Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation mandate letter

In her letter, the Premier outlines her expectations that Alberta continues to be the economic and job creation engine of Canada and asks Minister Sigurdson to deliver on a platform commitment to expand the Feeder Assistance Loan Guarantee to $3 million to support Alberta producers as they feed the country and compete in the global economy.

The Premier also tasks Minister Sigurdson with:

• Advocating on behalf of Alberta farmers and ranchers by promoting Alberta agriculture and pushing back against policies passed by other jurisdictions that hinder the sector.
• Promoting the newly passed agrifood tax credit with a view to accelerating international and domestic business attraction and investment.
• Working to reduce barriers to interprovincial trade of meat products.
• Continuing work towards a customs pre-clearance process for the export of Alberta agricultural products.
• Completing ongoing irrigation modernization commitments and exploring options for additional investment in the optimization and expansion of irrigation and water storage infrastructure in the province.
• Exploring ways to encourage increased nitrogen production in our petrochemical sector to reduce costs and improve availability of fertilizer for Alberta farmers.
• Exploring options to address opportunities identified in the Beef Competitiveness Study to improve Alberta beef-producer competitiveness; and
• Exploring options to support entry and succession in our primary agriculture sector.