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Working together to learn about conservation and agriculture

The Ann and Sandy Cross Conservation Area, about 15 minutes southwest of Calgary, has long been a favourite field trip destination for local schools and educators.

Now, thanks to a collaboration with Inside Education – a non-profit group supporting multiple perspectives on environmental and natural resources in Alberta – the area could become a site for ongoing agricultural education.

“Inside Education and Cross Conservation bring complementary expertise to agriculture education,” said Kathryn Wagner, program director at Inside Education.

Inside Education has a suite of agriculture education programs, including classroom presentations, agriculture career summits, school garden grants and teacher professional development programs supporting the K-12 curriculum. In the coming years, they hope to add a provincewide youth agriculture education summit, field-based programs and classroom resources.

Cross Conservation offers experiential nature and discovery programs to children of all ages.

How a collaboration could work

The collaboration came through an introduction by the Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association (ACFA).

Kathryn said initial ideas include credit-based programs, an agriculture demonstration site for both student programs and teacher professional development, and field trips that use the conservation area, local producers and other sites.

The goal is to provide up-to-date, relevant and meaningful agriculture education to inspire young people to be engaged environmental stewards and responsible decision-makers. 

“Working together with Cross Conservation, we can encourage students and teachers to consider how environmental, societal and economic values can be balanced on the landscape,” Kathryn said.

Representatives from Inside Education and ACFA plan to tour the Ann and Sandy Cross Conservation Area this summer.

You can learn more about agriculture education in How student-managed farming is teaching the next generation of beef producers, and How Olds College is preparing agriculture students for the future.

This is the third post in our Agriculture Education series. 

From oil sands to oil seed: How inter-industry collaboration is good for Canada

Two major Alberta industries — agriculture and oil and gas — are collaborating to generate novel ideas that will benefit the environment and improve sustainability.

The collaboration was triggered by a March 2017 announcement that the federal government would provide up to $950 million in funding under the Innovation Superclusters Initiative.

The “supercluster” concept encourages small, medium and large companies, academic institutions and not-for-profit organizations to come together to generate bold ideas. The potential outcome of these collaborations is more well-paying jobs, groundbreaking research and a world-leading innovation economy.

An agricultural cluster – Smart Agri-Foods Supercluster (SASC) – was formed in response to the federal announcement.

What SASC is working toward

SASC is an open system for collaboration across all sectors of the agri-foods value chain, including agri-foods producers, processors and research, as well as players from outside the traditional agriculture sector.

By providing a venue for these participants to join across diverse fields and from different parts of the country, the SASC is facilitating innovation and research that otherwise might not happen.

Four initial “innovation communities” were established:

  1. Digital Connectivity – intended to develop technologies and tools for today’s (and tomorrow’s) smart farm.
  2. Genetic/Processing – including soil and root intelligence, protein and processing innovations and photosynthetic efficiency.
  3. Sustainable Livestock – to more efficiently and sustainably produce premium meat protein.
  4. Bio Economy and Sustainability – to improve sustainable performance, farm management and trading platforms.

Collaborating with oil and gas

Bill Whitelaw, chair of the SASC steering committee, suggested to the group that the agriculture and oil and gas sectors collaborate on some of their joint challenges. Bill is also president and CEO of JWN Energy and vice-president of Weather Innovations, so his knowledge of both sectors is extensive.

“Agriculture and energy share many of the same environmental and sustainability challenges,” said Bill, “so it makes sense to bring in the oil and gas sector on the basis of air, water and land innovations. As part of that collaboration, we invited Joy Romero, head of the Clean Resource Innovation Network (CRIN) to join the SASC board.”

Why the partnership is the way forward

Bill used water as an example to explain how a collaboration could benefit both industries.

“These are two sectors that use huge amounts of water in their operations and produce huge amounts of waste water. There is an opportunity for the two industries to get together and share innovations or research when it comes to water management or treatment,” he said.

“For instance, technology developed to clean waste water from a fracking operation could be just as effective in a feedlot. Joint solutions could help the sectors to manage their costs and to take a joint view on managing our resources.”

It also gives the industries an opportunity to demonstrate that they are taking these issues seriously and actively developing solutions.

Government funding

Although the SASC was one of nine superclusters shortlisted for funding, they were not among the final five selected.

“But we still exist and all the original companies are still active in the supercluster,” Bill said.

“We have made our home in Olds College and are using their smart farm to create demonstration projects. Potentially, you could see an oil sands company working with an agri-fertilizer company to fund an initiative under the air, water and land banner.”

Agriculture and oil and gas are two core industries in Alberta – and both sectors are working with our key natural resources. The groundbreaking collaboration between these two sectors, and academic and research institutions is an exciting development for the industries themselves and Canadians generally.

We will report on their progress as projects unfold.

How these 4 strategic priorities will build a better Alberta cattle feeding industry

It is good governance for an organization to revisit its vision and mission to make sure it is meeting the needs of everyone it works with.

The ACFA did just that in March 2017 during a three-day strategic planning session in Canmore, AB that involved the board of directors, staff and industry partners. 

The goal was to make sure we are staying true to our mandate – supporting our members and the industry we serve. We also wanted to ensure our members are represented accurately and fairly when we work with our stakeholders, including partners and the provincial government. 

Our main areas of focus

Our first task was to identify the primary opportunities and challenges that affect Alberta’s cattle feeders. As we continue to strengthen our working relationship with all levels of government, we are primarily focused on the following:

Our vision and mission

Our March session also involved a close examination of our organizational vision and mission. Through constructive conversation and feedback, we developed statements that more accurately reflect who we are, what we do and what we will achieve.

Our new vision and mission are:

Vision: championing a sustainable cattle feeding sector in Alberta

Mission: pursuing innovative and collaborative solutions for a thriving Alberta beef industry

Our strategic priorities

Our updated strategic plan will help ensure ACFA remains accountable and relevant to itself, its membership, and our sector. We also want to make certain we communicate effectively with stakeholders and government.

As we implement our new strategic plan, association project areas will be reviewed and approved within the context of the following strategic priorities:

Strategic Priority 1 – We will build the ACFA membership by delivering value to our members

Strategic Priority 2 – We will engage with the provincial government to strengthen the health and vitality of the cattle feeding sector in Alberta

Strategic Priority 3 – We will collaborate with partners to advance the industry

Strategic Priority 4 – We will strengthen ACFA governance

Our ability to move forward with clarity on our top issues, our mission and vision, and our strategic priorities will help us more effectively support our membership, the cattle feeding sector and Alberta’s beef industry.

To learn more about our organization, check out ‘5 must-know facts about the Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association’.