Alberta Farm Fresh Producers Association Announces Rebrand to Agritourism Alberta

Apr 14, 2026

The Alberta Farm Fresh Producers Association, a 40-year-old provincial organization supporting farms marketing directly to consumers and offering agritourism experiences, is officially rebranding to Agritourism Alberta.

The new name reflects the organization’s evolving role in supporting Alberta’s growing agritourism sector and strengthening connections between agriculture, tourism, and rural economic development.

The announcement was made at the joint Agritourism Alberta and Organic Alberta Conference, where producers, partners and industry leaders gathered to celebrate innovation and excellence in Alberta agriculture.

To recognize the leaders shaping the future of agritourism and direct-to-consumer agriculture, Agritourism Alberta presented its 2026 Awards of Excellence to:

Young Farmer of the Year: Kamden Bartman, Prairie Shepherdess
Sustainability & Trailblazer: Christy Rhodenizer, Healing Homestead
Farm of the Year: Joanne and Rob Wicker, Christy Creek Honey
Luminary of the Year: Tam Andersen, Prairie Gardens

Agriculture continues to be a key driver of economic development in Alberta. Agritourism is creating new opportunities for producers, strengthening rural communities and helping more Albertans and visitors connect with how food is grown and produced.

A New Chapter for Alberta Farms
The transition to Agritourism Alberta signals the sector’s growing importance in supporting farm viability, rural economies and visitor experiences rooted in Alberta’s landscapes and local food.

“Our new name better reflects who we are today and the important work our members do,” said the Agritourism Alberta Board. “Agritourism is about connection and bringing people closer to farms, food, culture and community. This transition positions us to lead the sector forward with clarity, confidence and purpose.”

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Video: Western Canadian Agriculture: Hard Times Made the World's Best Farmers

Western Canadian agriculture produced the most advanced farmers in the world not through abundance but through adversity. The crow rate fell. The wheat price went nowhere. The brown envelopes stopped.

When the subsidies disappeared, the bad farmers left and the good ones stayed. And the ones who stayed could not just grow wheat anymore. They started growing lentils and canola and peas and flax and faba beans. They built crop rotation. They got serious about agronomy because there was no government backstop. That process produced the Western Canadian agriculture Dennis Bulani describes in this clip: the most advanced, most educated farming culture in the world.

His contrast with Iowa corn and soybean farmers is sharp. At a DeKalb farmer meeting in Okoboji, Iowa, he asked what crop rotation they ran. Beans on corn stubble, corn on bean stubble. How do you fertilize? The co-op agronomist handles it. Have you considered other crops? No need. We make so much money on corn and soybeans. Western Canadian agriculture was never allowed that comfort. And now those Iowa farmers are watching soybean markets lock up with China and corn prices slide, and they do not have the agronomy knowledge or the research base to pivot. Western Canadian farmers adapted on a dime because they had done it before.

Dennis also makes the case that Western Canadian agriculture keeps adapting in real time. Low commodity prices over the past year have pushed growers to look seriously at precision spot-spray technology. He knows a neighbor who bought a sprayer with the seeing-eye system and sprayed only 80 out of 320 acres. As a chemical retailer Dennis acknowledges that will affect his sales. He supports it anyway, because if it advances Canadian agriculture and makes farmers money, that is a good outcome.

The lesson Dennis draws from the tale of two farms: continuous improvement is the only durable strategy. When canola was $22 a bushel some growers went to Arizona instead of the Crop Production Show. When the price came down those same growers came back to the research and the discipline. Products do not go on Rack Petroleum's shelves unless they pass a replicated trial first. That is what Western Canadian agriculture built through hard times: farmers who do the work whether the times demand it or not.

Dennis Bulani is CEO of Rack Petroleum and Ultimate Yield in Biggar, Saskatchewan. Dan Aberhart hosts GTF Productions, Western Canadian Agriculture's foremost live briefing platform and its foremost AI training platform for ag operators