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GREENHOUSES IN ALBERTA » PAGE 40 Prices in effect from March 26 to April 30, 2012 Publications Mail Agreement # 40069240
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New research:
Reclaimed land less productive NOT RECOVERED } ARECA finds land reclaimed from oil
and gas lease sites, borrow pits, and gas pipelines can suffer a 10-bushel-an-acre yield drop by madeleine baerg af contributor | calgary
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any producers suspect reclaimed industrial sites are less productive than surrounding land, despite claims to the contrary from oil and gas companies. Recent research by the Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta (ARECA) proves that producers are indeed correct, and provides a credible starting place for discussion about compensation. “Because these sites were signed off by the province, the expectation is that the yield should be similar to the surrounding area. But, it wasn’t,” said Ty Faechner, ARECA’s executive director, who presented the study’s findings at a recent conference in Calgary. The current evaluation process leading to reclamation sign-off is subjective, he said. “Assessment is completely visual and relies on very few measurements,” said Faechner. And while producers know there are productivity differences, until recently
they haven’t been able to measure yield losses. “When you go through those areas, you’ll see your combine yield monitor change, but by how much?” he said. So Alberta Environment engaged ARECA, a non-profit agency that provides unbiased applied research for Alberta’s agricultural producers, to get hard facts on reclaimed land’s productivity. Using combine-mounted yield monitors, researchers measured yield data from inside reclaimed sites and from the land immediately surrounding it. By dividing the plots into 20x20-metre grid cells, the researchers could analyze exactly how the yield changed over that area. The results were surprising. “What we found is that when we did a statistical comparison of yield data from offsite areas compared to the well site area, the yield was very different,” said Faechner. “We’re talking (as much as) a 10-bushel yield difference where inside a specific site was 74 bushels an acre and outside was 83 bushels an acre. “In 31 per cent of fields, there were significant crop yield differences. Of
see RECLAIMED LAND } page 6
Currently, there are about 200,000 reclaimed industrial sites in Alberta, including oil and gas lease sites, borrow pits, and gas pipelines. ©thinkstock
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