The 2021 ALUS Innovation Awards

Nominations for the 2021 Dave Reid Awards are now open.

Marc Bercier

Marc Bercier, recipient of the 2020 Dave Reid Award.

ALUS is pleased to announce that the Dave Reid Awards are accepting nominations for the year 2021.

Do you know an outstanding ALUS participant or PAC member?

Nominate them for the Dave Reid Award, recognizing achievements in conservation, project management, environmental awareness, networking and farm stewardship.

Click Here to Download the Nomination Form

Please fill out the nomination forms and send them in by April 16, 2020. Complete nomination forms must be received by email or postmarked by this deadline in order to be considered.

The Dave Reid Award was created in 2016 to recognize participating ALUS producers who are excellent stewards of the land and who have done innovative work in producing ecosystem services on their land through ALUS. The prize highlights achievements in conservation, project management, environmental awareness, networking and farm stewardship.

The prize, worth $10,000, has previously been presented to Marc Bercier in 2020 (ALUS Ontario East), Tom and Margaret Towers (ALUS Red Deer County) in 2019, Joe Csoff (ALUS Norfolk) in 2018 and Gerry Taillieu (ALUS Parkland) in 2016. The award is supported by The Weston Family Foundation, an ALUS Champion of Conservation.

These and future recipients showcase a dedication to agricultural production as a way of life and exemplars of effective land stewardship. Truly, Dave Reid Award winnerse show us how the interest of agriculture and the environment intersect and support each other.

With heavy hearts, we marked the passing of the first recipient of the Dave Reid Award, Gerry Taillieu, in 2020. Gerry was an active ALUS participant and PAC member since the founding of ALUS Parkland in 2012. He implemented the program’s first-ever ALUS project and enrolled 226 acres of his land into the ALUS program.

Gerry Taillieu

Gerry Taillieu, 2016 Dave Reid Award winner.

Upon receiving the inaugural ALUS Canada Producer Innovation Award in 2016, Gerry told ALUS “There’s a saying, ‘we don’t own the land, but are just holding it in trust for the next generation.’ That’s a real social responsibility, and I take that quite seriously.”

Gerry and his fellow honorees Joe, Tom, Margaret and Marc, have established a legacy of stewardship that is honoured in their communities and is embodied in the cleaner water, cleaner air and biodiversity that flourishes in their stead.

Nomination Criteria

A New ALUS Community Launches in Northwestern Alberta

A New ALUS Community Launches in Northwestern Alberta

ALUS Saddle Hills will support farmers in improving farmland resilience through environmental projectsThe vibrant agricultural landscape in Saddle Hills County will benefit from ALUS projects that provide wildlife and pollinator habitat, drought and flood resilience,...

Farmer Engagement Drives Success of Regenerative Agriculture Pilot

Farmer Engagement Drives Success of Regenerative Agriculture Pilot

ALUS and General Mills expand community-led regenerative agriculture partnership after successful pilot.A Growing Roots participant shows the density of root structures at their project site. Dense root systems support soil health, water retention and can benefit...