Farm tours offer teachers learning opportunity

Melissa Strle
Times Reporter

 

Agriculture for Life hosted a farm tour on Sept. 21 that enabled teachers from Strathmore, Calgary and surrounding area to see up close a local grain farm, a cattle feedlot and mill, and a ranch focused on producing grass-fed beef.
The tour transported teachers to visit producers directly involved in the farming industry including Cattleland Feedyards, GrowSafe Systems and Southern Cross Livestock.
The purpose of the tour was to give teachers the opportunity to gain a better understanding of technology and management practices utilized by farmers and ranchers to produce food that feeds Albertans and the world.
Kaley Segboer, marketing and communications coordinator at Agriculture for Life, said the tour also provided educators from Alberta Beef Producers and Alberta Chicken Producers.
“We have Graeme Finn with Southern Cross Livestock who’s helped us pull together the day so he’s the tour guide providing input,” she said. “We have a crop advisor on the bus as well, helping to tie together some of the things we are talking about like genetically modified crops, pesticide usage, even just basics of harvest right now.”
The teacher group was able to get a firsthand account of farms while viewing crops along roadways and stopping to compare barley versus wheat.
The first stop was at GrowSafe, where teachers learned about conventional grains and oilseeds. Next, Mick Taylor at Cattleland talked about the differences between natural and conventional beef, the reasons why and some of the costs involved. Lastly, teachers learned pasture and the grass side of beef operations at Southern Cross Livestock.
Segboer said it is important to educate teachers and provide them with tools enabling them to teach agriculture and farming to their own students within the classroom.
“Agriculture is intersecting so many ways throughout the Alberta curriculum,” Segboer said. This is allowing them [teachers] firsthand knowledge…plus we’re providing them with lesson plans.”
Many conversations during the day revolved around organic versus conventional farming.
The Strathmore Times visited Cattleland Feedyards which is run by the Gregory family and employs approximately 45 people. Cattleland farms about 15,000 acres of land in the local area and produces a significant amount of feed for its own cattle. It is a 25,000 head commercial feedlot and also has its own cow herd of about 700-800 cows.
The facility contains one of the largest commercial research facilities in Canada and performs many regulatory studies for new products coming into Canada, new implants and new feed additives.
According to Mick Taylor, Cattleland’s research co-manager and cow herd manager, people “have lost touch with where our food comes from and I think that’s where a lot of the issues come from with animal welfare now. Our massive push in the feedlot now is in animal welfare. “Consumers are more conscious of what’s happening to the animals, the meats they’re eating.”
Taylor also said another big consumer-driven push has been for meat that has no hormones. “We’ve gone from zero per cent (natural) five years ago to 30 per cent (natural) now.”
Agriculture for Life will be offering another tour this spring in the Edmonton region and will offer subsequent tours if demand remains.