MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - Rancher Brian Rodger was recently re-elected to a fourth, one-year term as chairman of Mountain View County's agricultural service board (ASB).
A lifelong agriculture producer, Rodger says he’s confident that the county’s agricultural community and its stakeholder partners will thrive in 2024 despite challenges.
One of the challenges facing the local ag community is ongoing concerns about water resources, he said.
“The biggest issue right now, and it’s on everybody mind, is lack of snow cover and shortage of water in dugouts,” Rodger told the Albertan. “It’s a lack of water for cattle producers and a lack of moisture for grain farmers. Everybody is in the same boat.
“It looks like a problem right now, but that can change at any given time.”
Dugouts in most areas of the county are low or empty right now, he said.
Asked if piping of water from rivers and creeks to dugouts could be helpful, he said, “I guess as we go further into spring, if there is a chance to pipe some water there might be some opportunity there to catch some of the runoff.”
Another area of ongoing concern for farmers and ranchers is fuel costs, he said.
“It’s a cost that keeps being multiplied on and on as we go up and down the chain,” he said. “The consumer is the guy that ends up paying for it. How many times do you have to pay for it?
“In our minds, as agriculture producers, it looks like we are getting more and more costs than we should, the added costs.”
Urban sprawl is also an ongoing concern for the agriculture industry in many areas, including in this county, he said.
“It’s always a concern as villages and towns and cities encroach on agriculture lands,” he said. “There’s always an opportunity for young farmers to start up if they’ve come from the farm family, but if you don’t it’s a really tough road.
“I’m not sure how a young farmer can afford to pay a million or more dollars and make it a viable enterprise,” he said.
An average quarter section in Mountain View County now ranges for about $750,000 in the west to $1,200,000 or $1,300,000 in the east, he said.
“The cost continues to go up as everybody fights for farmland,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ag service board will continue to provide meaningful support to the local agriculture industry, he said.
The ASB is made up of county councillors and appointed members of the public.
It acts as an advisory body to assist council and the minister of Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation in matters of mutual concern, advises on and helps to organize direct weed and pest control and soil and water conservation programs, assists in the control of livestock disease under the Livestock Diseases Act, and promotes and develops agricultural policies to meet the needs of the county.
“On the ag service board we work as team with the councillors to try to address the issues that come up,” he said. “We have a great team, with representatives from the dairy industry, the grain, and the beef industry, so I think it is fairly well covered.
The 2024 makeup of the county’s ag service board is very good, including vice-chair Tietsia Huyzer, he said.
“She is very knowledgeable of the dairy industry and she sits many other boards, which is a great asset,” he said.
The board’s duties include serving as municipal inspectors under the Weed Control Act, the Agricultural Pests Act, and the Soil Conservation Act.
