The Association of Alberta Agricultural Fieldmen: Peace Region Directory

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Agricultural Fieldman and Assistant Agricultural Fieldman	Municipal District	e-mail address	Phone
Boulet, Normand	Municipal District of Smoky River #130	asb@mdsmokyriver.com	780-837-2222
Braithwaite, Gary	Municipal District of Big Lakes	agriculture@mdbiglakes.ca	780-523-5955
Byer, Jay	Municipal District of Greenview #16	jay.byer@mdgreenview.ab.ca	780-524-7601
	Birch Hills County		780-694-3793
Gall, Audrey	Northern Sunrise County	nscasb@wispernet.ca	780-322-3831
Gevenich, Torsten	M.D. Peace #135	agpeace@wispernet.ca	780-338-3845
Kaut, Amy	Saddle Hills County	akaut@saddlehills.ab.ca	780-864-2004
	Municipal District of Spirit River #133		780-864-3500
Lupwayi, Mary	County of Grande Prairie #1	mlupwayi@countygp.ab.ca	780-532-9722
Petluk, Michelle	Northern Sunrise County	mpetluk@northernsunrise.net	780-322-3831
Sawchuk, Fred	Municipal District of Fairview	fred@mdfairview.ab.ca	780-835-4903
Schamehorn, Terry	Municipal District of Northern Lights #22	schamehornt@mdnorth22.ab.ca	780-836-3348
Sekulic, Warren	Birch Hills County	WarrenS@birchhillscounty.com	780-694-3793
Smith, Grant	Mackenzie County	gsmith@md23.ab.ca	780-927-3717
Zylstra, Aaron	Clear Hills County	aaron@clearhillscounty.ab.ca	780-685-3925

Municipal District of Big Lakes

Agricultural Service Board
Box 239, High Prairie, Alberta, T0G 1E0
Phone: 780-523-5955
Fax: 780-523-4227

Gary Braithwaite, Agricultural Fieldman
E-mail: agriculture@mdbiglakes.ca

• B.Sc. in Agriculture, 1987, University of Alberta;
• Fieldman for: MD of Big Lakes 1995 to present; Special Area No. 4 1991 to 1993
• Regional Director for Peace Region AAAF 1997, 1998

Vacant, Agricultural Fieldman

Warren Sekulic, Assistant Agricultural Fieldman
E-mail: WarrenS@birchhillscounty.com



Rental equipment:
None

ASB meetings:
Second Wednesday of each month

Current A.S.B.:
Fiona Love - Chair/Councillor
Gerald Manzulenko - Vice Chair/Councillor
Warren Smith - Councillor
Shirley Emerson - Councillor
Denis Sather - Councillor
Dale Jansen - Councillor

Clear Hills County

Agricultural Service Board
Box 240, Worsley, Alberta, T0H 3W0
Phone: 780-685-3925
Fax: 780-685-3960

Aaron Zylstra, Agricultural Fieldman
E-mail: aaron@clearhillscounty.ab.ca



Successful programs:

• Tree Variety Plot -- self-viewing demonstration plot of 24 species with characteristics and shelterbelt uses outlined on information boards
• Field Shelterbelt / Plastic Mulch Weed Control -- demonstration outlining benefits of field shelterbelts and weed control using plastic mulch.
• Crop Diversification -- production, uses and marketing of various species of grasses, grains, dried flowers, herbs and essential oils.
• Special Weed Control -- assists landowners in the control of new advancing weed species in the Municipality i.e. Tansy, Toadflax, Scentless Chamomile, Ox Eye Daisy, Storksbill and Green Foxtail

• On-going control of noxious weeds not common to the municipality such as Scentless Chamomile, Ox-Eye Daisy, Common Tansy, and Green Foxtail.
• Effective Weed Enforcement policy and procedure that has worked well for the last 3 years and is well received by the ratepayers.
• Coordinated soil & water conservation program in cooperation with the Fairview Applied Research Association is working well for all the organizations involved.
• Ag in the Classroom Program is in its third year with the Fairview schools.
• Run a yearly Ag Fair at the Fairview College and is offered to the schools in the M.D. of Fairview, M.D. of Spirit River and the M.D. of Clear Hills.

• E.S.A. Programs such as Biological Control of Scentless Chamomile and Toad Flax, Chicken Manure Composting, Riparian Management and Watershed Enhancement Group.
• Effective Noxious and Restricted Weed Programs with Public Lands on Bed and Shore and the Wapiti and Smoky Rivers.
• Effective "No Spray Program" with organic producers.
• Currently initiating the West Country Watershed Enhancement Group.
• Facilitator for the Grande Prairie Regional Geographic Information System Project.
• Extensive Fusarium Head Blight education program.
• Works cooperatively with 4 seed cleaning plants in the County of Grande Prairie No. 1
• Beaver flood control program on municipal and private land fully supported by producers.

• 5 skid mount sprayers
• 2 three point sprayers
• l skid mount sprayer with 30 foot boom
• 1 scraper
• 1 tree planter
• Also available dog and cat traps

• End of August complete area drive by leading to fall weed letters on Thistle infestations (on pre-set levels i.e. 25% crop, 10% hay and pasture)
• Continued emphasis on control of Scentless Chamomile, Tansy, Toadflax, Ox Eye Daisy and Bull Thistle.
• Exemption available for those opposed to roadside spraying.
• Landowner or weed inspector initiated request (signed agreement) for roadside spray unit to overlap into crop (along roadsides), where strip of Canada Thistle and Perennial Sow Thistle is usually prevalent (i.e. over fencelines, rough berms) within the roadside spray units reach.
• Weed Inspectors responsible only for inspections, they refer roadside and environment ditch weed control to main (contracted) or patch spray crew for control.

• Welted Thistle
• Green Foxtail
• Bull Thistle

• Mapping Roadsides requiring weed control - to give control information to spray crews i.e. weed types, location, sensitive areas, etc.
• Urban Industrial sites spreading Scentless Chamomile into green zone - and the education of industry on weed spread.

• New - 12' Pull Type Grader, 10' Quad mount wick applicator (M.D. of Greenview design)
• Hagedorn Hydra-Spread Manure Spreader, Post Pounders, skid/trailed/backpack/ATV and boom buster sprayers, cattle squeezes, loading chutes, corral panels, soil movers, vee ditcher, soil samples, Heavy Harrow with Valmar
• Main site in Valleyview, satellite rental locations in Crooked Creek and Grovedale

• Hobby Carpentry/Canoeing/Moose Hunting
• Building with logs

• Administration of A.S.B. Program, including cooperation with other local governments, agencies, etc.
• Agricultural extension/training and education opportunities for ratepayers/staff
• Roadside weed/brush control and grass seeding of new/rebuilt roads and flood control ditches
• Two year rotation of complete vegetation control on roadsides.

• The roadside vegetation management program which includes, roadside spraying for weed control, roadside brushing and spraying for brush control and roadside mowing.
• The ASB also has a backsloping/brushing program, which is well received by the producers.
• The beaver control program is also working well.
• We are not conducting a blackleg of canola survey every year, only checks where blackleg is suspected.
• The control of noxious weed program is still ongoing with focus on weeds not common to the Municipality, for example tansy, scentless chamomile, ox-eye daisy and toadflax. Our program, over the last 5 years or so, has been extended into the green zone with cooperation from industry. We have also been working with the urban areas, and the program is working well.
• We still conduct lygus bug and bertha army worm inspections as asked by the producers.
• We will be conducting inspections for fusarium graminearum in the fields, at the seed cleaning plant and on farms as requested by the producer.

• Our traditional spraying program has been molded into an integrated program with our transportation crew. We do some grass control on the shoulders of the road for them and in return they mow the first 15 feet of all county roadside ditches. Coordination can be challenging at times but the results have been very positive when all works as intended. Getting suitable spray truck operators is an annual challenge. Approx. 2/3 of the county roads are blanketed for noxious weed control each year and 1/3 is spot sprayed.
• Landowners are getting much better at maintaining a acceptable level of weed control on farm land. Toadflax and Scentless Chamomile are our most challenging problems. Industrial areas such as railroad right-of-ways and pipeline right-of-ways in the green zone are our biggest challenge.
• We have developed a 7 year program to restore agricultural drainage ditches to fully functional status. This includes significant brush removal, silt removal, erosion scar repairs and an attempt to re-grass to reduce noxious weed growth which is becoming a problem. Landowner education is also a big issue as they are always trying to help us by hanging their sprayer booms over the channel and “using roundup to get rid of the weed problem”.
• The county continues to be Fusarium Graminearum zero-tolerant. Like Alberta’s Rat-Free program, we do not believe we will always be Fusarium Free but we will do our best to maintain that status. Currently the county will pay for testing of grain samples up to a maximum of 5 per producer per year and continue to work with the local seed cleaning plant to promote testing. To date all samples sent out have not had a detectable level of Fusarium Graminearum.
• The county works with the Village of Nampa and the Town of Peace River to try to encourage weed control within their boundaries.
• The Classroom Agriculture Program continues to be our “Hallmark” program where we try to convince urban children that the rural community is an important part of society. Annually we visit between 250-300 students in 12-17 classrooms in 8-11 schools. Each year 5-8 volunteers help deliver the program. Special recognition needs to be given to Delores Gardner who has put in seemingly endless hours every year since 1990.

• Weed Control of weeds not common to the municipality such as Scentless Chamomile, Ox-Eye Daisy, and Tansy.
• Soil Conservation programs in co-operation with the Central Peace Conservation Society which are quite successful.
• Working with the oil companies to help them develop a weed control program for our municipality. Educating them on weeds of concern, methods of control and prevention.

• On-going control of noxious weeds not common to the municipality such as Scentless Chamomile, Ox-Eye Daisy, Common Tansy, and Stork's Bill.
• Effective Weed Enforcement
• Successful roadside spraying for controlling brush and weeds along M.D. roads.
• Beaver and Coyote Control Programs
• Blackleg of Canola Pest Control Program
• Soil Conservation Essay and Poster Contest
• Public education programs through mailouts and participation in the Smoky River Agricultural Fair
• Roadside mowing program

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