Alberta's agricultural service boards (ASB), including those in Red Deer and Mountain View counties, want to be involved in ongoing consultations regarding Bill 6, also known as the Enhanced Protection of Farm and Ranch Workers Act.
Talks are underway to develop the regulations for the act, which has already passed in the legislature.
During the recent Alberta Agricultural Services Board conference in Edmonton, members passed a resolution regarding the legislation.
The Bill 6 resolution call for “local agricultural service boards (ASB), the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties, the provincial ASB Committee, the Association of Alberta Agricultural Fieldmen, and any commissions, boards, associations and producer or grower groups related to agriculture to be directly involved in any and all consultations regarding writing of regulations surrounding any and all legislation amended by Bill 6 Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers (Act).”
Resolutions are used to lobby the provincial government for action on agriculture related issues and concerns.
Eight other resolutions were passed during the 2016 ASBs provincial conference Jan. 18 to 21.
One resolution passed at the conference calls on the provincial government to follow the lead of the government of Saskatchewan regarding agricultural plastics.
The resolution calls for the Ministry of Environment and Parks and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to “research, develop and implement an agricultural plastics recycling program modeled after the pilot project in the province of Saskatchewan.”
The background briefing note accompanying the resolution states that, “Introducing a program for recycling agricultural plastics in Alberta would benefit the entire province. Implementing a program at the provincial level, rather than municipal, would provide consistent service for all of Alberta's producers.
“It would reduce the negative environmental impacts from improper disposal of large amounts of plastic, reduce the amount of space used in landfills, increase the profile of Alberta's producers as being ‘sustainable', and possibly improve the aesthetics by reducing the amount of white plastic blowing around rural areas.”
The agricultural service boards passed similar agriculture plastics recycling resolutions at provincial conferences in 2002, 2006, 2012 and 2015.
The ASB estimates that 3,000 metric tonnes of agriculture plastics would have been eligible for recycling in 2015, including more than 1,000 tonnes of silage pit covers.
Another resolution calls on the province to “add coyotes to the compensation list as a predator under the Alberta Wildlife Regulation paying the same level of compensation for depredation that is paid for livestock death and injury from wolves, grizzly bears, black bears, cougars and eagles.”
Another resolution passed at the 2016 ASB conference calls for further discussion around the impact of the federal Species at Risk Act.
Specifically, the resolution calls on the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties and others to “facilitate a roundtable discussion with representation from the federal Environment Minister, the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and the Minister of Environment and Parks to rebuild the current act to improve it in a way that seeks a balanced and cooperative approach (i.e. economic, environmental and social) to species protection that focuses on ecosystem protection, limiting the impact on agriculture, industry, rural development and land use in Alberta.”
Another resolution calls on the province to restore funding levels to Alberta Transportation for summer maintenance programs for vegetation management (i.e. weed control and mowing).
The background briefing for the resolution states, in part, that, “Invasive plants cause significant changes to ecosystems that result in economic harm to our agricultural and recreational sectors. Highway corridors facilitate the spread not just locally, but internationally. The most cost-effective strategy against invasive species is preventing them from establishing rather than relying on a municipality to hopefully identify as infestation and react by issuing a notice.”
Another resolution calls for the province to reinstate the 2014 agricultural opportunities fund increase that was allocated for the agricultural research and forage association. The program's $2.5-million funding increase put in place in March 2014 was revoked in January 2015.
The association assists with government initiatives such as agriculture pest monitoring.
Another resolution calls on the province to give authority to insurance adjusters to “modify the data when the adjuster is of the opinion that the claimant is in a microclimate that is different from the closest weather station for the crop insurance and farm income disaster assistance claim purposes until all additional weather stations are operational.”
