The County of Stettler’s Agriculture Service Board (ASB) has decided to award the annual 4-H bursary to Morgan Chodzicki, a member of the Tees 4-H Wranglers, and declared Mackenzie Hankins, Shayla Schilling and Shayla Derr as runners up.
“The reason behind the award was to give a small financial boost to an active 4-H member who is from a club within the Stettler District,” said ASB director Quinton Beaumont. “The Agriculture Service Board believes in giving what you can to a community and our (application) questions reflect that.”
Beaumont said that the award was decided based on a few factors, primary of those being someone who wants to give back to the community and better agriculture wherever they end up residing.
The bursary of $500 was started in 2013, and recognizes high school students who are planning to enroll in post-secondary education and who have made a contribution to their community, social club or association.
Weed notices results in action from Department of Transportation
Soon after the ASB issued weed notices to the Minister of Transportation, ASB director Quinton Beaumont was invited to attend a meeting on Friday morning, July 29 with Alberta Transportation and Carillion.
“We discussed a plan and control of the noxious weeds mentioned in the weed notices that we issued to the Department of Transportation will start on Wednesday, Aug. 3 and control should be done in about four days,” said Beaumont. “If they cannot finish or something happens to delay this action plan, the County of Stettler will step in to finish the control work.”
Grasshopper forecast low this year
According to Barry Yaremcio, beef/forage specialist at the Alberta Ag-Info Centre, the forecast for grasshoppers is low this year. He delivered the news at the regular ASB meeting on Wednesday, July 27.
The County of Stettler’s ASB will start conducting grasshopper surveys for our county between Aug. 4 and 8, and will take about a week to complete.
County staff conduct the week-long survey on two different roadside ditches and two fields per township within the county borders.
There will be roughly 270 surveys done in that time, with one survey consisting of searching a quarter-metre area and counting the number of grasshoppers in it, identifying what species, and also identifying age.
Yaremcio also commented that alfalfa weevil numbers were on the rise in the area, which raised the question whether ratepayers should spray insecticide for the pest or not.
It is quite costly to spray, so the other option is to cut alfalfa crops early and fast. However, the weevil may move into a nearby pea or canola crop and create the same damage.
Yaremcio also noted a slight increase in the Lygus bug and though numbers are not high enough to warrant any control at this time, said it is a good idea to keep a watch for the bug.