Alison Davie represents the best of what Canadian agriculture stands for today. She’s smart, progressive, and uses environmentally-friendly technology to counter the impact of climate change. She’s also part of a flourishing, 80,000-member-strong cohort of female farm operators as identified in the 2021 Census of Agriculture.Farming on 3,000 acres near Taber Alberta, Alison Davie and her husband Michael have doubled their potato acres since taking over the family farm 12 years ago.
They have been active contributors to an expansion trend that has seen total processing acreage in the province increase from 45,000 to 60,000 acres over the last five years. They plant 650 acres of potatoes as part of a one-in-four year rotation cycle that includes seed canola, timothy hay, wheat, flax, faba beans and garlic.
The Davie’s harvest will be split between contracts with Lamb-Weston at Taber and McCain Foods at Coaldale where their potatoes are transformed into French fries. The industry is looking forward to the opening of the McCain Foods $600 million plant this summer, a doubling of current capacity.
Click here to see more...