AAAF SPRING FORUM 2012
AGRICULTURAL FIELDMAN’S DIRECTORY –CURRENT TO April 25, 2012
SOUTH REGION M.D. of Acadia Rick Niwa (AF) Office: (403) 972-3808 Box 30, Acadia Valley Shop: (403) 972-3755 T0J 0A0 Fax: (403) 972-3833 Cell: (403) 664-7114 email [email protected]
Cardston County Rod Foggin (AF) Ph: (403) 653-4977 Box 580, Cardston Stephen Bevans (AAF) Fax: (403) 653-1126 T0K 0K0 Cell: (403) 382-8236 (Rod) (403) 634-9474 email: [email protected] [email protected]
Municipality of Crowsnest Pass Kim Lutz (AF) Ph: (403)-563-8658 Mail: email: [email protected] Box 600 Crowsnest Pass, AB T0K 0E0
Office: Room 1, MDM Community Center 2802 - 222 Street Bellevue, AB
Cypress County Jason Storch (AF) Director Ph: (403) 526-2888 816 2nd Ave, Dunmore Christina Barrieau (AAF) Fax: (403) 526-8958 T1B 0K3 email : [email protected] [email protected]
M.D. of Foothills Ron Stead (AF) Ph: (403) 603-5410 (Ron) Box 5605, High River Bree Webb (AAF) Shop: (403) 652-2423 (Bree) T1V 1M7 ext 5446 Fax : (403) 603-5414 email : [email protected] [email protected]
County of Forty Mile Dave Matz (AF) Phone (403) 867-3530 Box 160, Foremost Vacant (AAF) fax (403) 867-2242 T0K 0X0 Kevin Jesske (Fieldman’s Asst.) cellular (403) 647-8080 (Dave) email [email protected] [email protected]
Lethbridge County Don Bodnar (AF) Ph: (403) 328-5525 905-4th Ave. South Gary Secrist (AAF) shop: (403) 732-5333 Lethbridge T1J 4E4 Terry Mrozowich Fax: (403) 732-4328 Cell : (403) 634-0713 (Don) (403) 634-0680 (Gary) email : [email protected] [email protected]
County of Newell Todd Green (AF) Office: (403) 362-2772 Box 130, Brooks Holly White (AAF/Rural Cons. Tech) Shop: (403) 362-4343 T1R 1B2 Will Schaap (Field Officer) Fax: (403) 362-8681 email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
M.D. of Pincher Creek Greg Scott (AF) Ph: (403) 627-4151 Box 279, Pincher Creek Shane Poulson(AAF) Fax: (403) 627-3075 T0K 1W0 Cell: (403) 339-7451 (Greg) (403) 339-8741 (Shane) email : [email protected] [email protected]
M.D. of Ranchland Carla Bick (AF) Ph: (403) 646-3131 Box 1060, Nanton Larry Kopas (AAF) Fax: (403) 646-3141 T0L 1R0 email: [email protected]
Siksika Nation Derrick Brass (Manager) Ph: (403) 734-5240 Box 1100, Siksika Jason Spotted Eagle (Director) Fax: (403) 734-5182 T0J 3W0 email: [email protected]
Special Area 2 Vacant (AF) Ph: (403) 854-5628 Box 820, Hanna Nicole Viste (AAF) Fax: (403) 854-5527 T0J 1P0 Cell: (403) 854-0529 email: [email protected]
Special Area 3 Trent Caskey (AF) Ph: (403) 664-3618 Box 30, Oyen Fax: (403) 664-3320 T0J 2J0 Cell: (403) 664-0736 email: [email protected]
Special Area 4 Ryan Buehler (AF) Ph: (403) 577-3523 Box 220, Consort Fax: (403) 577-2446 T0C 1B0 email: [email protected]
M.D. of Taber Jon Hood (AF) Shop: (403) 223-8735 4900-B 50 Street Jason Bullock (AAF) Cell: (403) 634-2723 Taber T1G 1T2 Cell: (403) 634-4429 Fax: (403) 223-8831 email: [email protected] [email protected]
Vulcan County Kelly Malmberg (AF) Ph: (403) 485-3103 Box 180, Vulcan Avery Brigden (AAF) fax: (403) 485-2920 T0L 2B0 email: [email protected]
County of Warner James Meeks (AF) Ph: (403) 642-3635 Box 90, Warner Cathy Preston (AAF) fax: (403) 642-3631 T0K 2L0 email: [email protected] [email protected]
Wheatland County Russel Muenchrath (AF) Ph: (403) 934-3321 Hwy. #1, RR#1, Jason Regehr (AAF) Fax: (403) 934-4889 Strathmore Cell: (403) 333-6846 (Russell) T1P 1J6 (403) 333-6946 (Jason) email: [email protected] [email protected]
M.D. of Willow Creek Ron MacKay (AF) Ph: (403) 625-3351 Box 550, Claresholm Oscar Anderson (AAF) Fax: (403) 625-3886 T01 0T0 email: [email protected] [email protected]
CENTRAL REGION
M.D. of Bighorn Dwight Tannas (AF) Ph: (403) 673-3611 Box 310, #2 Heart William Davies (AAF) Calgary Dir: (403) 233-7678 Mountain Drive Fax: (403) 673-3895 Exshaw T0L 2C0 email: [email protected] [email protected] Dwight Cell: (403) 899-2416 William Cell: (403) 996-0098
Camrose County Paul King (AF) Ph: (780) 672-4765 4728 - 41 Street Kevin Macdonald (AAF) Fax: (780) 672-4997 Camrose, T4V 0Z6 Greg Wilcox email: [email protected] [email protected]
Clearwater County Matt Martinson(AF)Director Ph: (403) 845-4444 Box 550, Gary Lewis (Program Assistant) Fax: (403) 845-7330 Rocky Mountain House Steve Maki (ASB Field Foreman) email: [email protected] T4T 1A4 Marty Winchell (Ag. Extension Lead) [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Flagstaff County Laurie Hillaby (AF) Ph: (780) 384-4100 Box 358, Sedgewick Roxanne Nalesnik (AAF) fax: (780) 384-3635 T0B 4C0 email: [email protected] [email protected]
Kneehill County Bruce Sommerville (AF) Ph: (403) 443-5541 Box 400, Three Hills Bowen Clausen (AAF) Toll free: 1-866-443-5541 T0M 2A0 Fax: (403) 443-5115 Cell: (403) 443-0821 email: [email protected] [email protected]
Lacombe County Dion Burlock (AF) PH: (403) 782-6601 RR#3, Lacombe, AB John Hopkins (Ag. Foreman) Cell: (403) 318-4428 (Dion) T4L 2N3 (403) 358-0714 (John) Fax: (403) 782-3820 email: [email protected] [email protected]
Mountain View County Jane Fulton (AF) Ph: (403) 335-3311 ext 184 Bag 100, Didsbury Chris Chrenek Fax: (403) 335-9207 T0M 1W0 Neil Madson Cell: (403) 559-7311 (Jane) (403) 559-7007 (Chris) (403) 559-7411 (Neil) email: [email protected] [email protected]
County of Paintearth No.18 Jeff Cosens (AF) Ph: (403) 882-3211 Box 509, Castor Trevor Kerr (AAF) Fax: (403) 882-3560 T0C 0X0 Cell: (403) 740-9183 (Jeff) Cell: (403) 740 -9182 (Trevor) email: [email protected] [email protected]
Ponoka County Shayne Steffen (AF) 2nd Vice President(403) 783-3333 4205 Highway 2A Justin Babcock (AAF) Fax: (403) 783-6965 Ponoka, T4J 1V9 Cell: (403) 783-1030 (Shayne) (403) 506-8832 (Justin) email: [email protected] [email protected]
Red Deer County Art Preachuk (AF) Ph: (403) 350-2163 / (403) 350-2150 38106 Range Road 275 Cody McIntosh (AAF) Fax: (403) 346-9840 Red Deer, AB T4S 2L9 Roland Krusi (Ag. Assistant) Art Preachuk Cell: (403)505-9066 Meghan Marshall (Ag. Assistant) email: [email protected] Ken Lewis (Conservation Coordinator) [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Rocky View County Tim Dietzler (AF) Ph: (403) 520-1271 (Tim) 911-32nd Ave. NE Kim Butler (Supervisor) (403) 520-1272 (Kim) Calgary, AB T2E 6X6 Jeff Fleischer (ASO) (403) 520-1287 (Jeff) Laura Poile (ASO) (403) 520-7273 (Laura) Kendra Tippe (ASO) (403) 520-8162 (Kendra) Fax: (403) 277-5977 email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Starland County Alan Hampton (AF) Ph: (403) 772-3793 Box 294, Morrin Jared Malansky (AAF) Fax: (403) 772-3807 T0J 2B0 email: [email protected] [email protected] Stettler County Quinton Beaumont (AF) Ph: (403) 742-4441 Box 1270, Stettler Jay Byer (AAF) Fax: (403) 742-1277 T0C 2L0 email: [email protected] [email protected]
Wetaskiwin County Stephen Majek (AF) Sec/Treas Ph: (780) 361-6226 Box 6960, Wetaskiwin James Albers (ASB Foreman) Fax: (780) 352-3486 T9A 2G5 email: [email protected] [email protected]
NORTHEAST REGION
Beaver County Krista Kotylak (Acting AF) Ph: (780) 663-3730 Box 140, Ryley Mike Bates (Acting AAF) Fax: (780) 663-3602 T0B 4A0 email: [email protected] [email protected]
M.D. of Bonnyville Matt Janz (AF) Ph: (780) 826-3951 Box 1010, Bonnyville Elden Kozak (AAF)Director Fax: (780) 826-5064 T9N 2J7 Kirby Clabert (PCO) email: [email protected] [email protected]
Lac La Biche County Kyle Beniuk (AF) Ph: (780) 623-1747 Box 1679 Lac La Biche Cell: (780) 520-0419 (Kyle) T0A 2C0 Fax: (780) 623-2039 email: [email protected]
623Lamont County Terry Eleniak (AF) Ph: (780) 895-2585 Box 150, Lamont Tori Gresiuk (AAF) Fax: (780) 895-2892 T0B 2R0 email: [email protected] [email protected]
Minburn County Darwin Ullery (AF) Ph: (780) 632-4033 Box 550, Vegreville Roger Nakonechney (AAF) Fax: (780) 632-6631 T9C 1R6 email: [email protected] [email protected]
M.D. of Provost Burt Forbes (AF) Ph: (780) 753-2368 Box 300, Provost Fax: (780) 753-6432 T0B 3S0 email: [email protected]
Smoky Lake County Eugene Senetza (AF) Ph: (780) 656-3730 Box 310, Smoky Lake Evonne Zukiwski (AAF) (Env Serv. Shared Thorhild) Fax: (780) 656-3768 T0A 3C0 email: [email protected] [email protected]
County of St. Paul Dennis Bergheim (AF) Ph: (780) 645-3301 ext.207 DB 5015-49 Ave, St. Paul Keith Kornelsen (AAF) (780) 645-3006 KK, JV T0A 3A4 Jack Vanden Berge (ASB Field Officer) Fax:(780) 645-3104 DB (780) 645-1800 KK, JV email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Two Hills County Al Ropchan (AF) Ph: (780) 657-3358 Box 490, Two Hills Kirby Huculak (AAF) Fax: (780) 657-3504 T0B 4K0 email: [email protected] [email protected]
County of Vermilion River Howie Bjorge (AF) Ph: (780) 846-2244 Box 69, Kitscoty Cal McLean (AAF) Fax: (780) 846-2716 T0B 2P0 email: [email protected]
M.D. of Wainwright James Schwindt (AF) Ph: (780) 842-4454 717 - 14 Avenue Aimee Wonsik (AAF) Fax: (780) 842-2463 Wainwright, T9W 1B3 email: [email protected] [email protected]
NORTHWEST REGION
Athabasca County Ron Jackson (AF) Ph: (780) 675-2273 3602 - 48 Avenue Trent Keller (Prod. Spec.) Fax: (780) 675-5512 Athabasca, T9S 1M8 email: [email protected] [email protected]
County of Barrhead Marilyn Flock (AF) Ph: (780) 674-3331 5306 - 49 Street Kyle Meunier (AAF) Fax: (780) 674-2777 Barrhead, T7N 1N5 email: [email protected] [email protected]
Brazeau County Rick Ennis (AF) Ph: (780) 542-7777 Box 77, Drayton Valley Lisa Murphy (AAF) Fax: (780) 542-7770 T7A 1R1 email: [email protected] [email protected]
Lac Ste Anne County Geoff Thompson (AF)1st Vice President Ph: (780) 785-3411 Box 219, Sangudo Tara McGinn (AAF) Toll free: 1-866-880-5722 T0E 2A0 Fax: (780) 785-2359 Cell: (780) 203-2544 (Geoff) (780) 203-2545 (Tara) email: [email protected] [email protected]
Leduc County Garett Broadbent (AF) Ph: (780) 955-6404 (Garett) 101, 1101 – 5 Street Aaron Van Beers (Ag Foreman) Toll free: 1-800-379-9052 Nisku, T9E 2X3 Warren Abel (Ag. Foreman) Fax: (780) 955-5557 email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
M.D. of Lesser Slave River Russ Jassman (AF) Ph: (780) 681-3929 Box 93, Flatbush Fax: (780) 681-3936 T0G 0Z0 email: [email protected]
Parkland County Mark Cardinal (AF) Ph: (780) 968-8467 53109A SH 779 James Leskiw (AAF) Fax: (780) 968-3247 Parkland County Erin McAdam (AAF) email: [email protected] T7Z 1R1 Tanya Warren [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Strathcona County Joel Gould (AF) Cell (780) 417-7134 (Joel) 2001 Sherwood Drive Laura Hammer (AAF) (780) 417-7132 (Laura) Sherwood Park Heather Horner (AAF) (780) 417-7130 T8A 3W7 Fax: (780) 417-7109 email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Sturgeon County Quentin Bochar (AF) (780) 939-8325 (Quentin) 9613 - 100 Street Angela Veenstra (AAF) (780) 939-8330 (Angela) Morinville, AB T8R 1T3 Ph Toll free 1-866-939-9303 fax (780) 939-2076 email [email protected] [email protected]
Thorhild County Clarence Dowhan (AF) Ph: (780) 398-3741 Box 10, Thorhild Wayne McLean (AAF) Toll free: 1-877-398-3777 T0A 3J0 Fax: (780) 398-3748 email: [email protected] [email protected]
Westlock County Dennis Mueller (AF) Ph: (780) 349-3346 ext# 280 10336 – 106 Street Jacolyn Tigert (AAF)Director Toll free: 1-877-349-5880 Westlock, T7P 2G1 Fax: (780) 349-2012 Cell: (780) 307-4308 email: [email protected] [email protected]
Woodlands County Dawn Fortin (AF) Ph: (780) 584-3866 Box 33, Ft Assiniboine Glen Renfert (AS Tech) Fax: (780) 584-3988 T0G 1A0 email: [email protected]
Yellowhead County Jennifer Benson (AF) Ph: (780) 325-3782 2716 – 1 Ave Sonja Pichette (AAF) Fax: (780) 325-3783 Edson, AB T7E 1N9 George Bloom Toll free: 1-800-814-3935 Email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
PEACE REGION
M.D. of Big Lakes Suzanne Cailliau (AF) Ph: (780) 523-5955 Box 239, High Prairie Stephanie Garant (AAF) Fax: (780) 523-4227 T0G 1E0 email: [email protected] [email protected]
Birch Hills County Amanda Oulette (AF) Ph: (780) 694-3793 Box 157, Wanham Fax: (780) 694-3788 T0H 3P0 Wk Cell (780) 814-1123 email: [email protected]
Clear Hills County Aaron Zylstra (AF) Director Ph: (780) 685-3925 Box 240, Worsley Audrey Bjorkland (Community Dev. Mgr.) Fax: (780) 685-3960 T0H 3W0 email: [email protected] [email protected]
M.D. of Fairview Fred Sawchuk (AF) Ph: (780) 835-4903 Box 189, Fairview Fax: (780) 835-3131 T0H 1L0 Cell: (780) 834-7017 Email: [email protected]
County of Grande Prairie Sonja Raven (AF) Ph: (780) 567-5585 10001- 84th Avenue Jill Henry (AAF) Cell: (780) 876-6936 Clairmont, T0H 0W0 Roland Surette(AAF) Fax: (780) 567-5589 Email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
M.D. of Greenview Dave Berry (AF) Ph: (780) 524-7615 Box 1079, Valleyview Amanda Nepstad (AAF) (780) 524-7658 T0H 3N0 Fax: (780) 524-4432 Cell: (780) 552-3338 Office: (780) 524-7602 email: [email protected] [email protected]
Mackenzie County Grant Smith (AF) Ph: (780) 927-3718 Box 640 Fort Vermillion Cell: (780) 841-1686 T0H1N0 Fax: (780) 927-4266 email: [email protected]
County of Northern Lights Terry Schamehorn (AF) Ph: (780) 836-3348 Box 10, Manning Fax: (780) 836-3663 T0H 2M0 email: [email protected]
Northern Sunrise County Audrey Gall (AF) Ph: (780) 322-3831 (Audrey) Bag 1300, Peace River Sebastian Dutrisac (AAF) (780) 617-3435 (Sebastian) T8S 1Y9 Wayne Wright Fax: (780) 322-3000 email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
M.D. of Peace Nasar Iqbal (AF) Ph: (780) 338-3845 Box 34, Berwyn Fax: (780) 338-2222 T0H 0E0 Cell : (780) 219-4534 email: [email protected]
Saddle Hills County Dave Thompson (AF) Ph: (780) 864-3760 Box 69, Spirit River Fax: (780) 864-2008 T0H 3G0 Cell: (780) 864-0053 email: [email protected]
M.D. of Smoky River Normand Boulet (AF)PresidentPh: (780) 837-2221 ext 115 Box 210, Falher Fax: (780) 837-2453 T0H 1M0 Cell: (780) 837-0043 email: [email protected]
M.D. of Spirit River Kelly Hudson (AF) Ph: (780) 864-3500 Box 389, Spirit River Fax: (780) 864-4303 T0H 3G0 email: [email protected]
SOUTH REGION
County of Newell
After a long but surprisingly nice winter we are starting to gear up for our upcoming spring and summer season, and I am looking forward to my first summer as the new Assistant Fieldman for the County of Newell. 2012 will be a busy year for us. Luckily we have quite a few returning seasonal staff this summer to help us ease into the busy season.
We have recently begun working with the City of Brooks and the many urban municipalities within our County to do some of their spraying and weed inspecting programs. We are very excited to have the opportunity to build upon and expand our spraying and control programs. We are currently in the process of building a new County of Newell building that will house all departments; we are hoping the new facility will be ready late this summer so we can begin transitioning over to the new facility. This winter I had my first opportunity to attend IST and the ASB conference; they were really great conferences and wonderful opportunities to get to know many of the other fieldmen from all over the province. I am so excited to begin planning the 2014 ASB conference and I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to be on the speaker committee for the 2014 ASB conference. I hope everyone has a really great spring and summer season and if you are ever in our area please feel free to stop by and bring us donuts!
Holly, Will and Todd
Look! They got a New Well!!!!
Wheatland County
For the first time ever, at least that I can recall we had our 2012 budget approved in December of last year instead of March or April of this year. It has made things a bit easier for us in regards to getting things priced and ordered. It was definitely needed this year as our process for pricing and approving equipment purchases seems to be getting a bit complicated and we had a lot on the list to purchase. New truck and sprayer for the weed inspector, new 5115M John Deere tractor, Degelman sidearm and John Deere CX 15 Mower (they were all out of Degelman and Schulte mowers apparently) but at least the piece of crap highline will be gone. We also purchased a new Kirchner cultivator for use on road construction borrow pits and a Kirchner grain bag roller for use by ratepayers. Another change with the equipment is that everything belongs to the newly formed fleet department in an effort to track costs better. Detailed project costing is the new way here at Wheatland and it has meant a big increase in record keeping for everyone. The trouble is no one is tracking how much the new tracking system is costing us to implement. Jason and I are very fortunate as we have our weed inspector (Mr. Bartholow) on full time and basically the same summer crew has kept coming back every year which makes the springs a lot less crazy. We had a new summer position added last year to help with parks and the young lady turned out to be quite the hard worker and of course she loved working with us so she’s coming back. Strychnine sales have started with about 60 cases sold to date so I think we will be way ahead of our sales last year. We also look after gopher control in our hamlets and transfer sites which is mainly Rozol or Ramik green in bait stations which seems to work quite well. We were able to keep a man on a bit longer last fall for brush cutting around new address signs which were being put up and now are following up with Garlon treatments on brushing completed by public works through the winter. Have spent some time working on the purchase of a Livestock Emergency Response trailer but surprisingly I am running into some road blocks from a couple of our fire departments so I am not sure if it will go ahead or not. We are also planning on hosting another plastic grain bag roundup in June this year for producers and hoping to work with more with Alberta Care on the issue of Ag plastics recycling. From the environmental side of things our Water Protection initiative is gaining in popularity as producers are able to apply for funds for projects such as well abandonment, stock watering systems etc. We also did a Riparian health assessment in conjunction with Cows and fish last year on the Rosebud River and will be following up with one on the Crowfoot Creek this year.
Hope everyone has a great season!
Russ Muenchrath & Mr. Happy CENTRAL REGION
Camrose County
A fairly typical winter here with a few workshops, some 1080 being used, Clubroot concerns/questions, weighing cattle, and our Agricultural Awards Banquet.
We are lucky to get almost all returning summer staff for the upcoming season. This should make the spraying/mowing season run smooth, hopefully with only minor hiccups. Busy with figuring out orientations, any extra training that the staff may need for 2012, and safety supplies.
We will be building a new roadside sprayer truck in April/May so we can get it out working in June. We ended up getting an International 4300M7.
The County Seed Plant has been going 24 hours a day/5 days a week since the middle of November. They are doing roughly 200,000 bushels a month. It could be a long summer for the boys with all the ergot that is still out there.
Here’s to a fantastic golf season with a few scores in the 70’s, and none in the 90’s.
Paul, Kevin, Greg
Paul and Kevin’s Dream Game
Ponoka County
Here we go for another season. Training 3 new staff this year but we might have a gal from BC that could be a sprayer operator, I hoping she will fit in. We have our first confirmed Wild Boar but are keeping it quiet as we don’t want the media fiasco Geoff had in Lac St. Anne. I’m sure the good ol’ boys/gals west of the 5th will take care of the problem. Fish and Wildlife are already concerned as one lady already had her Pot Bellied Pigs shot by some red neck right beside her house- He thought they were wild boar??. Justin has finished off his rural addressing project for now and he is waiting on the signs on the second order. We will be doing a demo for Engage with 6-12 acres of pasture product and about the same for roadside products. We got a JD Gator 550 XUV so that should help us with getting some additional spraying done. Justin is fitting the Gator with a winch and we should be ready to go. Also, we completed redoing all lines, backflow valves, etc… on our trucks so we are ready to go spraying. As you can see we did a 3D fencing demo that worked well although we didn’t have much snow. But the deer did not enter the field from what we could see as there was no damage to the swaths or the grain bag.
Have a great summer.
Shayne and Justin
County of Stettler No. 06
Again a quiet winter here, we have our seasonal staff in place and are eagerly waiting for them to start as the job list is getting increasingly bigger! We have finally received our letter from the province stating that Absinthe Wormwood is officially a Noxious weed within our borders….Now the work really begins! We have had educational workshops to inform every one of our new found love for wormwood!! We have been looking very hard at Clearwater County and the work that they have done with their PAWC program on Tall Buttercup, and we like it!! Better yet…….. our ratepayers Love it! Thanks to Matt and his hard working team for helping us out on this project. Jay has spent a lot of hours updating and refining numbers about Absinthe and every other weed we have in our County at the moment. Our new software has really opened our eyes to what we have here. Health and Safety has made its ways back into the ASB lap, we have almost filled our contract with the Town of Stettler, and the County was covered by a Protective Services position, but…..with one of their own moving on to a different career, we have the County health and safety to look after AGAIN! One more job for Jay the man with many hats Byer! Other than gearing up to what looks like it could be a very busy season, SAME OL’ SAME OL’!! From Quinton and Jay here at the County of Stettler, Keep calm and SPRAY on!!
Hey Quinton - nice form!
NORTHEAST
NOTHING, Nada, Zilch, Zero, Where are you??? Are you still there???
Hey Terry – Nice Form?
NORTHWEST
Lac Ste. Anne County Forum Report – Spring. 2012
So, we have year-end reports completed and a new budget to work under for 2012 – things are rolling right into what some people call summer and to our Ag Services Department its called silly season. Luckily Tara has 4 returning staff and only one new hire – that should help things roll along. We just got approval for a new quad and another truck to add to our fleet to assist in weed control. Now , to get the chemical order in for the end of the month and we’ll be in business.
Geoff has been busy trying to manage a department, and with his AAAF duties. He is a non-voting member on the committee for the Executive Assistant position- we hope to bring forward some recommendations to the membership to see if this will fly.
We had a very successful ASB annual supper that we hosted, followed a few days later by a Clubroot information meeting. Thanks again to Aaron VanBeers with his expertise on Clubroot on providing information on Leduc’s program with our producers.
Its hockey playoff time & no Alberta teams in it again. Calgary lost a coach, and Edmonton gained a spot in the draft – in the end they are all just golfers.
In a nutshell, that’s the news from the AG Department in LSAC. Hope you all have a successful summer!
Geoff & Tara
Is it that bad already Geoff?? Parkland County
Here in sunny Parkland County we are gearing up for a new and exciting spray, agronomy and weed season. We have all of our staff hired for the season including our Horticulturist, Crop Inspector, 5 Weed Inspectors, 4 Pesticide Applicators, 4 Mower Operators and our Service Truck Operator. We have about 50% of staff returning which as we all know makes life easier throughout the summer. This year we did add an additional Weed Inspector to make 5 which will help us out in our inspections with having over 300 subdivisions and over 30,000 people. Agricultural Services has also grown with the addition of Parks Maintenance on a trial basis ending in July when at this time it will be re-evaluated to decide whether the move is permanent. This aspect of our department includes their full time and casual summer staff. We are continuing with our Clubroot scouting this season on every field of canola and are monitoring the fields infected on an annual basis. We all hope you have a wonderful season with as few issues as possible and many successes.
Mark, Erin, James and Tanya
Those are BIG Ground Squirrels you got there.
PEACE
Northern Sunrise
Life has been a little challenging at NSC and Sebastien is eagerly awaiting the arrival of 2022 as he anticipates that will be a very good year. The ASB Tour has taken on a life of its own and Audrey spends very little time working on anything else. In those rare moments it is usually to give someone a “history lesson” or an explanation of “why we have always done something the way we do”. The sudden passing of our CAO, Bob Miles, on March 18 will leave some big shoes to fill and everyone is trying to support Peter Thomas, the interm CAO to keep things operating as smoothly as possible. In addition to the loss of Bob, our Transportation Coordinator is leaving in June after 27 years with the County and one of our financial department staff (accounts receivable and taxation) is leaving in June after 20 years. Michelle is enjoying her time at home with her son Zayne, born January 31 and his big brother Evan. She will be returning to work in January 2013. Anyone coming to the tour may have a chance to visit with her as she has volunteered to help. In January, our CAO added a new full-time position to the ASB department – Parks Supervisor and a designated individual to fill the position. The intent was wonderful but ...... (the rest is better left unsaid). Mark Fogal decided not to stay on as Michelle’s mat leave replacement so Wayne Wright started the last week of January and is doing an incredible job so far. Sebastien is trying to do everything he did last year as well as everything I did last year. Look at the energizer bunny go!!!!! Our Council elevated Scentless Chamomile to a Prohibited Noxious in late 2011. We have ramped up our weed inspection crew by 50% to attempt to deal with the 630+ sightings we had last year on oil lease sites. We also need to increase the total inspections from 1500 gave/or take a few to over 5000 lease sites. I think it is safe to safe we will get very rusty at playing crib this summer. Inspite of the fact that we are a “Fusarium Graminearum Zero Tolerant” municipality we had two fields test positive in our 50 field random survey. 320 acres needs to be ploughed deeply or burnt before the 2012 crop is planted. Sure glad we got a bunch of snow last week cause ploughs are hard to find and burning was more than a little scary. We are responsible for ensuring that a non- host crop is planted there for the next 4 cropping seasons. Smiles and giggles and hope to see you in July.
Audrey, Sebastien, and Wayne
COME TO THE TOUR July 10-13!!!!!! FREE BEER!! (not really, but come visit!) A report from the M.D. of Smoky River – Normand Boulet, CCA April 19, 2012
Although we have come through one of the mildest winters on record, it seems to be one that will not relinquish its grasp easily. About a foot of snow over the weekend offers us some field moisture and much needed run-off, but it sure has made the equipment preparation interesting for farmers unless they’re sitting on a gravel pile.
Programs are lining up, but staffing is turning out to be an issue. Looking for 2 mower operators, a weed inspector and spray truck operator and I received exactly 1 weed inspector application – as well as 3 other ‘general’ applications from people. No one wants to work, or no one wants to work for Norm (that can’t be it, I’m SUCH a nice guy).
Council decided to implement a wolf incentive program at their meeting yesterday (despite my recommendations against), and in an attempt to keep costs down and spread the money around rather than have it all go to one livestock producer – I wrote up a program/policy requiring landowners to; register to participate, and name the people that can bring in wolves on their behalf. Not named, no compensation. We’re paying $250/adult wolf and to a max of 3 wolves per landowner. Can someone say ‘headache’? Thankfully at least Clear Hills, Greenview, Big Lakes and Saddle Hills had blazed the trail ahead of me and I was able to borrow many ideas from their Policies and Program guidelines. Thanks guys.
Planning for the A.S.B. Summer Tour is driving me nuts, but I know Audrey has it 100X worse as the ‘lead organizer’. Smoky River is just there to provide a day to the Tour but hiccup after hiccup happens as we try to get everything in place before the really busy season hits. I can’t wait until this summer is over, I really can’t.
Just this morning we had an inspection from the Explosives Regulatory people, and I discovered our MagGuard isn’t working. Boy that sure looks good when the NRC guy is standing there when you call in and find out the battery is dead in your system – “we’ll just send you a new one and you can replace it”. Apparently I need to pull off reports at least monthly to check the system and test it every so often – which I have not been doing. Well, now we have to do the log book and daily check-ins until the battery is replaced and the system is back up and operating.
I put in my chemical order yesterday. ClearView and Overdrive across the board. I have 5 barrels of T101 left and I sure hope my new agitators work well on my injection system. Certainly looking forward to NOT manhandling 40 T101 barrels
One other thing to share. I took the 4 days of AMHSA Health and Safety Training at the end of March at the Strathcona County Mall, man is that a gorgeous Complex! While writing the exam the Instructor held one up and asked Mike Bates, Assistant Fieldman at Beaver County if he could read the mark she wrote on his exam, 100%! Wow, impressive! So I completed my exam (looking it over much more carefully now that the heat was on) and after it was corrected the instructor held mine up and asked me the same thing. 100%! Mike hadn’t left yet so he let go with a proud ‘Way to go Fieldmen”! Yup, just another proud moment being a Fieldman! Thanks Mike!
Well, gotta go do reference checks and decide if I should bring any of the people I interviewed on for the summer.
Normand Boulet, Agricultural Fieldman and time permitting AAAF President
THE END (Well…. it wouldn’t be if I had 61 more forum articles)