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Sustainable Agriculture Programs

Smoky Lake County's Agricultural Service Board strives to educate producers on the latest developments in sustainable agriculture and, provide opportunities for producers to make informative decisions to not only farm for today but for the future as well.

Since 2015 Smoky Lake County has partnered with the Lakeland Agricultural Research Association (LARA) to help provide County producers with unbiased, producer-led applied research and extension.

Environmental Farm Plans

The Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) is an opportunity to assess areas of strength and potential environmental risks on a farming operation. It provides a farm with increased awareness of areas of potential environmental concern and helps outline site-specific, individualized plans to address, monitor or compensate these risks. It is voluntary and free, and it considers the farming operation as a whole. The EFP program offers all of this in an easy to use, flexible, online format.

Effective April 1, 2018, producers will need to have an EFP completion letter dated within the last 10 years, of the date of application, to be considered current and eligible for cost-share funding with the Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change programs of the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership (CAP).

If you would like assistance with:

Completing a previous EFP that has been started, OR
Starting a new online WebBook

Please contact the County Office at 780-656-3730.

Additional information on the Environmental Farm Plan Program can be found at: http://www.albertaefp.com/

On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF)

OFCAF provides financial support to producers to accelerate their adoption and implementation of on-farm Beneficial Management Practices (BMPs) to lower Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, support production efficiency, sustainability and resiliency on their farm operations.

To assist producers with their adoption of new BMPs, the program will offer producers resources to support BMP implementation and provide BMP design recommendations.

Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR) is a delivery partner, selected by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, to distribute funds associated with this program.

For more information: https://rdar.ca/funding-opportunities/ofcaf

Resilient Agricultural Landscape Program (RALP)

The Resilient Agricultural Landscape Program’s (RALP) objective is to accelerate the adoption of Beneficial Management Practices (BMPs) that maximize provision of Ecological Goods & Services (EG&S), particularly increased carbon sequestration and enhanced climate resilience.

Elgible projects that producers can apply for include pasture management, cropland conversion, tree establishment, and wetland protection.

For more information on the program’s eligibility and criteria: Visit the RALP webpage