Agroforestry is an intensive land management system that integrates the benefits from biological interactions created when trees or shrubs are intentionally grown with crops or livestock. Learn more about agroforestry in Canada in this article.
This video addresses: compost simplified, compost making for beginners, carbon and nitrogen, carbonaceous materials and nitrogenous materials, leaves, wood chips, compost temperatures, compost turning, and more.
Improvements reduce on-farm production costs and losses, maintain access to and effectiveness of veterinary products and improve consumer confidence in Canadian beef production.
Several articles about how a better understanding of how beef production practices can improve or impact the environment empowers producers to be optimal stewards of their land, demonstrate the environmental benefits of cattle production, and support science-based regulations.
Genetic and management improvements that allow feed to be used more efficiently reduces waste, improves the economic competitiveness of the entire beef industry, and contributes to environmental sustainability.
Improved grassland management, development of annual and perennial forage varieties, and improved yields and nutritional value contribute to the economic and environmental sustainability of Canada’s beef industry.
Improved reproductive performance and calf survival supports the profitability of the cow-calf sector. Advancements in animal health, feed utilization and forage and grassland productivity also contribute to reproductive and calving success.
These tools can help you make production decisions that suit a specific beef operation. For an optimum user experience, tools are best viewed on a tablet or personal computer.
A fact sheet that provides a quick overview of the current level of goat production and demand in Canada as well as information about requirements for raising goats.
A collaborative project between the Alberta Lamb Producers and Alberta Goat Breeders Association has produced these three comprehensive modules on the topics of reproduction, nutrition, and health of sheep and goats in Alberta.
Deciding to become a commercial meat goat farmer takes a lot of thought and planning. This fact sheet will help answer some of your questions and guide you in the right direction to learn more.
This video is a lesson about drought, a natural weather phenomenon, and famine, which is almost always the result of human activity. This video is going to teach you about food shortages in the context of the late-19th century famines that struck British India.
This 4:30 minute video demonstrates regional farming techniques in West Africa (Burkina Faso) and an individual working with his community to restore soils damaged by drought and reinvent agriculture in the region.
Almost every year, the western world is introduced to a new superfood that boasts extraordinary nutritional benefits. The documentary examines its unintended effects this has on food security, health, sustainable farming, and fair-trade food practices.
Cover crops can increase soil organic matter and fertility, reduce erosion, improve soil structure, promote water infiltration, and limit pest and disease outbreaks. Many famers receive incentive payments from USDA to plant cover crops, but a new national cover crop survey report released recently challenges assumptions on the role of incentive payments in cover crop adoption.
If you are gardening in a colder zone such as zone 3 - 6 you likely think cover cropping is not possible. Turns out cover cropping is possible when you choose the correct crops. This gardening in Canada video looks at how to cover crops in cold climates.
This manual helps growers meet pre- and post-harvest standards required by food hubs and grower co-operatives, local food service establishments and other direct market customers.
This Best Practices Guidebook: Food Hub Vendor Manual is for food hubs and other food-related businesses that are conducting aggregation and distribution. The manual has been developed by Alberta Agriculture and Forestry through a pilot with The Organic Food Box and their vendors.
The University of Guelph has produced this useful list of organizations that offer resources to assist producers with direct marketing of farm products.
This manual is a comprehensive resource created by the Alberta government to help you market your food safely. It is intended for use by all farm direct marketers.
The Saskatchewan Organic Directorate (SOD) has produced these materials to help learners explore the challenges and advantages of local food production. The resource also involves students in the preparation of tasty dishes based on local, organic products.
Consumer Corner is an online publication from the Alberta government that is periodically published to share consumer trends related to the agri-food industry. This information supports food industry staff in developing effective marketing strategies, reducing product development risk, and proactively responding to consumers’ needs.
Soil brings together all four spheres of physical geography, and understanding soil composition is important. Today we'll talk about how the composition of soil varies dramatically with the environment.
In this week's video we are talking about how going no-till changed my farm and perhaps a little of what to expect and also what gets a little overblown.
Soil temperature plays a central role in controlling important ecosystem processes. This is the first study that investigated whether plant diversity in particular acts as a buffer against fluctuations in soil temperature.
The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) is a professional scientific society, made up of soil scientists, educators, and consultants focused on promoting soil science, including enhancing soils topics in schools.
SoilWeb200 provides students with online, interactive, graphical, video and text-based information to assist them in understanding fundamental soil science concepts.
One of the biggest contributors to soil degradation is the common practice of soil tilling. Fortunately, a growing number of farmers realize the importance of preserving and improving their soil by adopting no-till practices.
This guide’s objectives are to: help you to learn more about the benefits that biological diversity provides to your farm or ranch;
and help you identify what you’re already doing and what else you can do to conserve biodiversity.
We understand agriculture and we know Alberta farmers. We live and work side-by-side with them every day. Our conservation programs have evolved over time to suit you better and our conservation program staff can show you how.
For many Indigenous communities, three seeds - corn, beans, and squash represent the most important crops. When planted together, the Three Sisters, work together to help one another thrive and survive.
On the first page of the interactive, select different countries or regions to see how consumption patterns have changed in the last 50 years. Click on the "Meat Consumption" tab at the top to interact with the charts to see how each country or region's meat-eating patterns have evolved.
This two-part interactive game introduces the concepts of interdependence and globalization through the geography of food. Educators will find the game and teaching guide for Grades 6-10.
NRDC interviewed more than 100 farmers and ranchers who are building healthy soil and growing climate-resilient communities across the country. This guide incorporates much of what we learned.
In 2010, 30 billion dollars worth of fruits and vegetables were wasted by American retailers and shoppers, in part because of cosmetic problems and perceived spoilage. But what are these spots, anyway, and are they okay to eat?
Biofuels can provide energy without the reliance on environmentally harmful fossils fuels but scientists are still searching for a plentiful source. This video demonstrates how cellulose, the naturally abundant tough walls of plant cells, might be the solution.
Dive into the world of aquaculture and see how restorative ocean farming could play a vital role in helping our coastal communities, our oceans and our climate.
What would the planet look like if everyone became a vegetarian right now? The creators of this video take a look at the numbers, factoring in land and water use, carbon emissions and animal by-products.
Learn about a Canadian government project to learn more about why the Three Sister works so well together in agriculture and ways their growth could be more optimized.
To feed our rapidly growing and changing world, we need innovative solutions. In this video, you'll learn about some environmental issues related to the food we grow and eat.
However, water conservation in agriculture has become increasingly important for the health of the environment and the sustainability of agriculture. By using water more efficiently, better-yield crops can grow while using less water, contributing to preserving one of nature's most valuable resources.
This page has compiled resources from all over the website that are particularly suited to teaching. The resource materials are introduced with a few sentences below, and then then link to the materials.
Virtual water is the amount of water that is embedded in food or other products needed for its production. This overview provides you with information about virtual water in Alberta. At the bottom of the page is a link to a study that was done about our virtual water.
Find local watersheds, learn about watersheds in the 101 section and read about the different open and closed watersheds in Canada. The Themes section looks at climate change, quantity, quality, biological diversity and economic possibilities. There is also a section filled with learning resources.
This video, created by Inside Education, is a review of "groundwater in Alberta. Topics include quality, distribution, uses in the province, and how it links to the hydrologic cycle." (site)
This collection of readings the Environmental Law Centre, links to the Social Studies 10, 20, and 30 curriculum in Alberta. It is designed to be used after the Fundamentals of Environmental Law
This education kit explores the science of water use in Alberta and now contains new information about climate change, energy development and stewardship. The resource includes a poster to project in your classroom, worksheets and a teacher’s guide full of activities.
A team of Cree, Blackfoot and Nakota Elders, as well as both Indigenous and Western scientists, collaborated to create lesson plans about the spiritual significance of relationships to water. Guided by Indigenous worldviews, these lessons are also important environmentally.
