Alta. Ag wants to hear from farmers

Jan 13, 2020

The government is seeking feedback to deliver farmer-led research priorities

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Alberta’s provincial government is looking to farmers for feedback on how to advance industry research.

Alberta Agriculture and Forestry is hosting six free public engagement sessions throughout the province to give producers the opportunity to highlight what farmer-led research means to them, research priorities and governance models for delivering said research.

The meetings are scheduled for:

Mon., Jan. 13 in Lethbridge
Fri., Jan. 17 in Grande Prairie
Tues., Jan. 21 in Camrose and Vermilion
Thurs., Jan. 23 in Olds
Fri., Jan. 24 in Calgary

Producers also have the option of completing an online survey by Fri. Jan. 31.

Alberta Agriculture will use the collected farmer input to determine its next steps.

“The information gathered at the sessions and from the online survey will be analyzed and recommendations on the path forward will be developed,” Adrienne South, press secretary for Agriculture and Forestry Minister Devin Dreeshen, told Farms.com. “We want to make sure that we support research that is important to farmers and ranchers. Our government’s commitment is to ensure that farmers, not government, set key agriculture research priorities.”

The farmer-led research is in line with the priorities set out by the agriculture ministry after the provincial budget release in October 2019.

Ag groups are encouraging producers to take part in the consultation process.

“We highly recommend that all farmers provide the government with views about how research will help their operations grow in the future,” Team Alberta, which represents the province’s canola, pulse, wheat and barley producers, said in a statement.

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