MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - Mountain View County's agricultural service board (ASB) has been updated on recent activities and projects of the Foothills Forage & Grazing Association (FFGA).
The review came during a recent, regularly-scheduled board meeting.
Formed in 1972, FFGA is a non-profit producer driven group that addresses issues, ideas, and innovations for forage and livestock producers in south central Alberta.
The association brings producers together by finding profitable and regenerative ways to produce forages and livestock, FFGA manager Laura Gibney told the ASB during a delegation appearance on April 14.
“We have partnered with Mountain View County for many years, probably a decade or more now,” she said. “Our mission is assisting production in profitably improving their forages and regenerating their soils through innovation and education.”
The association works with 13 counties and MDs, including Mountain View, Rocky View and Kneehill counties.
Its activities include events, workshops, conference, webinars, field days, demonstration projects, environmental farm plans, and producer funding updates, she said.
Last year the association worked on 29 events and webinars with an attendance of more than 1,600 people. Ranching Opportunities in Olds and Mountain View County’s Aggie Days in Carstairs were some of the 2024 events.
“We are trying to reach out to that next generation and make sure that they have some understanding of agriculture and be part of that,” she said.
The Alberta Soil Health Benchmark and Verification Project wrapped up after seven years in partnership with 11 associations across the province to map the chemical, physical and biological components of soils, she said.
Under the project the association has collected 197 samples from 53 operations.
The association works with the ALUS program, which promotes sustainable agriculture, including in Mountain View County.
The association is also involved in the five-year Regenerative Alberta Living Lab project to “validate innovative on-farm practices by collecting data on improving soil health, sequestering carbon in the soil, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing profitability of the practices,” she said.
The association works with government and industry to keep producers up to date with innovations in the industry which FFGA then applies at the grassroots level in cooperation with producers, according to its website.
“FFGA strives to bring practical information and production strategies to producers by hosting demonstration projects, events and workshops.”
ASB chair said Tietsia Huyzer told Gibney that the FFGA is doing worthwhile work.
“I think you do an awesome job and we try our best to promote your programs and ways that we can community that to our audience her in the county,” said Huyzer. “We look forward to working with you in the future.”
The ASB received the FFGA presentation as information.
During the recent board meeting, local farmer Ryan Wright gave an overview of his recent trip to the annual CrossRoads Crop conference.
He attended under an ASB program that sponsors a young farmer to attend the conference. He called the attendance worthwhile and valuable.
The CrossRoads conference is organized by the FarmTech Foundation of Alberta, which is a working collaboration by four Alberta crop commissions – Alberta Barley, Alberta Canola, Alberta Pulse Growers and the Alberta Wheat commission.
During the April 14 meeting, the ASB also received a delegation from the Central Alberta Forage and Livestock Association (CAFLA).
The board accepted Wright’s presentation and the CAFLA presentation as information.
