MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - The county's agricultural service board has been given an update on recent activities and projects with Olds College.
The review came during a recent regularly scheduled meeting of the board, held by teleconference and in-person.
The ASB is made up of county councillors and appointed members of the public. It advises the county and province on agriculture-related issues and concerns.
Sean Thompson, manager of the Technology Access Centre for Livestock Production at Olds College, appeared before the board as a delegation.
He outlined some of the recent activities at the college’s Smart Farm.
The Smart Farm is supporting the evolving needs of agriculture and agri-food industry in several ways, including demonstrating increasing productivity, profitability and sustainability of farming operations through the implementation of smart technologies and practices, he said.
The Technology Access Centre for Livestock Production is based at the farm and serves as a resource for the livestock industry.
The three main focus areas of the centre are improving production efficiencies, enhancing animal health and welfare, and environmental sustainability, he said.
“We are focused on meeting the needs of Canadian livestock producers by providing access to new technologies, services and resources,” he said. “That’s with beef cattle and sheep as our primary focus.”
Services and activities at the centre include applied livestock research, producer and industry events, industry training opportunities, and student mentoring.
“Students are a big portion of what we do,” he said.
Current applied research projects at the centre include ongoing residual feed intake testing for producers/industry, health impacts of optimized pre-conditioning in beef cattle, handling acclimation and the effects on reproductive performance, and corn intercropping strategies for extended winter grazing.
He talked about the regenerative agriculture demonstration and evolution site near Carstairs. Activities there include testing of GPS collars, rotation of forage stand, and examining extending fall grazing options.
“We have the land base and resources available (at the site) to demonstrate existing and new technologies and management practices,” he said.
The board accepted the presentation as information.
