Some of central Alberta's most innovative value-added agriculture players will share more than $10 million in federal funding.
Dan Vandal, minister for Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan), announced the funding, which is part of a $21 million investment in 14 Alberta projects at a news conference at Olds College's Smart Farms Operations Centre on Wednesday afternoon.
Vandal said the strategic investments build on Alberta's solid track record of commercializing innovative products, services and technologies.
"The projects we're announcing today will help ensure Alberta's value-added agricultural sector can capitalize on the opportunity to create new solutions that benefit both the economy and environment."
Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation Minister RJ Sigurdson said the value-added agriculture sector is essential to the province's economic growth and development and attracts investment and employs thousands.
"This PrairiesCan funding is helping Alberta create the right conditions to continue to grow this sector."
Olds College is in line for nearly $5.4 million for two initiatives, including just over $3 million to expand its Smart Farm operations into Saskatchewan. The money will also be used to buy new equipment for its research into the agricultural challenges facing the Prairies, such as food security, crop protection, livestock health and environmental sustainability.
Almost $2.4 million will be used to help with agriculture-focused start-up businesses in partnership with THRIVE Canada, which runs a program to help businesses get off the ground. Funding will also go towards upgrading facilities to provide a space for ag-related businesses to showcase their innovations.
Blackfalds-based BiziSul Inc. is getting nearly $2.6 million for its new manufacturing facility that converts waste sulphur from oil and gas production into high-grade fertilizer.
Ryan Brown, BizSul Inc. director of business development, said the first products from their plant went to market last October.
"We sell a fair amount to the U.S. markets, the Midwest and the southern, mid- and northern Plains areas and the Pacific Northwest in Western Canada," he said.
The plant employs about 20 people and can ship 100,000 tonnes of fertilizer, mostly by truck, to its customers per year.
Brown said the company's products are ideal for crops that need high levels of sulphur replacement, such as canola, corn, cotton, sugar beet, alfalfa and potatoes. BiziSul produces a more sustainable, slow-release fertilizer that remains in the soil for a longer period of time.
Another central Alberta success story is Pure Life Carbon, which has a plant in Gasoline Alley.
Brad Fournier, the company's director of business development, said the $2 million it received will allow them to expand production by replacing equipment to improve processing efficiency. That means the company can respond to an increasing global demand for its product, which is billed as the first re-usable, carbon-sequestering, soil-less growing medium for the controlled environment agriculture market, such as greenhouses.
The company's products are shipped to the huge greenhouse centre around Leamington, Ont. and as far as Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
"Our plant in Red Deer can manufacture 10 million litres of carbon substrate and we hope to get that to approximately 14 to 15 million litres a year because now the demand for the product is just beginning to skyrocket," said Fournier.
"We have more demand than we can actually produce," he said. "So it is really important for us to drive more efficiency, get more volume out of operation in Red Deer before we begin to expand to other jurisdictions."
Receiving $250,000 is the Stettler Adult Learning Council to establish a Regenerative Agricultural Lab to to help food producers adopt sustainable agriculture practices.
Among others receiving significant funding were PIP Lethbridge Inc., an agri-tech company producing pea protein, which got $5.2 million; G.S. Dunn Ltd., which got $2.4 million to expand its southern Alberta mustard milling facility; $1.1 million for Alberta Bio Processing Innovation Centre and Alberta Agrivalue Processing Business Incubator; and $1 million for NAIT.