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Launched in June 2020, the County of Two Hills’ ALUS program is focused on the restoration of wetlands currently being farmed for commodity production, such as grain or cattle, and converting that back into duck and wildlife habitat. 

The County of Two Hills No. 21 is located northeast of Edmonton Alberta and is bordered by the County of St. Paul to the north, County of Lamont to the west, County of Minburn to the south and County of Vermilion River to the east.

Agriculture is one of the major economic activities in County of Two Hills, though the east end of the County has a developing gas and oil industry.

The county is bordered to the North by the North Saskatchewan River and has the Vermilion River running through the middle of it. There are many small creeks and tributaries running throughout the County. Three Recreational Parks are located in the county: Jackfish Lake, Sandy Lake and Lac Sante.

In every ALUS community, ALUS staff works closely with landowners to develop and support projects that are best suited to local needs and priorities. The ALUS Two Hills program aims to help address important environmental issues with riparian health and the loss of wetlands and native grasslands in order to drive better outcomes for farmers and ranchers.

The ALUS Two Hills Program Coordinator will work with farmers and ranchers to help establish these projects, while participants receive annual, per-acre payments for the management and maintenance of these projects on their land.

Through their ALUS projects, ALUS Two Hills participants help to produce cleaner water, cleaner air and more biodiversity - including pollinator habitat - for the benefit of everyone in the community.

For more information on project types and examples, please see the link below. 

Your ALUS Coordinator

The ALUS Program Coordinator for the Two Hills region is: 

Carmen Zayac
ALUS Program Coordinator
1-877-657-3358
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Additional Resources:

• ALUS Two Hills - Pamphlet
• ALUS Project Types, Examples
• The ALUS Advantage 
• ALUS.ca - Resources 
• ALUS.ca - FAQ

The County of Two Hills No. 21 Clubroot Policy is intended to assist in the control and spread of clubroot of crucifers in the municipality. Random inspections will be conducted by the Agricultural Fieldman, Assistant Agricultural Fieldman or by an Inspector appointed by the County of Two Hills. Positive identification of clubroot will be obtained by a laboratory test.

Landowners will be notified in writing if their land tests positive and a Pest Notice will be issued.

To learn where Clubroot has been found in the County of Two Hills previously, please download the maps below:

• 2022 Clubroot Testing Map
• 2020 Clubroot Testing Map
• 2019 Clubroot Testing Map
• 2018 Clubroot Testing Map
• 2017 Clubroot Testing Map
• 2016 Clubroot Testing Map
• 2015 Clubroot Testing Map
• 2014 Clubroot Testing Map
• Clubroot Positives Map (2014-2017)

Individual fields that have tested positive for clubroot in the county are listed in the document below. No positive fields were found for the years 2021, 2023, and 2024. 

• Individual Clubroot-Positive Fields List (2014-2022)
  
  

WHAT IS CLUBROOT?

Clubroot is a serious soil-borne disease of cruciferous crops such as:

• Canola and mustard crops
• Vegetable crops such as broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, radish, kohlrabi, turnip and kale
• Weeds such as wild mustard, stink weed and shepherd's purse

Clubroot is caused by the pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae which infects the roots of susceptible crops. In canola, it causes swellings or galls to form on the roots. Infection at the seedling stage can result in wilting, stunting and yellowing symptoms by the late rosette to early podding stage, while premature ripening or death can be observed in plants nearing maturity. Plants infected at later growth stages may not show wilting, stunting or yellowing, but may still ripen prematurely, and seeds may shrivel, thus reducing yield and quality. At the end of the season, the galls break down into the soil releasing millions of new spores and the cycle continues.

Currently, there are no economical control measures that can remove this pathogen from a field once it has become infested.  Preventing the spread of clubroot spores through contaminated soil movement is critical to managing this disease.

Clubroot spores move readily with any soil movement. The primary mode of transportation is field-to-field by contaminated equipment. It can also move through wind, water, soil erosion and animals.

Clubroot spores can live in the soil for up to 20 years. The half-life of these spores is about four years - after four years, if there is no host available, half of the spores will no longer be viable. Tight canola rotations (1 in 2 year) allow for quick development of the disease once it has been introduced in the soil. Long rotations (1 in 4) are recommended to prevent disease development and to protect the breakdown of resistant traits in clubroot resistant canola varieties.

BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

The following management practices are recommended in the Alberta Clubroot Management Plan:

• Use clubroot-resistant varieties in areas known to have clubroot.
• Use long crop rotations (three or more years) between canola crops to reduce disease severity and reduce other crop diseases. Fields with confirmed clubroot should use resistant varieties and follow crop rotation practices of one canola crop every four years. Note: Crop rotation will not eradicate the clubroot pathogen from the soil.
• Control volunteer canola and cruciferous weeds to prevent spore production on host plants.
• Practice good sanitation (cleaning and disinfection) of machinery and equipment, to restrict the movement of potentially contaminated soil.
• Seed and establish an area with grass near the field exit. A grass area will retain soil removed from equipment during cleaning.
• Implement soil conservation practices including minimizing tillage and using direct seeding as spores can move with wind and soil erosion.
• Minimize traffic in fields, especially during wet conditions. Discourage recreational vehicles from entering land.
• Fields with light infestations in the entrance can create a new vehicle approach at another edge of the field.
• Scout fields regularly and identify causes of wilting, stunting, yellowing and premature ripening.
• Avoid using straw, hay, manure and silage from areas known or suspected of clubroot. Clubroot spores may survive through the digestive tracts of livestock.
• Avoid common untreated seed (including canola, cereals and pulses). Earth tag on seed from infested fields could introduce spores to clean fields.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Alberta Agricultural Pests Act

Alberta Clubroot Management Plan

Canola Council of Canada-Clubroot

Clubroot Disease Factsheet

Agronomy 101: Back to the Basics (April 10)

All About Trees (April 12)

Drone Spraying Clinic (April 22-23)

The Agricultural Service Board will sponsor a number of local producers by providing paid registrations and accommodations to attend conferences that provide the latest information and developments in the Agriculture/Environmental Industry, which producers can apply to their own operation. Only one member of the farm operation will be eligible to attend one of the following conferences:

LIST OF 2025/26 CONFERENCES COMING SOON

For further information, contact the ASB Department at 780-657-3358.  

In person:    4818 50 Avenue
                      Two Hills AB

By mail:        PO Box 490
                      Two Hills AB  T0B 4K0

By fax:          780-657-3504

By email:      This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
                      This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ALUS Canada

ALUS Canada is a national not-for-profit organization that supports the delivery of the ALUS program across the country. For more info on the ALUS program in the Two Hills region, please click here.

Ecosystem Services
Active in six provinces to date, the ALUS program works with farmers and ranchers to produce valuable ecological services on Canadian farmland.

These ecological services include clean air, clean water, flood mitigation, climate adaptation, carbon sequestration, species at risk habitat and support for our native bees and pollinators.

Projects
Specifically, ALUS helps farmers and ranchers restore wetlands, reforest, plant windbreaks, install riparian buffers, manage sustainable drainage systems, create pollinator habitat and establish other ecologically beneficial projects on their properties.

ALUS provides annual payments to its participants to ensure the ongoing stewardship of each of their ALUS projects.

Partners
For over a decade now, ALUS Canada has been building excellent relationships within agricultural communities while perfecting its unique mechanism for delivering conservation outcomes from Canada’s rural acres.

Thanks to the generous commitment of The W. Garfield Weston Foundation and other dedicated supporters, ALUS Canada is rapidly expanding into many new communities across the country.

Results
In this way, ALUS turns marginal farmland into productive ecosystems, linking Canada’s natural heritage across agricultural lands.

MISSION STATEMENT

ALUS Canada’s mission is to enable Canadians to provide direct support to a national network of farmers and ranchers delivering ecosystem services in their communities, including cleaner air, cleaner water, carbon sequestration, erosion control, flood mitigation, pollinator support and wildlife habitat.

VISION STATEMENT

Community-developed and farmer-delivered, ALUS sustains agriculture, wildlife and natural spaces for all Canadians, one acre at a time.

STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES

The ALUS Canada program rests firmly on eight core principles:

1. ALUS is farmer-delivered: As the largest single group of landowners in Canada, agricultural producers are in a unique position to provide important solutions to some of the most pressing conservation challenges of our time, including climate change and biodiversity loss.
2. ALUS is community-developed: The ALUS program is flexible, designed to be customized by local communities to respect local agricultural and environmental priorities. From Red Deer, Alberta, to Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, each ALUS program is managed by a local ALUS Coordinator and a Partnership Advisory Committee (PAC), which is made up of agricultural producers and such local stakeholders as municipalities, conservation groups, farm associations and government agencies. In every ALUS community, it is the local PAC that determines how the local ALUS program will be run—within the tried, tested and true framework of ALUS Canada’s principles, guidelines and materials.
3. ALUS is integrated: The delivery of the ALUS program is intended to complement existing conservation programs, including federal and provincial government policy frameworks. ALUS programs across the country have developed many community partnerships with conservation organizations, agricultural groups and different levels of government.
4. ALUS is targeted: The program focuses on marginal and ecologically sensitive parcels of land that can be managed in a different manner to produce ecosystem services that benefit all Canadians.
5. ALUS is accountable: ALUS projects are independently monitored, verified and audited.
6. ALUS is science-based: Based on sound scientific principles and verification guidelines, ALUS provides valuable support and technical expertise for the design and implementation of each green infrastructure project.
7. ALUS is voluntary: Farmers and ranchers who choose to participate in the ALUS program have flexible agreements that suit their particular operation.
8. ALUS is market-driven: The ecosystem services produced by ALUS projects have economic value on the marketplace, one that ALUS Canada is actively developing. Through ALUS Canada, citizens, corporations and philanthropists can invest directly in Canadian environmental stewardship, one acre at a time.

For more information on the ALUS program, please contact your local program coordinator, or the team at ALUS Canada

https://alus.ca/alus_community/alus-two-hills/

Alberta Environmental Farm Plan 

The Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) is a voluntary, whole farm, self-assessment tool that helps producers identify their environmental risks and develop plans to mitigate identified risks. Over 9,000 Alberta producers have demonstrated their commitment to environmental stewardship by completing an EFP.

An EFP helps you to identify what you are already doing well, and pinpoint areas needing improvement. It is a great tool for identifying and planning projects to improve environmental stewardship on-farm. Depending on your farm, you can typically complete an EFP in 1-2 days, and once your EFP is approved you become eligible for funding under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change programs.

Late fall and through the winter is a great time to work on your EFP and start planning projects (but EFPs can be done at anytime). For more information on the EFP program, or for assistance with beginning, finishing or renewing your EFP please contact our Municipal Conservation Coordinator.

Note: Effective April 1, 2018, producers who have an EFP older than 10 years will have to renew their EFP to be eligible for funding under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership Program (CAP). Producers who have not completed an EFP or who completed one prior to 2008 should renew now to ensure eligibility.

Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) 

The Canadian Agricultural Partnership is a five-year, $3 billion federal-provincial-territorial investment in the agriculture, agri-food and agri-based products sector that began in April 2018, and is the successor of the 2013-18 Growing Forward 2 partnership. In Alberta, the Canadian Agricultural Partnership represents a federal-provincial investment of $406 million in strategic programs and initiatives for the agricultural sector. 15 programs will be rolled out in total, with all programs set to be open by the end of 2018.

In Alberta, the Canadian Agricultural Partnership will deliver programs developed in consultation with stakeholders, and is organized under five themes: Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change; Products, Market Growth and Diversification; Science and Research; Risk Management; and Public Trust.

To stay up to date on all the programs make sure to “Sign up for updates” on the CAP website (www.cap.alberta.ca). For more information or assistance with applications please contact our Municipal Conservation Coordinator.

RDAR On-Farm Climate Action Fund 

Program Overview
OFCAF offers financial assistance to agricultural producers to help them adopt and implement Beneficial Management Practices (BMPs) on their farms. These practices aim to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, improve production efficiency, and enhance farm sustainability and resilience.

To support producers in adopting new BMPs, the program provides resources, implementation guidance, and customized BMP design recommendations.

Program Delivery
RDAR has been chosen by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as a delivery partner to administer funding for this initiative.

Eligibility 
To qualify for funding, applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Be an active agricultural producer operating as a proprietorship, corporation, or registered partnership in Alberta.
• Demonstrate a minimum annual gross farm income of $25,000 in Alberta.
• Collaborate with a Professional Agrologist (PAg) or Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) to create a BMP Action Plan.
• Be based in Alberta and use funding exclusively for eligible projects within the province.
• Have a minimum project cost of $2,500.
• Cover all expenses upfront (in-kind contributions are not eligible). Note that all reimbursements are considered taxable income.
  
  

For more information, or to apply, please visit: https://rdar.ca/funding-opportunities/ofcaf

CFGA On-Farm Climate Action Fund: Rotational Grazing Program

First introduced in 2021, the On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF) began as a $200-million program aimed at helping farmers address climate change. With its recent expansion, the program has grown to $704.1 million and will continue for another three years, providing ongoing support to farmers as they work to strengthen their climate resilience.

The fund’s purpose is to assist producers in adopting beneficial management practices (BMPs) that help capture carbon and lower greenhouse gas emissions. The three key focus areas are:

• Nitrogen management
• Cover cropping
• Rotational grazing

The Canadian Forage and Grassland Association (CFGA) is exclusively responsible for delivering support for rotational grazing initiatives in Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec, and Saskatchewan.

Eligibility
Eligible applicants for the CFGA-administered portion of OFCAF include individual farmers, incorporated operations, and farm partnerships located in Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec, or Saskatchewan. Applicants must be recognized agricultural producers by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), with a GST number and a minimum level of farm income. A Social Insurance Number (SIN) or Business Number (BN) will be required, and any funding disbursed will be issued in the name matching the CRA-registered farm business.

Applicants should note that site visits to verify implementation may be required before reimbursement is processed.

For more information, or to apply, please visit: https://www.canadianfga.ca/en/projects/farm-climate-action-fund/ 

 
Shelterbelts

Listed below are private suppliers of shelterbelt trees. This list is provided for information only; the County does not work directly with any of these suppliers.

• Prairie Shelterbelt Program  (Sundre, AB)
• HELP International  (Weyburn, SK)
• Tree Time  (Edmonton, AB)
• Prairie Tech Propagation  (Bonnyville, AB)
• Boreal Horticultural Services  (Bonnyville, AB)

The County of Two Hills # 21 Agricultural Service Board will be starting their Roadside Mowing Program along municipal roads.

The program will consist of mowing all road allowances with up to a 15 foot cut from the shoulder into the ditch. Persons wishing to cut hay on the road allowance must complete all cutting prior to the mowers arrival. If hay has been cut and is in swath, mowers will go around that particular swath.  However all standing grass will be mowed with absolutely no exceptions.

For more information, contact the Agricultural Service Board Office at 657-3358.