As part of the implementation of Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR), the Alberta Agriculture and Forestry (AF) Field Crop Development Centre (FCDC) in Lacombe will come under the management of Olds College.

With the initial projects recently announced, the first agriculture industry-related elements of the Alberta Recovery Plan are now up and running. From investment in irrigation infrastructure, to the opening of new international export offices, to new post-secondary research funding, the initiatives are intended to position agriculture and forestry as a part of the solution to Alberta’s economic woes.

Every other year the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre (CMBTC) brings Chinese malt buyers to Western Canada to showcase the year’s malting barley crop. This past year, however, COVID-19 derailed the biennial tour.

On Nov. 26, 2020, the Alberta government launched its Experience and Equivalency Class 1 MELT Program, which allows farmers and other truck drivers with two or more years of experience to earn a Class 1 commercial licence. Class 3 drivers who qualify can complete a shortened version of the 40-hour Mandatory Entry-Level Training (MELT) program.

There is strength in numbers. It’s a truism that has motivated cereals commissions across the Prairies to team up and strengthen their research efforts.

Established in February of this year, the Simpson Centre for Agricultural and Food Innovation and Public Education has already caught the attention of ag industry policy makers. Housed at The School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, the new entity was established in partnership with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. The centre has been tasked with the mandate to build intellectual infrastructure for applied policy research in agri-food and agri-business.

A born communicator, Lesley Kelly put her conversational skills to work as an advocate for agriculture. Kelly maintains the High Heels and Canola Fields blog, which she supports with Instagram, Facebook and Twitter feeds. She also co-hosts the What the Farm Podcast with influential American farmer Rob Sharkey.

Excess moisture on agricultural lands across Alberta has increasingly become an issue over the past few years. In 2020, several areas were subject to heavier than average snow melt and subsequent rainfall.

Farmers are excited that redesigned High Efficiency Product trains (HEP trains) are now able to carry substantially more grain than standard configurations, said Monty Reich, general manager of South West Terminal near Gull Lake, SK.

It’s no secret many farmers relax by playing video games. Rather than indulging in NBA 2K, Fortnite or Call of Duty, however, an increasing number escape the daily stresses of real-life agriculture by embracing the digital challenges of an extremely popular farm-themed game.