The ingenuity of Albertans has always been one of the most valuable assets in the building of the province. The annual Starland County Summer Farm Tour took place recently and once again it featured more Alberta innovations and ingenuity that has become an economic trademark of Alberta. This year’s tour included solutions both diverse and straightforward, such as a solar livestock watering system that simplifies ensuring adequate water and lower input costs for producers.
United States General, George S. Patton was quoted as saying “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” Patton’s quote describes the very thing that has allowed the province of Alberta to thrive in an environment that can be a lot less than ideal or hospitable.
The ingenuity and innovation in Alberta’s agriculture industry has resulted in the province being one of the highest agricultural per capita yield jurisdictions in the world. The presentation of ideas through tours such as Starland’s solar initiatives has allowed farmers to stabilize their electricity costs.
With ingenuity that makes sense, they have allowed a much more natural transition into the renewable energy field, offering cost-effective alternatives. As we see power prices escalating with no end in sight, producers are searching for stability when it comes to their input costs.
Uncertainty has created unstable markets in energy-consuming businesses that can and has crippled businesses, by making them less competitive throughout the province of Ontario.
While the Albertan NDP government follows the path of Ontario’s government, producers are watching their input costs go up and their competitiveness go down. The implementation of technology is something that can only be successful if it has been adapted because it carries some form of benefit for its implementer.
The urgency that the NDP government is trying to implement wholesale changes to our energy needs, takes away any possible beneficial ingenuity, by telling Albertans “how to do things” rather than telling them what it is you want them to do. Ingenuity and innovation take time; they simply can not be rushed, even with carbon tax legislation.
Starland County is proposing a 12-acre solar farm that will allow them to sell power back to the grid benefiting the rate payers. The County has been experimenting with smaller-scale solar projects for the last twenty years and now has 10 county-owned solar facilities. Fifteen farmers in the County have installed solar systems.
The ingenuity and innovation in Starland County began long before anyone ever told them how to do things; it happened because they knew what it is they had to do to hedge the rising costs of power in their County. Nobody had to tell them how to do things.
If Alberta’s government wants the same type of ingenuity throughout the province, they need to allow the emerging technologies to take the market over naturally; something heavy-handed legislation will never accomplish.
Best regards,
Rick Strankman
MLA Drumheller Stettler