The 2012 AFWA Tour/AGM was held June 7-8, in the Drayton Valley area.  An excellent opportunity to get to know fellow farm writers and communicators, tour participants toured some very impressive and innovative agri-businesses.

This year’s tour included stops at:

Cynthia Solar Aquatics Water Reclamation System:  Many western Canadian cities, towns and hamlets are looking at investing into treatment of their sewage in new ways that are more environmentally sensitive. Brazeau County, which oversees a town, a village, and a number of hamlets, replaced their aging lagoon in Cynthia with a state-of-the-art Solar Aquatics system, complete with high efficiency building, heat recovery and solar hot water.

Pembina Provincial Grazing Reserve:  Established in 1981, the 19,536 acre Pembina Provincial Grazing Reserve was designed to provide improved habitat for upland and big game, as well as grazing livestock. Today, the Reserve can accommodate approximately 2,000 head of cattle; and is home to wildlife, recreational activity, and oil and gas exploration.

100km Kitchen Company:  The 100km Kitchen Company uses the best ingredients bought local, within 100km of its base in Drayton Valley. They are committed to supporting local growers and vow to use locally grown ingredients whenever possible.

Breton Plots:  Accounting for 15 per cent of Alberta’s cultivated lands, grey-wooded soil, or luvisolic soil, has a thin layer of topsoil, is low in organic matter and difficult to farm. It was on the Breton Plots, established in 1930 near the town of Breton, where farmers learned how to successfully farm grey-wooded soils.

Em-Te Town:  Em-Te Town is an authentic western frontier town near Alder Flats, with campground, cabins, motel, saloon, restaurant and banquet facilities. See the buildings, tools, and implements of a bygone era when the west was first settled.