This year, ALUS team members gathered in Leduc, County, Alberta, and Outaouais, Quebec.
This fall, ALUS organized two regional field conferences. These events allowed team members from across the country to gather, tour project sites, and strategize on expanding ALUS to more farmers and ranchers.
West Hub Field Conference
Nearly 80 people took part in this ALUS Wetaksiwin-Leduc-hosted gathering, reflecting the growing strength of the ALUS program in Alberta.
The group began the conference with a tour of project sites in Wetaskiwin and Leduc counties. The first tour stop was the beautiful and biodiverse farm of Felix Mueller and family. The Mueller’s farm was surrounded by golden autumn aspen, with a prominent wetland near their cattle pasture. Tour participants were treated to a showcase of Felix’s custom watering trough that allows for watering on both sides of the pasture without having to move the system around the large wetland area.
At the next field over, tour participants were introduced to the Borgstede Family Farm. In 2022, the Borgstede family collaborated with Cows & Fish to try a new approach, installing a pond leveler device in the primary dam. The pond leveler keeps the pond at a lower, more consistent level mitigating flooding impacts on the productive lands, while still allowing the beavers to carry out their important role in the local ecology.
The tour also had the opportunity to visit the farm of Dan and Harriet Liddle. Dan has been a advocate for ALUS and other environmental programs in his community and has established multiple projects on two parcels from 2019–2021, including a grassed waterway, a demonstration site and wetland fencing for livestock. Taking on incredible community leadership, Dan has led various local groups in gathering, collecting and re-seeding native forb. Dan has introduced over 15 native species at his demonstration site.
On Wednesday and Thursday morning, participants gathered for discussions and reflections. ALUS PAC Liaison Specialist Joe Csoff shared lessons from his many years with ALUS Norfolk and assisting other communities across the ALUS network. Joe delved into his experience as a community leader and offered examples for ALUS coordinators and PAC members on how to build long-term success for their ALUS community
To wrap up the conference, participants went to Rig Hand Distillery for a beautiful meal and a celebration of Dave Reid Award winner François Allard.
ALUS Wetaskiwin-Leduc Coordinator Kim Barkwell played a pivotal role in organizing this year’s West Hub Field Conference. Kim is a valuable member of the ALUS team and plays an important role in her community. Kim was supported in part by the West Hub Managers, who were instrumental in gathering materials, communicating with the larger team, and planning logistics.
The ALUS Wetaskiwin-Leduc PAC is full of innovative thinkers and community leaders and have made it a priority to promote the restoration, enhancement and conservation of wetlands, and the adoption of beneficial management practices as they pertain to water, soil, and energy management.
East Hub Field Conference
This field conference started its tour day on Tuesday as participants explored different project sites nestled within the wooded hills of the region.
The first stop was at Alluvia, the organic orchard of Danielle Newman and family. The Newmans’ operation contains a diversity of ecosystems, including grasslands, forests, streams, and wetlands. With the help of MAPAQ’s Prime-vert program, the Newmans worked with ALUS to install five windbreaks comprised of 400 trees and 700 shrubs.
Then tour participants visited Orange Farm and farmer Robert Boulet. An organic market gardener and hay producer since 2018, Robert independently installed windbreaks to limit pesticide drift. He began working with ALUS to increase biodiversity on his property and to carry out additional planting projects. Robert pays particular attention to soil fertilization and crop diversification.
The tour also stopped at Stepido Farm, a dairy farm with over 1,800 acres of field crops and hay fields and 540 acres of woodlands, wetlands, and riparian buffers. Rich in wildlife, Stepido Farm is situated between Gatineau Park and the Ottawa River. Owner and operator Justin Alary has practiced livestock exclusion from waterways since 2005, with former pastures converted to extended riparian buffer strips, an important ecological function to improve water quality in and around the Ottawa River watershed.
The tour concluded at Brylee Farm, the home of the Maloney family for five generations. Their dedicated stewardship has cultivated a stunning and biodiverse landscape. The Maloney family graciously hosted the ALUS group for an evening of celebration, during which ALUS Outaouais participants Victor Drury and Bryan Maloney received the 2024 Dave Reid Award.
As in the west, the following days were focused on strategic discussions around community leadership and PAC engagement, fundraising, networking, and Indigenous relations, as well as discussing challenges and improvements that can be made to the ALUS model for communities.
The ALUS Outaouais and ALUS Laurentides program coordinators Maria Jose Maezo and Stephanie Hedrei were instrumental in bringing all the amazing ALUS participants and community members together for this memorable team building and learning opportunity. It’s leaders like them that make ALUS such a success with farmers and ranchers and in delivering on- the ground, nature-based solutions.
ALUS Outaouais is located in the southwestern region of Quebec and launched in 2021 as a partnership between ALUS and Fédération de l’UPA de Outaouais-Laurentides (FUPAOL).
