New Shelterbelts for Livestock publications available

Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development

The Environmental Stewardship Division of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) has recently released a series of three publications on shelterbelts for livestock farms in Alberta.

Ike Edeogu, technology development officer at ARD said the publications are a result of agricultural producers wanting to know how to better manage certain livestock emissions including ammonia, dust and odour.

“A short list of better management practices was developed to see where emission reduction could be attained and shelterbelts were determined to be the best way to achieve lower emissions,” Edeogu said. He added that shelterbelts are particularly beneficial to a farm because of their added benefits including, but not limited to, providing cover from public view; enhancing animal welfare and performance; filtering, trapping, absorbing or redirecting livestock farm emissions to minimize the impact on neighbours and surrounding area; preventing snowdrift; and helping with reducing heating and cooling costs on livestock farms.

The first edition is an overview of shelterbelts, the second one focuses on planning, planting and maintenance required and the third one is a planning workbook to assist farmers with planning out their shelterbelts.

Edeogu also said that there’s an on-farm stewardship Growing Forward 2 program that can financially support farmers who want to plant shelterbelts. For more information please click here.

All three publications are available in-print for free from the ARD Publications Office or online on the Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development website here.