Grainswest - Winter 2023

Winter 2023 Grains West 18 PERSON PLACE & THING The goal of Team Alberta Crops is to provide input to policy makers, ensure long-term access to promote the sustainability of the crop sector and advocate on behalf of farmers while enabling grass-roots advocacy for its member organizations. GW: What are the top priorities for Team Alberta Crops? RW: The way things have been going, especially with the current federal gov- ernment, nearly every issue at its core is dealing with sustainability and envi- ronmental issues. Whether it’s fertilizer emissions reduction or the Pest Manage- ment Regulatory Agency transformation, the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership or AgriStability program, it seems like almost everything is related to the environment. We know farmers are excellent stew- ards of the land, but the big challenge is getting the public and governments to understand farming a little better. We don’t want to risk the implementation of potentially harmful policies that nega- tively impact the industry. Another interesting issue we’ve been talking about recently, and I think will be a big issue over the next year, is land use conflict. That’s always been an issue with urban sprawl, but we’re seeing sev- eral large solar projects in particular oc- curring on arable land. It’s an interesting contradictory situation where folks are trying to save the environment by putting in these renewable energy projects, but also taking arable land out of operation. That’s definitely something we’re going to have to look at. GW: You started with Team Alberta Crops in March 2022. Approaching one year, what would you say has been your biggest challenge and success? RW: The biggest challenge is narrowing down our common interests and finding how [producer groups] can work togeth- er. We have so much more in common than we have differences. The biggest success was when we first met as a group with Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Nate Horner. We were able to discuss key issues and the minister was also very much on board with our priorities. I think that was of incredible value to our team, our commissions and all the producers we work for, because it was incredibly effective. Minister Horner was able to take those issues and priori- ties to the annual federal, provincial and territorial meeting of the ministers of agriculture. GW: In April 2022, the Alberta Bee- keepers Commission, Alberta-British Columbia Seed Growers, Alberta Sugar Beet Growers and Potato Growers of Alberta joined Team Alberta Crops. What do you see as the value of additional members? RW: It’s all about strength in numbers. It’s incredibly important to be part of the crop commissions, but when you have all the commissions across different aspects of the sector speaking in one collective voice, presenting one message, it’s so incredibly impactful. Including these commissions grants a much more sub- stantial degree of influence. It makes it easier for the government to listen to us when we’re speaking collectively. The commissions are well-run and well-organized, with such invested boards of directors providing great direc- tion and feedback, as well as such com- petent staff. It’s really been a pleasure to work with these groups. GW: What’s on the agenda for Team Alberta Crops in 2023? RW: We want to work on building out the organization’s brand and public awareness, starting with a logo refresh to better incorporate our new partners. That will be a priority. We also want to start working with more like-minded groups such as the Alberta Motor Transport Association and local chambers of commerce on common policy issues, making sure we’re collab- orative and our name is out there. We want to be recognized broadly amongst the public and governments as the go- to source for issues surrounding crop policies. GW: What are you most looking forward to in your ongoing role? RW: One of my goals, and that of Team Alberta Crops, is getting food security at the top of mind for people. People take for granted going to the grocery store, grabbing food and not understanding all that goes in to producing it. I really want to see the public get more engaged with food production and food security, be- cause I think that is key to having a policy environment that is conducive to letting the farmers do what they do best. For more information on Team Alberta Crops, visit teamalbertacrops.com.