Horticulture Economic Indicator #31 is 33% of all Alberta's irrigated acres

As MNP's Leader for Horticulture and Irrigation, welcome to my series on important economic facts for the Canadian horticulture industry.

Recently irrigators voted to amalgamate the St Mary’s Irrigation District and the Taber Irrigation District!?Why is this important?

1. Together, these districts make up 500,000 irrigated acres of the 1,500,000 in Alberta – 33%;
2. Bigger is better when it comes to efficiency and large projects.?Both of these districts have been very aggressive in getting part of the recent $815M irrigation efficiency grants; and
3. The future is using water more efficiently but also getting access to capital for projects.?The amalgamated entity will be able to do both better.

If you look at the votes, the TID approved it with only 55%.?The other 45% probably feared increased costs and reduced level of service.?This might be the case, but the benefits discussed above should outweigh these.?It will be interesting if this transaction may trigger more cooperation between all the districts in the future; and maybe into Saskatchewan too?

Speaking of Saskatchewan, be sure to attend the upcoming Saskatchewan Irrigation Projects Association happening on December 6 to 8, 2021.?This conference will be important to learn about progress made on the announcement for developing 500,000 more irrigated acres in Saskatchewan.?That is over 3,000 more quarters of land!

On another note, here is an interesting video called “Running Dry”.?It talks about how development on the east side of the Rockies in Alberta and how it is impacting the ability for the landscape to hold moisture.?It is mainly speaking against increased coal mining in this area but it isn’t a stretch to see the opposition for use of water for irrigation.?The use of water for irrigation is facing increased scrutiny in many articles and media.?Unfortunately, the voices speaking against irrigation do not provide viable options for increasing demands on the food supply.?Hopefully, advocates of irrigation can provide a balanced perspective on this topic as Canadian farmers will play a key role in feeding the world’s population.

Thanks for reading my weekly update!

Don't forget to read my articles and watch for future updates on many topics related to accounting, tax, horticulture and irrigation. Follow me for information related to farming and irrigation on my social media platforms:?

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