Agri-business

The JEDI region covers an area of 3,324.87 square-kilometres (821,593 acres) of rich and fertile agricultural land. The region is both a major producer of grain and livestock and a centre for the agriculture industry.

With its central location in the province, the region has a strong base of agriculture companies. It has a large global manufacturer of farm equipment, a provincial fertilizer supplier and a North American feed manufacturer that produces both conventional and organic feeds. The advantages for agri-business companies to operate out of the JEDI region are:

• a high volume transportation hub with high capacity highways, rail access, air cargo access and a foreign trade zone*
• access to a vast supply of wheat, grain, oilseed and feed crops
• access to a large supply of cattle (beef) farms

The JEDI region has 954 farms that primarily operate in grain, oilseed, wheat, cattle (beef), dairy (21 farms**) and other livestock operations. 55% of the regional farms have an average size of 130 – 760 acres (0.5 sq. km. – 3.0 sq. km.). Some of the key agriculture elements of the region are:

Total Annual Gross Farm Receipts = $222,907,320.00*
(cash income received from the sale of agriculture commodities)

Total Farm Capital (2016 Market Value) = $2,502,462,538.00*

Farm Machinery, Total Tractors = 3,478*

Total Value of all Farm Machinery and Equipment= $228,962,801.00

Total Cattle and Calves = 72,727 head*

Total estimated Dairy Cows = 2,933**

Total approximate volume of milk produced per day = 87,979 litres**

Top 5 Field Crops Grown*

Canola = 83,461 acres
Wheat = 75,895 acres
Barley = 50,575 acres
Alfalfa & Alfalfa Mixtures= 44,031 acres
Oats = 11,313 acres

* Source: Statistics Canada, 2016 Census of Agriculture.

** Source: Alberta Milk, 2020