Table of contents
- 2023 Harvest Sample Program
- Apply for a cash advance under the Advance Payments Program
- Apply now for an Agricultural Society Innovation Award
- Artificial intelligence, the food sector and the consumer
- Cattle on feed reports show tighter supplies
- Cow inventories – Are we still liquidating
- Feed barley prices are moderating
- Feeder cattle prices are strong
- Forage sources
- Improving on-farm irrigation systems
- Lamb market trends
- Perseverance in the pork sector
- Pet ownership and pet food trends
- Rebuilding Alberta’s cattle herd
- Shop rates is a farm input
- The value of straw
- U.S. hog contraction still ahead
- What to do when crop prices are volatile
- CropChoices updated for 2022
- Agri-News – Newsletter archive
- Elm pruning ban starts April 1
- Nominations open for Agriculture Hall of Fame 2022
- 2022 Crop considerations
- AgriProfit$ cow/calf benchmark report
- Register for Open Farm Days 2022
- Cropping Alternatives 2022 now available
- Preventing wildfires is always in season
- Canadian crop movement
- Certified seed costs
- 2021 Agricultural Society Innovation Award recipients
- Ocean shipping rates – what do they mean for Canadian exporters
- Participate in Halal Expo Canada
- Caution when winter burning
- Understanding canola basis
- Nitrogen prices and exports
- Take part in the SIAL Canada trade mission
- Consider the right time for manure or compost application
- High crop prices vs low 2021 crop yields
- The gift of an Alberta Christmas tree
- Great gifts for commercial producers
- Stocking stuffers for livestock producers
- Invitation to dairy farmers
- Apply for an Agricultural Society Innovation Award
- Growing gifts for gardening enthusiasts
- Canadian crop usage
- Cattle prices and above-average sales
- Alberta Open Farm Days a big success
- Better safe than sorry with winter burning
- Natural gas prices
- Consider the right source of manure or compost for field application
- Stored canola is well worth protecting
- Dealing with food loss and waste
- Live cattle imports and cattle slaughter both higher
- COVID-19 and demand for e-commerce
- Sugar beets are important to Alberta’s economy
- The canola market – sell, replace or hold
- Canadian Agricultural Partnership Farm Technology program
- Canadian Agricultural Partnership Water program
- Diagnosing pesky forest pests
- Field selection for fall manure or compost application
- Alberta lamb prices continue to be strong
- Harvest Sample Program
- 2021 Alberta nitrogen prices
- Prevent lead poisoning on pastures
- Be in the know this wildfire season
- A canola pricing option to consider
- Sign up now for the 2022 Dairy Cost Study
- Richardson’s Ground Squirrel control
- FireSmart your spring cleaning – Around your home
- COVID-19 and meat price trends
- Alberta rat control - taking care of business
- Forward pricing wheat
- FireSmart your spring cleaning – Around your property
- Crop Reporting Program
- Alberta approved farmers' markets now open
- Albertans can do their part to prevent wildfires
- Minimal canola carryover
- Hard work pays off for Sherwood Park-based company
- May gardening possibilities based on frost probabilities
- Cattle on feed inventories
- Using the Alberta Climate Information Service Fusarium Risk Tool
- The Canadian dollar and commodity prices
- Okotoks-based company wins gold at SIAL’s Innovation competition
- Dangers of blue-green algae
- Help protect Alberta’s beautiful elm trees
- Weather and weather data at your fingertips
- Fed cattle prices holding strong
- Fireworks and exploding targets can cause wildfires
- Put option basics
- Risk to bighorn sheep and mountain goat populations
- Lamb and sheep market update
- Interactive export catalogue launched
- Global appetite for pork
- COVID-19 and foodservice trends
- Video Ante-Mortem Inspection program
- Crop prices have fallen - back to marketing basics
- 2022 Alberta canola seed costs
- Register for Getting Into Food Service
- Sheep industry fares well despite challenges
- Canadian canola crop prospects
- Register for Vendor 101 training
- Learn about the legalities of the food co-packing industry
- Bunnies and biosecurity – What you can do
- Canola crop options – Sell, replace or store
- Optimism for fall calf prices
- Smaller cow herd seems likely
- Determine the right rate for manure or compost application
- Agricultural Society Innovation Award accepting applications
- Get an assessment of your grain’s quality
- AgriProfits supports the Canadian Cow-Calf Cost of Production Network
- Alberta and U.S. cattle price spreads
- Advance Payments Program
- Change in AOPA Livestock Type Calculator
- Consider short-term in-field manure storage
- Uncertainties in the lamb market
- Keep safe burning practices top of mind
- The Pacific Northwest – A priority export market for Alberta companies
- Learn about exporting to the U.S. Midwest
- Growing opportunities for health products in the Mexican market
- Canadian crop deliveries and exports
- AgriProfits – Dairy Cost Study program
- Accessing free market intelligence
- Alberta hay prices
- Improve returns from culled cows
- Understanding the basis for crops
- 2022 Cattle market review
- Getting more Alberta products on the shelf
- Communication - A key to any successful business
- Register for the Farm to Market to Table Conference
- Check those bins
- Winter manure management considerations
- Recognizing innovative agricultural societies
- Cattle by the numbers
- Canola price seasonality
- Jack Lewis inducted into the Agriculture Hall of Fame
- Tracking environmentally sustainable agriculture in Alberta
- Bruce Beattie inducted into Agriculture Hall of Fame
- COVID-19 and healthy food trends
- Simone Demers-Collins inducted into Agriculture Hall of Fame
- 2022 Alberta lamb and sheep market update
- Assess manure storage and wintering site locations
- Register for Open Farm Days 2023
- Cropping Alternatives 2023 now available
- La Nina boosts Australian crop production
- Hog market update
- COVID-19 and vitamins and supplements
- Guidelines add clarity when investigating sites for manure facilities
- Strong Canadian crop movement to date
- Keep your Premises Identification account up to date
- CropChoice$ updated for 2023
- U.S. Choice-Select boxed beef price spread
- Trends that will shape the grocery industry in 2023
- How to use CropChoice$
- Retail and foodservice sales slowly returning to pre-pandemic normal
- Why bighorn sheep and domestic sheep or goats should not mix
- 2023 Crop Reporting program
- Canadian canola market
- 2023 Alberta approved farmers' markets now open
- Dangers of blue-green algae when temperatures rise
- Can Canada see beef herd expansion in 2023?
- Canola usage remains strong
- Lamb and sheep market remains resilient
- Benefits of installing shallow buried pasture water pipelines
- Oat price outlook improves
See event listings and more articles in this edition of Agri-News: February 13, 2023 issue
“Our dad would have been extremely proud and honoured to be included in the 2022 Alberta Agriculture Hall of Fame, and receiving this prestigious award,” says Sandy Lewis, daughter of the late Jack Lewis. “However, he would have been very surprised as well. I can imagine his words would be ‘really, me? I don’t know about that’ or words to that effect. A grateful hearty laugh would then follow I am sure. Family. Farming. Friends. Three words we feel dad was all about. Farming was always such a huge passion of dad’s his entire life. It’s really hard to put in words his love for agriculture.”
Lewis, who was inducted posthumously, was an innovative agricultural producer, a leader in the community, and a generous supporter of agricultural education. Lewis expanded the farm his parents established to over 4,000 acres of grains, oilseeds and seed potatoes; and 1000 head of Simmental and Angus cattle at the time of his death in 2020.
The family-owned Lewis Farms was a pioneer in new farming techniques for seed potato production, including importing specialized equipment from Europe to improve production and quality. He was also a founding member of Edmonton Potato Growers, which was established in 1960.
Along with other visionaries, Lewis understood that a co-operative model of marketing potatoes and other vegetables would increase efficiencies and profitability for members. Edmonton Potato Growers is now one of the most respected and efficient potato marketing groups in North America, with export markets including Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Russia, Thailand, India, and China.
An influential advocate for the Alberta seed potato industry, for decades Lewis was an active and proud member of the Alberta Potato Commission (now Potato Growers of Alberta), and sat as a director for 4 years, and chairman for 2 of those, in the early 1980s. He worked hard to unite seed, table and process potato growers across the province.
Lewis also helped establish Lewis Farms as a Canadian leader in the breeding and production of Simmental cattle. With his children, and now grandchildren, they grew the Simmental herd to a successful purebred operation, selling an average of 300 purebred bulls per year at their annual on-farm production sale. In 2011, Lewis Farms was inducted into the Canadian Simmental Association Hall of Fame for their contributions to the industry.
Lewis saw the importance of supporting, in a tangible way, the advancement of agricultural education. He established scholarships for agriculture students at Lakeland Colleges and the University of Alberta, mentored a number of international students through the International Agricultural Exchange Association, and with the help of his wife, helped furnish Alumni House at the Lakeland Vermilion campus.
He also volunteered on the Lakeland College leadership team for its capital fundraising campaign, which raised more than $13 million, exceeding the $10 million goal. Lakeland’s data lab in the Agriculture Technology Centre is named the Lewis Farms Data Lab in honour of Lewis and his family. He was also the first person ever inducted into the college’s Alumni Wall of Distinction, and also received the Alumni Honour Award from the University of Alberta.
Lewis was generous with his time and had a fundamental belief of always giving back to his community, whether he was hauling 4-H steers to the local achievement day, or volunteering at the many Rotary events. He was also supportive of his Indigenous neighbours on the Enoch Cree Nation in their endeavours to diversify economic opportunities, and spent many hours mentoring members of the Nation as they learned large-scale potato production.
Jack Lewis joins Bruce Beattie and Simone Demers-Collins as the 2022 inductees into the Alberta Agriculture Hall of Fame.
For more information, see:
Alberta Agriculture Hall of Fame
Contact
Connect with Susan Lacombe for more information:
Phone: 780-968-6557
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