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Building A Unified Voice for Agriculture: Agriculture Updates, Supports, and News: February 2024

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Building A Unified Voice for Agriculture: Agriculture Updates, Supports, and News: February 2024

Agriculture Updates since January 2024

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Register to Attend: Ag-Advocacy Forum 

Crop insurance payouts pushing premiums higher in 2024

Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) says producers can expect to see higher crop insurance premiums for the 2024 crop year. The increase is mainly due to losses in 2021 and 2022. While there are no major changes to AFSC’s crop insurance offerings for 2024, 2 smaller changes are being rolled out.

  • New Crop Insurance Initiative – As of the 2024 insurance year, the maximum number of insurable acres in the New Crop Insurance Initiative will be 100% of the acres that exist in the annual crop subscription (50:50 ratio).
  • Accidental fire is being added as a cause of loss to products that did not have this coverage in the past.

Learn more

Water-sharing negotiations start 

This winter, snowpack is below average, rivers are at record low levels and multiple reservoirs remain well below capacity. As a result, for the first time since 2001, Alberta’s government has authorized the Drought Command Team to begin negotiations with major water licence holders to strike water-sharing agreements in the Red Deer River, Bow River and Old Man River basins. If a severe drought occurs, these agreements would see major users use less water to help others downstream. In Alberta, there are 25,000 organizations and businesses that hold licences for 9.5 billion cubic metres of water. The Drought Command Team will select and prioritize negotiations with Alberta’s largest water licence holders in an effort to secure significant and timely reductions in water use. The water-sharing agreements are expected to be completed before March 31, 2024. View this announcement online

Funding Updates 

Community Fund for Mental Health

Applications for the 5th year of the Community Fund for Mental Health are open until February 15, 2024. The Fund was created to provide agriculture communities across Canada with access to mental health education and literacy at no cost. Learn more and apply

Apply for a Watershed Stewardship Grant

If your organization has a project in mind to enhance, protect or restore Alberta’s valued water resources, consider applying for a Watershed Stewardship Grant. The application deadline is February 16, 2024. Learn more and apply

Expanding 2023 livestock drought recovery support 

The governments of Canada and Alberta are expanding drought livestock assistance eligibility to help producers maintain breeding herds. The 2023 Canada-Alberta Drought Livestock Assistance initiative is expanding eligibility to 23 new regions and extending the application deadline. Funding for this joint AgriRecovery initiative is provided through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP). Livestock producers in eligible regions who altered their usual grazing practices due to drought conditions for more than 21 days this season can apply for financial support to cover losses incurred to manage and maintain female breeding animals. A minimum of 15 animals per type of livestock are required to qualify. Funding for the new regions opened on Jan. 29. Applicants in this intake may receive payments of up to $150 per head. The application deadline is Feb. 22 and extraordinary costs can be incurred until March 31. This expansion also gives producers who were already eligible another opportunity to apply. Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) continues to administer the initiative. Livestock producers can get more information and apply by visiting AFSC’s website. 

Investing in natural drought and flood protection

The province is investing $3.5 million to help make Alberta more naturally drought resilient, to prevent floods and improve water quality. The money will fund eight projects in communities across the province through the Watershed Resiliency and Restoration Program with the next opportunity opening in the summer and the next deadline date set for September 15, 2024. Read more and check out the program page.

Labour Resources

Farm Safe Resources

You can learn more about hazard assessments in Modules 1 & 2 of the AgSafe Alberta FarmSafe Plan Manual. Customizable Hazard Assessment Forms can also be found under the Modules 1 & 2 Forms heading in the Resources section of the AgSafe Alberta website. To learn more about pre-job inspections and workplace inspections, refer to Module 5 of the AgSafe Alberta FarmSafe Plan Manual. Customizable Workplace Inspection Forms are coming soon. For customizable working alone plans or a printable working alone toolbox talk, refer to the Working Alone section of the AgSafe Alberta Resources Page. 

Phase 2 of the Recognized Employer Pilot under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program 

Employers are now able to submit applications for positions on Service Canada’s Phase 2 Recognized Employer Pilot (REP) occupations list. These 84 occupations are in high-demand and show shortage conditions based on the Canadian Occupational Projection System assessment of recent labour market conditions (2019-2021). The deadline to submit applications to become a recognized employer is September 16, 2024, however recognized employers will continue to have access to simplified applications for the 84 designated occupations until the end of the pilot on December 31, 2026. If you have questions on the REP, please visit Canada.ca or contact the Employer Contact Centre. 

Canada Alberta Jobs Grant: The Canada-Alberta Job Grant is a training program where an employer applies on behalf of their present or future employees for eligible training costs. Employers decide who gets training and what type of training may be needed for their employees. Learn more: https://www.alberta.ca/canada-alberta-job-grant   

Agriculture Job Connector: https://www.alberta.ca/agriculture-job-connector.aspx 

Additional Government & Industry News and Information

Water conservation tips for livestock producers

Water conservation can help reduce costs, improve animal health and productivity, and protect the environment for the future. Shawn Elgert, agricultural water engineer with the Alberta government, says there are several things producers can do to conserve water for livestock, starting with keeping livestock out of the water sources. Find out more.

Canada Brand

Proud of your sustainable, high-quality, Canadian products? Check out Canada Brand's new digital-first marketing tools. They are free, peer-tested, and designed to help #CdnAg stand out on the world stage. Learn more

New NRCB operational guidelines for portable calf housing (hutches)

The Natural Resources Conservation Board (NRCB) has updated its approach to the regulation of portable calf housing (hutches) in response to industry and market changes. Portable calf housing is no longer viewed as short-term manure storage under the Agricultural Operation Practices Act. More information is available in the NRCB’s new Operational Guideline 2023-1: Portable Calf Housing (Hutches). The NRCB has also updated its Short-Term Solid Manure Storage Requirements fact sheet to reflect this change.

Please contact your local NRCB field office if you have any questions: Southern region (Lethbridge) 403-381-5166. Producers can also email the NRCB at info@nrcb.ca. 

Updating cow-calf management benchmarks across Canada

The Beef Cattle Research Council is asking cow-calf producers to share insight into their on-farm management practices and production methods. The 2023 Canadian Cow-Calf Survey is an online questionnaire that will collect data to help understand trends in production practices and efficiencies over time. The last day to participate in the survey is March 31, 2024.

Nitrogen Rate of Return Calculator: Check out the Nitrogen Rate Calculator to find out the rate that will give your operation the best return on wheat and barley

Events, Webinars and Podcasts

Open Farm Days is back in full gear for the 2024 season, including training sessions for host farms! Training sessions are FREE and are open for anyone that is interested in any farms or organizations interested in participating in an Open Farm Days event.

Working Well Workshops: If you have a well on your property, plan to attend a workshop.

FCC Events including Business Plan Boot Camp & Young Farmer Summit: https://www.fcc-fac.ca/en/knowledge/events.html

Don't forget: Canada Ag Day is February 13, 2024: https://agriculturemorethanever.ca/cdn-ag-day/

Seeding Success: Farm Business Practices Assessment Workshop

Designed to help producers improve their business practices by combining self-assessment and action plan development with access to support resources to achieve results. Participants will work their way through a series of self-assessment questions to identify their current practices under key management areas. Feb 21 & 23 Find out more.

Agri-News online - www.alberta.ca/agri-news.aspx and upcoming events

Other Resources

As always, you can always find more agribusiness resources on our website: https://www.medicinehatchamber.com/agribusiness-resources/    

If you know of someone who may be interested in the work we are doing and might be interested in investing in this work through membership, please feel free to refer them to us. You can also encourage others to subscribe to our agriculture updates through this page. We look forward to continuing our work with you and pushing for our collective priorities on your behalf.

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