Mountain View County (MVC) agricultural service board members have been asked to come up with suggested properties and facilities that could be part of the planned 2017 agriculture summer tour.
The move came during the recent regularly scheduled board meeting in council chambers.
“The direction is to have possible site suggestions forwarded to administration within a two-week period,” councillor and board member Duncan Milne said following the meeting. “We will look at these things in August, at our next ag services meeting.
“We need to find out if people are willing to have bus tours show up at their places. There are going to be two or three buses a day for a two-day period, so we have to make sure people agree.”
A decision on how many tour stops there will be in the county has not been made.
Red Deer and Mountain View counties will co-host the 2017 Alberta Agricultural Service Board summer tour.
“The planning phase of the tour is still in its initial stages, however, based on some of the high level discussion, 50 per cent of the tour will take place within the MVC area,” administration said in a briefing note to the board.
“The tour will focus on agriculture activities and innovation that is reflective of central Alberta.”
The tentative dates for the tour are July 11 to 14.
“That falls right in the middle of the Calgary Stampede,” said Milne. “That could work so that people coming to the Stampede could also come on the tour. That would work it together.”
No formal budget has been set for the 2017 tour.
“The goal is to ‘break even', balancing a budget for low losses or low profit. Red Deer County has agreed to fund the activities of the ASB summer tour from their budget,” administration said.
“Red Deer County has been hosting a local summer tour for many years with the assistance of contracted coordinator Donna Trottier, environmental professional with Tatonga Consulting Ltd.”
Once the ag services board reviews the possible tour site stops in MVC, those suggestions will be forwarded to Trottier as part of the planning process, said Milne.
Made up of councillors and appointed public members, the ag services board advises the county and the province on agriculture related issues and projects.
