LAC LA BICHE - Going into the first fall and winter season since Lac La Biche County officials severed ties with the Lakeland-based group tasked with helping local farmers find grants and programming, municipal officials say their own, in-house programming is bearing fruit.
Earlier this year, Lac La Biche County councillors directed their administration to halt the annual funding to the Lakeland Agricultural Research Association. Councillors said the $60,000 annual commitment to the Bonnyville-based agricultural services organization could be better used by the municipality's Agricultural Service Board.
Since then, says county councillor Sterling Johnson, the opportunity for locally-managed agricultural assistance programming has taken root. He said a wide assortment of programs, grant opportunities and specialized assistance for local farmers and producers is ready to be presented. A list of possible workshops, grant applications and localized programming has been presented to the public through newsletters and municipal advertising. Some of those new programming options include a native plants workshop, coverland and pasture aerial spraying programs and basic workshops on the grant application process
The county-based programs, available to any residents with land within the municipality, he said, have also been nourished by a provincial grant for $166,000.
"The Agriculture Service Board has received a grant for $166,247 so with the programs that we set out and we are providing ...so that's a real win for us this year," he said, offering no regrets for leaving the LARA program. "Our $60,000 that we saved is really paying off."
While some of the opportunities are still being developed, Johnson said grant funding applications will be a major focus and several topic areas will see the municipality partnering with Portage College to offer workshops and sessions to area farmers and producers. With all the new, in-house programs being offered, there's one new project he would really like to see take flight.
"The big one we are putting on is on drones," he said, explaining that grant application workshops will also help to elevate the local agriculture and business community. "We will have a grant specialist that is well aware of all the grants available and the cut-off dates."
A series of drone workshops have already been scheduled for later in October and next April. A grant application session has also been scheduled for early November.
He said the plan is that the grant application workshops will be structured so that participants can learn, research and apply for specific grants right in the workshop.
"They can have them ready for submission right in the course," he said.
Once the selection of all programming is finalized, Sterling said the courses will run from late October to next spring.
"We'd like to have one or two a month," he said, adding that the 'grown-local' programming will be well-received. "There's a lot of stuff going on with our ASB," he said, that will be "winners for our ag community."
Lac La Biche County councillor Darlene Beniuk, who also sits on the local ag services board, is looking forward to the enhanced services offered locally.
"I think we are making great strides and the farmers (and) producers are going to be able to take the courses or whatever they want, so I think they have a lot of options and I think they will be grateful for that,"she said.
Lac La Biche County had been in a partnership with the Bonnyville-based agricultural research association since 1999. In those 25 years, through various funding arrangements — including the current $60,000 a year commitment that has been in place since 2020 — the municipality has contributed just over a million dollars to LARA.
Lac La Biche County is said to have approximately 240 farmers or producers who could be assisted by the ag-specific programming.
Dates and information of already-approved ASB courses can be found on the Lac La Biche County's website.
