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.

Given the rapid development of markets, emerging technologies and a huge public interest in the industry, this is a uniquely opportune time to shape the future of agriculture. Canadian youth are perhaps the best prepared to visualize the shape of things to come and to devise a head-on approach.

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.