“There is very much a "can do" attitude in Southeast Alberta. There
is bureaucracy, but it's only required bureaucracy and it's perfectly
acceptable to work within.”
Dewar Donnithorne-Tait
President & CEO, Canadian Centre for Unmanned Vehicle Systems
Agriculture Tour Highlights Essentials for Sustainability
Published on August 27, 2010
August 27, 2010, Medicine Hat...Touring one of the largest agriculture and agri-food research centres in Canada, on August 12th, the Economic Development Alliance of Southeast Alberta hosted an industry tour to the Lethbridge Research Centre (LRC) and Corraini Essential Oils. Focused on research in areas of: environmental health, bioproducts and bioprocesses, food safety and nutrition and sustainable production systems, the LRC has had an impact on industry research since 1906.
"During the tour we were provided an overview of the centre's major research contributions, as well as their current projects," said Sarah Herman, agriculture project coordinator for the Economic Development Alliance of Southeast Alberta. "They lead us through the greenhouse phytotron complex, winter wheat plots and gave us a tour of the livestock operation, while explaining the various research projects conducted at each individual facility. In beef alone they have research programs that study areas such as: rumen biotechnology, physiology and reproduction, animal behavior and welfare."
Allowing the group an opportunity to learn about current research in agriculture, the tour also provided valuable resources that could be implemented into their operations. Following the LRC, participants were shown a working example of agriculture in southeast Alberta at Corraini Essential Oils. Corraini Essential Oils extracts spearmint and dill oil through steam distillation. Exporting to North American markets, Corraini's innovational process contributes to the creation of a variety of product lines; one barrel of spearmint oil (~160L) is enough for 400,000 tubes of toothpaste. Utilized in Scotch Mints and spearmint gum, Corraini along with other specialized crop growers in Southeast Alberta,account for approximately 30% of spearmint used in North America. Bruce Corraini, owner of Corraini Essential Oils explained the unique and complex procedure that takes the herbs from field to market.
"The distillation process was interesting, I believe overall those who attended gained an appreciation for research, development and new technologies," said Herman. "It provided them an opportunity to network with people that had a variety of agriculture related backgrounds. It takes a lot of time and money invested in research and development to create a system that works; I hope that they were able to gain an appreciation and take what they've seen and learned and consider integrating some aspects into their own operations."
The agriculture research tour is one of many events held by the EDA. To view images of the tour or for a current listing of seminars, expos and conferences in areas such as agriculture, please visit the events section or go to www.edalliance.ca.