expectation that a majority of municipalities likely had to go and draw down their reserves. And those reserves actually aren't intended for forest fires. Those are ultimately intended to provide capital replacement in our municipalities."

It can sometimes take up to two or three years

for municipalities to be reimbursed through Alberta's disaster recovery program, and there is no guarantee those costs will be fully covered. As climate change makes wildfires more frequent and intense, McLauchlin said he worries municipalities won't be able to handle the financial burden if they are hit with back-toback disasters.

"We can't predict the future. But if you did have a situation where you had three years like this in a row, if the payment is not quick, that would be such an extreme financial burden that I expect some municipalities may not have the resources available, considering the numbers that we're talking about," he said.

To date, $23.1 million

has been disbursed to communities through the 2023 Wildfire Disaster Recovery Program, and the government is committed to making sure communities are reimbursed for eligible costs, said Arthur Green, press secretary for Alberta's Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services.

"Assessing claims is an ongoing process, and we aim to process submissions as quickly as possible. Some claims take longer to process if more information is required from communities. Communities have a dedicated case manager assigned to their file and are available to answer questions on the status of their application," Green said.

"The Alberta Emergency Management

Agency (AEMA) is working with local authorities and our cross-ministry partners to get ready for the upcoming fire season and ensure a well-coordinated and efficient response. AEMA is coordinating a thirdparty review of the 2023 wildfire response efforts to identify potential improvements to the emergency management system."

McLauchlin said the purpose of RMA's report isn't to be critical, but to be a learning exercise and to work toward needed policy changes.

"I think this is entirely fixable," he said. "Our purpose is to bring this to the attention of government, look for ways to streamline it, eliminate red tape, and create certainty in the system."

A major reason for the delays in disaster recovery payments to municipalities, McLauchlin said, is that "funding becomes part the federal-provincial blame game with one another." While governments argue over who is responsible for what costs, the money "gets tied up in the bureaucracy of that relationship. And then just gets tied up

in the bureaucracy with the provincial government."

"We want to create surety in the system," McLaughlin said.

"In emergency response situations, you don't want to be sitting there making budget decisions. You want to make response decisions."