For 40 years or more, Alberta has sought to unleash its agri-food sector. We have amazing people, great companies, decent infrastructure, significant markets and an extraordinarily enviable land base.

While we are still in the 2018/19 crop year, many farmers are developing marketing plans for the next crop year. On most farms, the crop rotation is largely set, with perhaps only a few last-minute acreage switches in play. 

 In 1912, Alberta agriculture minister Duncan Marshall announced the province would construct three agricultural colleges. The Vermilion School of Agriculture, later rechristened Lakeland College, opened first. Olds College remain in operation, while the Claresholm School of Agriculture was shut down in the early 1920s.

Launched in 2015, 4P, which stands for “public, private and producer partnership,” includes Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Canterra Seeds and the Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC). The pact is aimed at improving CPSR varieties.

Representing the future of ag entrepreneurship, the first cohort of the new Lethbridge College Agricultural Enterprise Management (AEM) program has hit the books. Graduates will earn diplomas that will set them up for careers in food and supply-chain management, agricultural economics, sales and marketing and even agricultural policy and regulation.

Lower tire pressures in field equipment can reduce compaction while increasing yields, fuel efficiency and tire life. Advancements in central tire inflation (CTI) systems are making it easier for farmers to toggle efficiently between safe tire pressure for road travel and optimum pressure for field operations.

Last year, the Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences (ALES) faculty at the University of Alberta underwent an international review led by professor Robert Easter.

Markets are dynamic. In theory, prices are determined where supply and demand intersect—where the value that someone is willing to sell a commodity and the price that someone is willing to pay for it match.