OLDS — People from across Canada and the world clicked on the first-ever Olds College Celebration of Alberta Ag, held virtually on April 9.
The event, a fundraiser for Olds College bursaries, was held from 7 to 9 p.m. Viewers were told it became a virtual show, due to pandemic restrictions.
MC Jeff Dyck said people from across Canada and as far away as Nigeria, the Philippines and New Zealand checked it out.
During the event, Olds College president re-announced that TELUS Agriculture is the 2021 Olds College Partner of the Year.
That announcement was first made in an Olds College news release on March 31.
The company received the award for being among the first businesses to partner with the college on its Smart Farm.
That million-dollar partnership included the development, acceleration and integration of technology into the global agri-food value chain.
“On the Olds College Smart Farm, TELUS Agriculture has been testing innovations like security solutions, weather stations, field sensors, and rural connectivity solutions,” the news release said.
“In the near future, the Smart Farm will provide live testing for TELUS’ 5G network, which has the potential to enable faster, more reliable connections.”
"Being as they’re one of the first investors into the Smart Farm it really got us launched in a good way,” Cullum said during the Zoom-cast.
“So we couldn’t be more thrilled. TELUS Agriculture’s been a tremendous partner for us and we’re really, really excited to give them this honour of Partner of the Year.”
Todd Ormann, global director of TELUS Agriculture, said the company was honoured to be so-chosen.
“There are not many places in Canada that you know, have 2,300 acres of farmland – places where quite honestly you could not only look at things from an academic and a learning perspective for students and industry, but you really can kick the dirt,” Ormann said during the event.
“It’s an honour for us to be recognized by someone such as Olds College in an area that quite honestly we are trying to make a significant difference in.”
Also during the fundraiser, several speakers alluded to the $21.4 million worth of renovation, expansion and maintenance work underway on the campus, first announced last July.
Of that money, $15.16 million will be used to expand the Lachlin McKinnon Building into the new Animal Health Education Centre to accommodate future growth and enrolment in animal science programs and provide state-of-the art and specialized facilities for learning.
Another $6.21 million is earmarked to redevelop the James Murray Building into an Ag-Tech Learning Hub that will house the Werklund School of Agriculture Technology.
During the evening country singer Corb Lund performed several tunes, including an anti-mining song he wrote about 12 years ago and an ode to his uncle who used to be a rodeo coach at the college.
Calgary Stampede First Nations princess Falon Manywounds closed the event, performing a jingle dance with the city of Calgary in the background.
