Agriculture a bright spot in Alberta’s economy

Melissa Strle
Times Reporter

 

Martin Shields, MP Bow River, was at the Langdon Crossing Bar & Grill on Aug. 24 to meet with local people for an informal coffee talk regarding the constituency.
Shields acknowledged that it’s tough out there right now for the Alberta economy because a lot of people are unemployed in the oil and gas sector.
However, it’s a different story for agriculture in the constituency.
“The agricultural side is pretty strong this year,” said Shields. “Some people started calling this area Ireland of the West. You can drive from Calgary to Medicine Hat and it’s totally green all the way and that is just very unusual.”
Record amounts of rainfall this year have indeed affected the agriculture sector. Shields said there were two strands of farm fields through the Vulcan area and north of Irricana that didn’t receive rain until July 1; however, now the farmers from these two areas can’t get in the fields because they are too wet.
“Most of the crops are very strong and good outside of that,” said Shields, but he acknowledged agricultural trade is deemed very important and trade relations continue to be a top priority.
The potatoes coming out of this constituency are highly valued for trade, and there are “two plants running full blast” and increasing their acreage.
“The niche crops in the south of the province are doing very well and we’ve got some incredible agricultural farmers in this constituency,” Shields said. “Their efficiency is the best in the world. Their machinery is phenomenal and very expensive.”
Shields also said that the cattle industry was extremely strong two years ago and is still fairly strong.
Shields also talked about other industries in the constituency. For instance, the oil and gas sector continues to be a top concern for constituents since there are a lot of unemployed people in that sector and this presents a real challenge. Shields said one of the major challenges is that the sector is losing a lot of experienced people as they’re either changing industries or moving elsewhere. When companies eventually start increasing operational budgets, they will be challenged to find experienced people.
“Cenovus is doing a little work but things are not the same as they were three years ago,” Shields said.
“Back in the boom, three/four years ago, it would cost approximately $3 million for Cenovus to contract out to do a drill. The latest drilling is not much more than $1 million because people are desperate to go to work.
“So we’ve got plus things in the constituency, but the oil and gas sector is the one that suffers the worst at the moment.”
Another top concern for municipalities is infrastructure money. Shields said, “I always get asked where it is, how come we haven’t got it, where do we get it?”
To address this issue, Shields said the federal government transferred $300 million to the provincial government, and municipalities are required to send in requests for funding things such as old water lines, old sewer lines and water treatment plants.