Agriculture Service Board Tour

Our first stop on the Virtual ASB tour is Flint Farm Honey!

Jason and Songshan are 4th generation farmers in the Paradise Valley area. They started their aparist operation orginally to producer honey for their family as they were using 1kg of honey a week! Flint Farm Honey has expanded to a small local operation the provides a variety of honey products to the community including, raw honey, creamed honey, flavoured honey, bee wax candles, hand cream and much more!

Join us on our first tour stop below by clicking the photo 

Are you interested in learning more about the honey? Check out the Flint Farm Honey Website!

If the sweet taste of honey isn't enough, check out the variety of health benefits honey provide at this article written by Joseph Nordqvist.

Creating habitat and attracting pollinators to your garden is easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. Plant a Diverese Garden - A mix of native plants with different bloom size, color and timing can help provide nectar for bees throughout the season.
2. Provide Water - A small dish with water and pebbles can help quench bees thirst on a hot summer day
3. "Leaf" your yard messy - By leaving grass clipping, fallen leaves and bare ground patches, you allow native bees to nest in your yard. 70% of native bees nest underground.

Our second stop is Copper Creek Ranch! 

Originally founded in 1996 by Scott and Sandy McAllister nad Vernon and Karen Kay, this operation has grown into a sustainable, family owned cow/calf finishing operation.  This Bison ranch utilizes several best management programs such as high intensity rotational grazing, planting cocktail crops, and focusing on regenerative agriculture.

Their focus on improving their soil through proper management has helped increased the quantity and quality of their feed. The Copper Creek Ranch is also committed to sharing their experience with the community through their interactive YouTube page. Join us for our on the farm interview! Click the picture below! 

Interested in learning more? Check out the Copper Creek Ranch Website for information on genetics, see photos of their cover crops and Copper Creek Ranch merchandise.

The G3 Elevator is the next stop on the Virtual Agriculture Service Board Tour. Join the County of Vermilion River and the G3 General Manager, Darren Bratrud, for a tour of the facility from grain sampling, to loading to shipping by rail!

 Photo Credit: G3 Vermilion

The G3 Grain elevator has been receiving grain from producers in the County of Vermilion since Summer 2021. The unique design of this facility makes loading grain into train carts quick and efficient. The elevator also provides another option for producers to market their grain. 

Our next stop on our tour is conducting a grasshopper survey!

Our camera crew stopped by to capture the methods of conducting a grasshopper survey in the field. Grasshopper surveys are conducted to develop the grasshopper forecast map. The surveys provide information on the amount of grasshoppers that are capable of reproducing for next year.

When combined with environmental factors these surveys are helpful to producers to assess their risks of grasshopper investation. 

Join us by clicking the photo below!

The County recognizes that some landowners do not want herbicides applied to the municipal road right of ways adjacent to their property, so No Spray Agreements are available to those ratepayers who agree to themselves control weeds and vegetation within the County ROW to meet the County’s vegetation management standards. No Spray Agreements are not necessary for areas of obviously maintained yard sites, tame shelterbelts and dugouts.

Click the image for the No Spray Zone stop on the ASB Tour!

A part of the County's Vegetation management program is selectively spraying noxious weeds and brush throughout the County. We use herbicides to control weeds and plant species that are undesirable along the side of the roads including sweet clover, aspen, toadflax, thistles. Our next tour stop showcases common Noxious weeds in our County. 

Check it out by clicking the image below!

Working alongside beavers has been a challenge for many farmers. Beaver Deceivers and Pond Levellers are helpful tools to live in harmony with beavers. These flow devices assist in managing water problems long-term that help maintain infrastructures such as roadways, drainage systems, and buildings. These devices allow beavers to live in harmony with infrastructure while maintaining water levels. Our next tour stop takes us to a Beaver Deceiver and Pond Leveller system, check it out by clicking the photo below. 

The County of Vermilion River manages vegetation alongside County roads for a variety of reasons, including:

• Increased traffic safety by reducing obstructions in the ditch and improving visibility along roadways and at intersections,
• Reduced vegetation that attracts wildlife to roadsides,
• Reduced snow accumulation concerns and to facilitate snow removal,
• Enhanced road maintenance,
• To control the spread of noxious and prohibited noxious weeds on municipal property, and
• To reduce the spread of crop diseases and pests along municipal roadways (i.e. clubroot of canola, black knot fungus).

Vegetation of concern includes provincially regulated under Alberta’s Weed Control Act like toadflax and scentless chamomile. It also includes any trees or shrubs growing along the roadside, and tall vegetation including sweet clover, alfalfa and bromegrass, which reduce visibility, attract animals and impact road maintenance.

The County’s Roadside Vegetation Management Program uses an Integrated Management Approach with a number of management tools. We try to make vegetation management decisions that take into account the crops adjoining the roadside, wildlife and pollinator usage of the ditches, and other potential users of the roadside.

For more information about our vegetation program and common weeds in the County see the tour stop by clicking the image below!