The Interior Plains Today


Agriculture


The textbook focusses on the changes to Alberta in farming and ranching.  At the end of this lesson, you will be able to ...

    • describe the conditions for farming in the Interior Plains in the past compared to today
    • explain how drought affects farming
    • tell how the railway helped (and continues to help) farmers
    • describe how jobs and communities are related to natural resources in the Interior Plains






    This poster would not be useful today.


    What is life like in the Interior Plains in modern times? 

    In the past, 90% of Western Canadians were farmers who grew their own food. Now, many people live in cities.

    In the past, farmers had small farms because they did field work by hand or used horse-drawn equipment. Now, farmers use heavy machinery worth millions of dollars. Their wide equipment can be used without a break, day and night, to work on huge farms. Farmers can produce more food in a shorter amount of time.

    Today, scientists have researched what types of food help animals grow well, and what types of shelter make animals comfortable.  This has become controversial as people make decisions between whether to eat organic food, regular food, or GMOs.  Organic food must be grown without chemicals, human-made fertilizers and pesticides, and GMOs.
    What are GMOS? 

     
     

    What about organic food? 


    What are Alberta's main agricultural industries today?