Agriculture Winter Webinar Series

Did you miss out on this year’s Winter Webinar Series? Do you want to know more about topics such as: changes to the barley and wheat marketing system, Fusarium head blight, farm safety, manure nutrient management, spring grazing, growing winter peas and more? Have no fear! Webinars on these topics have been recorded and are still available for you to view.

This past winter Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development tried out a new mode of communication and a new opportunity to learn - The Agriculture Winter Webinar Series. These one-hour web-based seminars, hosted by our resident experts, ran every Wednesday afternoon from February 22 to April 11. Even though the live events are over you still have the chance to participate on your own time. Best of all it is free and you can do it all from the comfort of your home.

What is this Webinar Series?

Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development has information you need to know. You have heard us on the radio on ‘Call of the Land’, in the newspapers, and in community halls and meeting rooms across Alberta. Now we are trying a new mode of communication and an opportunity for you to learn – a webinar series.

• A webinar is a web-based seminar that you do not have to leave your house to participate in.
• There are a series of eight one-hour webinars - at a common time and place - Wednesdays at 1:30 PM.
• In real time, it is interactive - you can get answers directly from the ‘expert’, and learn from other audience members.
• You can also participate on your own time if you prefer to watch the recorded webinar after the fact.
• The speakers and topics are timely and relevant to your needs.
• It is free.

Who are the speakers, what are the topics, dates and times?

All sessions will run live at 1:30 PM on consecutive Wednesdays from February 22 to April 11, 2012.

Previous Webinars:

April 11, 1:30 PM – Stephanie Kosinski, Forage Specialist, ARD presents:
Follow this link to watch the Apr. 11 webinar: Spring Grazing Management -20120411 1931-1
April 11, 2012 12:31 pm San Francisco Time
56 minutes

• When to Start Grazing in the Spring
• The Importance of Rest
• Benefits to Your Bottom Line when Grazing in the Spring at the Right Time

• What are they?
• What work has been done to date on these crops?
• What are the benefits and market possibilities of these crops?
• Where to find out more information.

• The marketing impacts on Alberta grain.
• Resulting implications for Alberta farm business managers.

• Which countries are the major wheat growers?
• Which countries are the major wheat consuming nations?
• Which countries are the major wheat exporters?
• How are wheat prices determined?
• How does Canada fit into the world wheat production and marketing scene?

• Why phosphorus loss is a concern to the environment as well as to the operation.
• The challenges that make manure difficult to manage and contribute to phosphorus losses.
• The management options to address these challenges and the potential risk of phosphorus loss.

• Get empowered to initiate and support farm safety awareness, training and education in your community, on your farm and with your family.
• What are the biggest risks on farm?
• Learn what you can do to reduce the risks, with little effort, but big reward.

• What is it?
• Where in Alberta does it occur?
• Current surveillance efforts and
• Management of the disease.

• Plus a presentation on the grain handling and transportation system in Canada

1. Why do I have to register?
Registration is required to provide you with the contact information and authorization to join the specific webinar.
You will need to register separately for each webinar.

2. Is there a charge to join the webinar?
Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development is offering these webinars with no registration or attendance fee. However, if you join the webinar using your telephone (see below), long distance charges* will be added to your phone bill.

3. What if I do not have highspeed internet, can I still participate and download the webinars?
It is possible to dial into the audio-only broadcast of the webinar, no computer is required. A phone number, specific to the webinar will be provided at the time of registration. Note that long distance charges* will apply.

You may also join using a mobile device; however you would have to download the appropriate mobile app from http://www.webex.com/products/web-conferencing.html

System requirements are outlined below to view and hear the webinar free of charge, or to watch recorded webinars after the presentation date, on your computer.

System requirements on a PC:
Windows 2000, XP 32-bit (SP3), 2003, Vista 32-bit/64-bit, Windows 7 32-bit/64-bit, Solaris 10/11

• Internet Explorer 6/7/8/9 (Win7 only)
• Firefox 3.x, 4 (32-bit)
• Chrome 9, 10
• JavaScript and cookies enabled
• Requires Sun Java 5 or higher
• Recommend ActiveX be enabled for Internet Explorer
• Intel or AMD processor (1GHz or faster)
• At least 512 MB RAM (at least 2 GB RAM for Vista)
• Netbooks running Windows XP also supported
• Mozilla 1.7
• Firefox 3.x
• JavaScript and cookies enabled
• Requires Sun Java 5 or higher
• No support for Remote Access
• SPARC or Intel or AMD processor(Solaris 10)
• Intel or AMD processor (Solaris 11)
• At least 1 GB RAM

• Safari 4/5
• Firefox 3.x, 4
• Chrome 9, 10
• JavaScript and cookies enabled
• Requires Apple Java 5 or higher
• No support for Remote Access
• Intel processor
• At least 512 MB RAM
• Mozilla 1.7
• Firefox 2
• JavaScript and cookies enabled
• Requires Sun Java 5 or higher
• Meeting Center only
• PA-RISC processor
• At least 1 GB RAM

4. Is my personal information protected when I register?
The only person that can view your personal information is the organizer though a separate report. Participants and the presenter do not have access to that information. The personal information collected is needed to send you the connection information and authority to join the webinar, and to follow-up with an evaluation request after the webinar. Personal information will be destroyed after the evaluation response has been collected.

5. I have tried to get onto a webinar in this series in the past and haven’t been able to, what happened?
There could be a number of reasons why you could not connect in the past – technical requirements not met, wrong URL for the webinar, not registered for the webinar etc. If you are experiencing difficulties, you can contact the organizer before and during the webinar for support, or contact the Webex help line at 1-866-863-3910 - United States and Canada or +1-916-861-3157 International