A Sturgeon County equestrian has galloped into the 4-H Hall of Fame.
Lifelong county resident Corine Verbeek was inducted into the Alberta 4-H Hall of Fame last week along with Helen Andrews of Round Hill.
The Hall of Fame award recognizes people who have had a significant impact on the provincial 4-H program and its members, Alesha Hill, the province’s 4-H volunteer development specialist, said in an email. The award selection committee picked Verbeek in recognition of her more than 30 years of leadership with 4-H.
“Corine is described as someone with extreme passion and enthusiasm who is always willing to lend a hand, help out, have a vision, and do whatever is needed to make a 4-H event successful or help 4-H members learn,” Hill said.
Verbeek has been a member of the RiviÄŤre Qui Barre Rancheros club for about 40 years and a club leader for 33. She has also served as the northwest regional president for 4-H.
Verbeek said she started off in a 4-H sewing club when she was 9, but found it didn’t match her passion for horses. Her parents say the first word she ever spoke was “horse.” When her grandfather’s nephew started a horse club, she jumped over to it and has stayed in the saddle ever since.
“It’s been a really good ride!”
Verbeek said it was very fulfilling to see students learn and achieve as they went through 4-H. She felt honoured to join the Hall of Fame, many members of which were her mentors.
For winning this award, Verbeek got to meet Alberta Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier and was recognized in the Alberta Legislature. She will also be honoured next August at the Alberta 4-H 100th anniversary event in Olds.
About 10 per cent of Alberta’s crops are now frozen in the fields after one of the toughest harvests in years, says Alberta Agriculture.
Alberta Agriculture issued its final crop report for 2016 last week. As of Nov. 29, Alberta farmers had brought in about 90 per cent of what they planted this year, leaving 10 per cent of the harvest to freeze.
The Edmonton region was even worse off, with about 17 per cent of all crops yet to be collected as of last week.
The start of winter and the soaked nature of most fields mean that it’s very unlikely that any of those crops will be harvested before spring, said Alberta Agriculture crop specialist Harry Brook.
“How can you harvest if you’ve got six inches of snow on your field?”
AndrĂ© Montpetit of Sturgeon Valley Fertilizer said it was very unusual to have crops left out in this region come winter. One farmer he spoke with on Monday said this was the first time in his 30-year career that he’s had to leave crops in the field.
“There’s more crop left out there now than there ever has been.”
The cause was October, Montpetit said. Instead of the usual 14-day dry spell, which is where 80 per cent of the harvest happens, it rained almost every weekend. By the time the ground dried enough for work, you had maybe three days before the next wet spell.
Brook agreed, and noted that he knew of one farmer near Red Deer that, due to the weather, had yet to harvest any of this year’s crop.
“For some individuals, it’s a right disaster.”
While this year was the bumper of bumper crops when it comes to yields, farmers will lose a lot of money on drying wet grain and fixing stressed machinery, Montpetit said.
Farmers will be extremely busy next spring as many will not have had time to repair the three-foot-deep ruts their combines left in the wet soil, Montpetit said. They’ll also have to clear off the remains of this year’s crop, most of which will be worthless.
“It’s been a very stressful, long year.”
