Fantastic farms
Three Sturgeon County farmers were honoured last week for their innovation and environmental leadership.
Cheslen Dairies, Groot Farms and North Bank Potato Farms received Excellence in Agriculture awards April 10 at the annual Sturgeon Proud Awards. The award recognizes innovation or environmental leadership by those involved in the agricultural industry in Sturgeon County.
Cheslen Dairies was recognized for being one of the first dairies in Alberta to adopt robotic milking stalls and for having a super energy-efficient barn.
Co-owner Jason Crozier said the dairy started down this road eight years ago when one of the farm’s old barns collapsed due to snow. When they set out to build a replacement, they figured they might as well throw in all the energy-saving features they could to save money and be good environmental stewards.
The new barn is so well insulated that it’s heated entirely by the cows in it, even in winter, Crozier said. Automatic curtains and massive fans provide cooling in the summer, and water used to cool the cows’ milk is cycled back to the barn for the cows to drink. They plan to fully convert the barn to LED lighting this summer to save more power.
“Having healthy, happy cows makes farmers money,” Crozier said, and this setup keeps his cows comfy year-round. With rising energy costs and carbon taxes, energy efficiency is also a good investment.
Groot Farms got a nod for their commitment to ecologically sound soil practices and their high-tech potato storage facility.
Co-owner Wayne Groot said his family sticks to a four-year rotation for their crops because four years is ideal for both potatoes and soil health. (Shorter rotations are blamed for the build-up of soil diseases such as clubroot.) That means sometimes planting less profitable crops such as barley and experimenting with new ones like quinoa.
“We certainly believe that the longer the rotation, the better it is for the land,” he said.
Groot said he put solar panels on top of his potato silos about two years ago to take advantage of government grants and address climate change. The panels provide about half of the farm’s electricity needs and help power an automatic ventilation system that controls temperature, moisture and CO2 levels in the silos.
Russ Van Boom of North Bank Potato said his farm was honoured for its centre-pivot irrigation system – one of the few irrigation systems around this far north.
“It’s like a gigantic windshield wiper,” he said, and it sends him text alerts whenever a sprinkler jams – important, as overwatering can ruin a field.
Visit bit.ly/2Inthn0 for details on the farm excellence awards.
Census time
Sturgeon County residents can stand up and be counted this week by taking part in a census.
The 2019 Sturgeon County Census kicked off April 15.
County council budgeted $112,000 to do this year’s census, which is the first county census done since 2008, said county legislative services manager Jesse Sopko.
“The data is 11 years old, and we’ve had a lot of growth since then.”
This 12-part questionnaire aims to find trends in population, education, employment and income in the county to help plan social and infrastructure projects, Sopko said. The census will also help with grants, which are often population-based.
Every household will get a unique PIN code in the mail they can use to take the survey online, Sopko said. Anyone who does so before April 29 could win a Calahoo Meats prize pack. Census takers (of which he hoped to hire 30) will head out to visit anyone who doesn’t fill out the survey online starting April 29. Residents will be able to recognize census takers by their green hats, blue census buttons and county-issued photo ID.
The census runs until June 30 and can be taken online at sturgeoncounty.ca/census, Sopko said. Initial results should be available to council this September.
Call 780-293-4916 to learn more about the census.
