A new Agriculture Fieldman has been appointed in Big Lakes County.
Council formally appointed Sheila Kaus to the position on April 12, 2017.
So far, Kaus says she’s really enjoying the work.
“I love the Town of High Prairie,” said Kaus. “As well, I find that the rest of the county employees are great to work with.”
Kaus says this is the first Ag Fieldman position she’s ever held. But, she adds that she did work in the industry for quite a while.
“I’ve worked with the agricultural service boards for about 10 years,” she continued. “I worked my way up from weed inspector and pesticide applicator. I then got my diploma in Land and Water Stewardship from Olds College, and then I was for five year, I was the Sustainable Agriculture Coordinator for Highway Two Conservation.”
After starting in her most recent position, she went out and got a lay of the land, adding that things are looking good for planting this year.
“A little less than 20 percent of fields still have last year’s crop still in the ground,” said Kaus. “So, it’s a better situation than a lot of the rest of the province, where some of the municipalities still have as much as 80 percent of their previous crops still in the fields.
“So, that’s a bonus for this area,” she continued. “And I hope this signifies that we have a very good crop coming out this year.”
In her current capacity, Kaus says she’ll also be looking at the weed issues currently happening within the county.
“The county also has something called a spray exemption program,” she said. “Individuals not wanting a roadside spray crew to come in to spray adjacent to their land, they can come into the County office, sign some forms, and they will be exempt from having their ditches sprayed.
“But they also have the responsibility to take care of the vegetation that is in those ditches,” Kaus continued. “The policy also outlines edible berries, and we won’t be spraying those. And we also want to be careful not to contaminate dugout water sources.”
Kaus says she looks forward to meeting people, and if they have any questions, they can call her at the County office.
– Posted by BET
