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Farming as though the Earth Matters – Brenlea Farms – Camrose, AB

Brenda Bohmer, a grain farmer at Brenlea Farm in central Alberta, realized she’d been draining sloughs for years in an attempt to farm more acres. She would seed around duck nests, but in order to deal with weeds, she’d farm right up to the edges of the wetland. “It’s a mindset you get locked into,” she admits. Bohmer’s goal? Create a year-round wetland and invite nature to help rehabilitate the natural wetland ecosystem and water cycle.

Several years ago, Bohmer partnered with Cows and Fish – Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society. Within a year, nature took over the wetland and Bohmer was amazed to see the transformation of the riparian habitat. “I can still grow crops between the wetlands,” explains Bohmer. “But now I have a buffer which provides a separation between farming operations and the natural habitat. Bohmer points out that 80 percent of all types of wildlife in Alberta spend all, or part of their lives in a riparian area. “We can co-exist,” she says. “I like to think of this as farming as though the earth really matters.”

EP 83 – Healing Through Food, Land & Culture

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In this episode of the Rural Routes to Climate Solutions podcast, we welcome Christen Falcon, from the Amskapi Piikani (Blackfeet Nation) in Montana.

Christen has worked across food sovereignty, community wellness, education and Indigenous health, bringing together Blackfoot ways of knowing with modern approaches to nutrition, agriculture and holistic wellbeing. Drawing from both personal experience and professional work, she shares how reconnecting with land, food and culture can help individuals and communities heal from trauma while strengthening relationships with each other and the environment.

Balanced Regeneration on an Irrigated Forage Farm

At his farm in Picture Butte, Eric Leffers is experimenting with regeneration. In this blog post, Eric speaks to the complexities of regenerative practices, his experiments and learnings with polycultures and balancing all of this with sound economics.

From Grain to Glass: Red Shed Malting’s Journey

From their farm near Penhold, the Hamill family is closing the loop from field to pint. At Red Shed Malting, they grow and malt their own barley, and supply craft breweries across the province — keeping the benefits local. We spoke to Matt Hamill about how they run their operation, the sustainable practices they’ve built into the farm and the malthouse and building community.

Resilient Grasslands and a Family Legacy

In the Paintearth county of Alberta, the Younger family are ranching with a regenerative mindset and a whole lot of care for the land. We spoke to them about ranching with the next generation, shifting to a regenerative mindset and the power of producer networks.