A three-year pilot project aimed at reducing plastic waste within Alberta agriculture will soon roll out. Alberta Agriculture and Forestry have approved $750,000 in funding for the Agricultural Plastics Recycling Group’s (APRG) pilot program to recycle grain bags and twine. “Making agriculture more efficient and environmentally sustainable is a win for everyone,” says Oneil Carlier, Minister of… Read More

The Alberta and Saskatchewan governments have announced funding for provincial programs under the new Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP). The five-year federal-provincial-territorial agriculture framework is set to begin this weekend (April 1), as Growing Forward 2 comes to an end. Alberta Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay was in Calgary on Monday, where he announced $406 million… Read More

Last week, the Alberta government introduced Bill 17, the Fair and Family-Friendly Workplaces Act, which updates Alberta’s Labour Code and Employment Standards Code. Since the bill covers all workers in Alberta, it requires some further digging to parse out what applies to agriculture and farms. On Friday, Shaun Haney spoke with Oneil Carlier, Minister of… Read More

Representatives from Alberta’s crop commissions held a conference call with Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier and senior officials with Alberta’s Agricultural Financial Services Corporation on Wednesday to discuss the need for intervention to help producers with the one million acres of 2016 crop still in the field. “Team Alberta” — the provincial canola, wheat, barley and… Read More

The Alberta government has tabled legislation to once again give producer groups the option of making their check-offs non-refundable. Before 2009, the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act gave commissions the option of refundable or non-refundable service charges. Provincial beef, pork, lamb and potato commissions collected non-refundable check-offs until 2009, when the Ed Stelmach government changed the… Read More

The Alberta government is almost doubling its loan guarantee for cattle and sheep feeder associations in the province, following the record high cattle prices in 2014-15. Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier announced Wednesday that the guarantee limit in the Feeder Association Loan Guarantee Program will be raised from $55 million to $100 million. “The cattle and… Read More

Last week, Alberta’s government announced details on the Enhancement of Protection of Farm and Ranch Workers Act technical working groups who will bring forward recommendations on what standards will look like under the legislation. After waiting months for the announcement, many in the agriculture community are critical of the government’s plan, including who was or wasn’t invited to participate. The AgCoalition,… Read More

The Alberta government’s omnibus Bill 6 would impact farms and ranches by making Workers Compensation Board coverage mandatory, providing Occupational Health & Safety regulation in agriculture, implementing new labor laws and giving farm workers the ability to unionize. While the bill would affect agriculture, some of the complications in the communication of Bill 6 details are due to the… Read More

Big changes are underway inside the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton, but the province’s new NDP agriculture minister says he doesn’t foresee any major shifts in Alberta’s agriculture policies. Oneil Carlier grew up on a family farm near Val Marie, Saskatchewan, a fourth-generation beef and grain operation now run by his brother. As a teen, he got a job… Read More

A former Agriculture Canada employee with more than 20 years of experience in the labour movement was sworn in as Alberta’s new minister of agriculture, forestry and rural development on Sunday. Oneil Carlier, who lives in Darwell and is the new MLA for Whitecourt-Ste. Anne, was chosen by Premier Rachel Notley to look after the ag portfolio. Originally from… Read More

 

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