“Let’s Gather,” an agriculture producer appreciation event, takes place at the Breton Community Centre tomorrow.
On Friday, Sept. 12, Brazeau County invites all local agriculture producers and farmers to gather in a celebration of their hard work and dedication.
The event is completely free and family friendly. No tickets or registration are required, but it is first come first served with a limit of 250 people.
It’s also an opportunity to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of ALUS Brazeau, an environmental stewardship program for farmers and ranchers.
Nancy Chambers, ALUS coordinator, explained, “We help farmers and ranchers to use their marginal or environmentally sensitive land a little bit differently and we help them to establish projects on their land.”
For example, this could be tree planting, protecting pollinator habitats, or bank stabilization. Chambers said one of the most common projects in the county is exclusion fencing: if a rancher has cattle travelling into a creek or river for water, it can get dirty for downstream users. In these situations, ALUS would help the rancher erect a fence to keep the cattle away from the water, and switch to a pump system for clean drinking water.
ALUS shares 50 per cent of the project’s establishment costs with the producer and enrolls the impacted acres out of production and into the program. The producer then gets an annual payment for managing and maintaining that land.
About 60 farmers and over 2,000 acres have been enrolled since the county joined the program in the spring of 2016, Chambers said.
The schedule for tomorrow evening is as follows:
- 5 p.m.: Doors open; cocktails and networking
- 6 p.m.: Welcome program
- 6:30 p.m.: Dinner provided by Sullivan Meat Co.
- 8 p.m.: Comedy, music and dancing
Door prizes will also be drawn.
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