Harvest rainwater from your roof to boost your farm’s resilience and embrace sustainable agriculture practices. Install gutters and downspouts to channel water into storage tanks. Regularly clean and maintain your roof, gutters, and tanks to ensure water quality. Use the collected rainwater for irrigation, livestock, and cleaning equipment to conserve groundwater and reduce costs.
Assessing Your Roof’s Rainwater Potential
Calculating Potential Rainwater Yield
To calculate…
Turn Your Roof into a Water Wellspring: Harvest Rainwater Like a Pro
Regenerative Agriculture: 5 Pitfalls to Avoid for Alberta Farmers
Discover the hidden costs and unexpected challenges of regenerative agriculture. While praised for its environmental benefits, this approach can come with significant drawbacks for farmers:
• Transitioning to regenerative practices often requires substantial upfront investments in equipment, infrastructure, and education – a financial burden that can strain already tight margins.
• Regenerative methods like cover cropping and reducing tillage can actually decrease yields in the short term, jeopardizing a farm’s profitability before the long-term benefits are realized.
• Managing the complex, …
Safeguarding Our Water at the Source: How the Source Water Collaborative Protects Our Most Precious Resource
What is Source Water and Why Protect It?
Surface Water Sources
Surface water sources like rivers, lakes, and reservoirs are vital components of the hydrologic cycle and provide essential water for communities across Canada. These bodies of water are replenished by precipitation, surface runoff, and groundwater discharge. However, they are also vulnerable to pollution from various sources, including agricultural runoff, urban development, and industrial activities. The Source Water Collaborative works to protect these precious resources by promoting sustainable land use practices, such as …
Is Your Organic Farm Polluting the Water? 5 Ways to Prevent It
Organic farming’s reliance on natural fertilizers and soil amendments has led to an alarming rise in water pollution across rural Alberta. Manure runoff, improper composting, and overuse of “organic” pesticides are contaminating groundwater, rivers, and lakes with nitrates, phosphates, and toxic chemicals. This silent crisis threatens aquatic ecosystems, wildlife, and human health in farming communities province-wide.
As stewards of the land, organic farmers must confront this issue head-on to protect our precious water resources. By implementing scientifically-proven best practices and partnering with local …