| | Mills Anderson
“I’ve always been interested in agriculture and the environment as a twosome,” says Mills Anderson. That dual interest shines through his careers as an engineer and a farmer, and his participation in agencies like the Alberta Canola Producers Commission and AESA Council.
After immigrating to Canada from Northern Ireland in 1969, Mills worked as a water engineer in western Canada. He says, “I had lots of opportunities to work with farmers [in the Peace region] and I thought it was such a beautiful part of the world. I decided I would get a job up there and be both a farmer and an engineer.” So 31 years ago, the Andersons moved to their farm about 40 miles north of Grande Prairie.
They grow grains and oilseeds, as well as grasses for seed.
“[In the beginning], I didn’t know anything about farming so I read as much as I could. I saw that people were railing against the loss of soil, and I learned about practices to prevent it,” he says. “So right from the very start, I decided to not summerfallow, to do as little fall work as possible, and so forth.”
Mills continues to follow a stewardship ethic. For instance, he has developed an Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) and is an EFP review committee member. He says, “Being an environmental engineer for many years, I thought that my plan would be pretty short. But I was surprised at how many facets I had not thought about around the farm!”Environmental sustainability is an important focus for the Alberta Canola Producers Commission (ACPC), notes Mills.
He is a director for this organization and represents it on AESA Council. ACPC’s mandate is “to increase the long-term profitability of Alberta canola growers through research, promotional activities, consumer and producer education programs, and policy development.”
One example of the commission’s environmental interest is its support for integrated crop management research, explains Mills, who is a member of ACPC’s research committee. This committee works closely with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researchers at Lacombe. They are finding that simple practices, such as seeding earlier and at higher rates, will produce a healthier, more competitive crop, thereby reducing the need for herbicides.
Some of ACPC’s market development efforts also have environmental benefits, like using canola oil in products like diesel fuel and plastics. Mills is excited about biodiesel’s potential. “We have a potential market for about 2 million tonnes of canola every year in Canada, and that’s only putting a very small amount of canola diesel in each litre of regular petroleum diesel. And the resulting diesel fuel is cleaner burning, your engine lasts longer, and canola is a renewable resource.”
Bob Anderson
Land use and stewardship are important issues for Bob Anderson and for the Agriculture and Food Council, the agency he represents on AESA Council.
Bob is the third generation to operate the family farm, located about half an hour’s drive northeast of Calgary. That location has given Bob a front row seat on the increasingly rapid growth of Calgary and surrounding communities. His involvement with the Agriculture and Food Council (AFC) was initially sparked by his interest in land use issues, especially the loss and fragmentation of farmland.
He says, “I had been involved in Ag Summit 2000 [a major public consultation process], on the Land Use Action Team and [as executive director of the follow-up] land use conference in 2002. The recommendations we made went to both the Province and the Ag and Food Council because they were partners in Ag Summit 2000. My objective in joining the Ag and Food Council was to continue working on those land use recommendations.” Bob has been a member of AFC since 2002 and is currently its secretary-treasurer. AFC’s mission is “to be a catalyst supporting the Alberta agriculture, food and life sciences industry in growth, competitiveness, profitability and sustainability, enabling industry members to engage one another, their stakeholders, markets, consumers, governments and the public.” It is composed of representatives from the industry’s many sectors.
AFC has created a series of ad hoc committees to address the recommendations and reports from the Land Use Action Team and another Ag Summit team that looked at ways to reward stewardship. Bob explains, “Both of those issues were ranked highly in the Ag Summit process and also in [AFC’s] review of all the recommendations from the Summit. Our current committee is the Environmental Policy Initiatives Project, and we’re dealing with policy options [for both areas].”
Bob’s interest in stewardship also has its roots in the family farm. He says, “We started continuous cropping around 30 years ago, and we started minimum tillage close to 25 years ago. That’s my father’s influence. He’s always been quite committed to good stewardship.”
These days the Andersons raise Alberta Lamb, and all of their land is in pasture or hay for their sheep. The perennial forage cover reduces the risk of soil erosion and helps maintain and build soil organic matter. The Andersons are currently developing an Environmental Farm Plan for their farm.
Bob has been involved in many committees and councils over the years. For example, he’s currently the secretary-manager for the Alberta Sheep Breeders’ Association and a member of the Central Region Committee for AESA’s Farm Based Program. He says, “I enjoy the networking, and I get some satisfaction from hopefully achieving some results along the way.” |
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