WESTLOCK — Westlock County farmer and co-owner of composting facility Alt Root, Colby Hansen, is looking to give farmers across the country who use regenerative agriculture practices and products a voice, so they can continue their stewardship efforts and be compensated for their work, while educating people on the importance what they do and why.
That’s exactly what Hansen told the standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry in December when he presented some of his research and findings to them on Dec. 14, when they met to examine and report on the status of soil health in Canada.
The committee has been conducting an ongoing study on soil health and invited several guest witnesses, including Hansen to share their knowledge and expertise from the field.
Hansen, who is also owner-operator of Hansen Beef was in Ottawa last month to present to the standing committee and shared about the work he and his farm and Alt Root have been doing over the past couple of years to help improve soil health in Alberta and develop regenerative agriculture practices.
In addition, he spoke on the circular economy and food waste on behalf of Alt Root, sharing what both his farm and the composting facility have done to help support Canada’s local bio-circular economies, regenerates soils, grow more nutrient-dense food, support communities, mitigate climate change and divert food and organic waste from landfills.
“(I shared) how it’s imperative that we keep doing this and expand it,” said Hansen.
Hansen noted senator’s interest in the work being done in Westlock County and said the senate committee is “invested in listening to what farmers who are practicing soil health, growing healthier foods, taking care of soil, need” including the tools that will help them continue their work and get paid for their labour and product.
“They’re very supportive … of how they can push that along,” said Hansen, noting that committee chair, senator Robert Black said he too wants to visit the Alt Root facility and Hansen’s farm.
“He wants to know how we can collaborate on the work we’ve been doing and get it into Ontario.”
Hansen said while they are taking small steps in the right direction and “are starting to listen to forward-thinking farmers who have solutions” they need to start doing more of what they are doing, talking more with like-minded farmers because the industry is going “with commodity groups that don’t have soil health as their number one priority.”
In his presentation Hansen told the committee “to date we have diverted 40,000 tonnes of organic waste destined to landfill. In turn, the 20,000 tonnes of finished compost has been applied on my lands and used as an invaluable tool in my transition to regenerative agriculture,” he added. “To date, in our community, Alt Root has supported seventeen-plus businesses, created seven new jobs, donated to the local community and organizations while engaging heavily in research and education.”
He said he was happy to see such interest and positive feedback on the topics of farming, composting and food waste, noting they were very intrigued about the food waste and what Alt Root is doing.
“(There’s) a need for this to grow and educate people on sorting their organics correctly, the responsible end-use of food waste and how it can be utilized to support our local economies, communities and all the compounding, essential good benefits that go with that,” explained Hansen.
Senators asked several questions about Alt Root following Hansen’s presentation, including how much organic waste they bring in (on a regular basis), what are the findings so far as to what happens when compost is applied to a field in various formats, including fields that are purely composted, fields that are compost mixed with something else and fields that are compost mixed with nitrogen. One other question pertained to the timeline when Alt Root will be able to take some of their compost product to market.
Hansen is now focused on the next steps which includes writing several recommendations based on questions asked by committee members before compiling that information with the recommendations onto the federal government.
“The end goal is to hopefully establish regenerative agriculture committee or a commission so farmers have a voice for regeneratively grown products and get paid for our efforts and continue to educate the public on the need for composting, and expand composting and (share) the benefits it brings to society,” said Hansen.
“The next time I go speak at a Senate committee, it’s not just Colby Hansen, (I want it to be) Colby Hansen with the regenerative agriculture commission of Canada and if it’s not me, it’s someone else. We need a voice, a united voice,” Hansen concluded.
