Accelerate Weekly #96

Accelerate Weekly – Issue 96 (Week of October 27, 2025)

This week’s Accelerate Weekly highlights a busy fall season at Farming Forward, with the team completing EFP Technician Training and processing the last of this year’s soil and feed samples. Members are reminded that the team is working from home for the remainder of the year and to call ahead before visiting.

With Gathering Ground now just around the corner, the extended early-bird rate is in its final days. The newsletter recaps the full program — keynote on farm succession, four breakout sessions on risk management, seed testing, and livestock innovation, a producer panel featuring two Alberta women building new paths in local food and farm entrepreneurship, catered meals, and live country music.

This issue also spotlights the Prairie Pest Monitoring Network, sharing updates on how prairie-wide insect surveillance supports better pest decisions for field crops. Producers can access tools, risk maps, and fact sheets to help reduce unnecessary pesticide use while maintaining yields and soil health.

Farming Forward continues to support Environmental Farm Plans with two upcoming EFP workshops in Whitecourt and Wildwood, helping producers renew or complete their plans ahead of year-end funding programs. Several industry resources and community opportunities round out the issue, including winter cattle management tips from BCRC, the Made in Alberta directory for local food and products, a rescheduled Talk. Ask. Listen. workshop, the Young Agrarians Business Mentorship Network, and an upcoming Ag Drone School offering hands-on training for producers interested in drone-based mapping and herd scouting.