As Alberta Canola gears up for this fall’s Grower Engagement Meetings (GEMs), I would like to share details on the efforts we’ve invested in this past year. Like the farmers we serve, we’d rather work hard than talk about our achievements. However, it’s important you know the work Alberta Canola is doing on your behalf.
Alberta Canola’s mission is to support the long-term success of canola farmers in Alberta. For 35 years, Alberta Canola has steadily evolved to meet the changing needs of canola farmers. Today, the commission’s work revolves around four main priorities:
Research
Given ongoing and significant declines in public research investment, grower-funded research is more important than ever. We fund and interface with the canola research community to help growers meet their production challenges, drive innovation, and address critical issues like clubroot management, integrated pest control, on-farm efficiency and sustainability. Our research is fully directed by and for growers. In our 2023/24 fiscal year, within our annual project funding stream, we invested more than $640,000 into new research, not including investments through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership – Canola Cluster (SCAP). We leverage every dollar to maximize impact. For projects funded in 2024, we were able to attract an additional 4.5 for each grower dollar invested by Alberta Canola from our collaborative research partners and programs. You can read more about our current projects and completed research results at albertacanola.com/research/projects/.
Policy & Advocacy
The average Albertan is now multiple generations removed from the farm. That means that our governing decision makers and the voters who determine Alberta’s path forward often lack understanding of on-farm realities. To promote growers’ interests at the regulatory level and to ensure farmers can continue operating profitably, practically and sustainably, we invest in policy and advocacy efforts on our own, in collaboration with our provincial partners within Team Alberta Crops, and with national partners including CCGA and the Canola Council of Canada. Some of the big efforts we’ve successfully advocated for recently include adding a farmer designation for Class 1 truck drivers, requiring renewable energy projects to prioritize agriculture in their reclamation strategies, and securing changes to the underused housing tax so farmers don’t face red tape and significant costs from unoccupied buildings on their land. We also continue to promote science-based evaluations of crop protection tools and land and water management strategies.
Grower Engagement & Extension
Alberta Canola is committed to providing resources relating to canola agronomy, marketing, and all aspects of farm business management to best meet canola growers’ changing needs and to fill the gaps left as government extension services have decreased over time. We collaborate with our provincial partners to publish the Alberta BlueBook, to facilitate the Agronomy Update event, and to fund AgSafe Alberta. We work very closely with the Canola Council of Canada’s Crop Production team to provide extensive canola agronomic resources, as well as multiple partners including Farm Management Canada to provide farm management resources. Since together we are stronger, we prioritize relationship with growers, investing in engagement to ensure all Albertan canola growers have opportunity to influence this organization and the wider agriculture industry’s path forward. Our Grower Engagement Meetings, Canola Conference, and Research Symposium events are designed to gather valuable feedback from all growers and those working to support canola growers.
Public Education & Promotion
Canada should be proud of canola! The ultimate ‘invented in Canada, grown in Canada’ crop, canola plays an oversized role in shaping the Prairies, keeping rural communities vibrant, and sustaining farm families, not to mention feeding the world and providing huge biofuel potential. Canola’s many consumer benefits and important economic impact in Alberta and beyond is a story that needs to be told. We are invested in telling that story via multiple channels. We’re particularly proud to be involved with our provincial prairie counterparts on the National Canola Marketing Program campaign, ‘Hello Canola’, which is reaching urban audiences across the country. Provincially, we continue to partner with local and national media, attend events like the Calgary Stampede, and advocate for increased agricultural education in classrooms across the province through political lobby efforts and by providing resources through our Learn Canola website. Alberta Canola is committed to increasing consumer awareness and engagement to grow canola’s market position.
We’re incredibly proud of the successes we’ve achieved, and we’re thankful for the enthusiastic support we have received from growers over the years. We hope you’re proud of these efforts too, since this organization is your organization. We’re always keen to hear your feedback and to get you involved in our initiatives.
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