The North Peace Applied Research Association is a non-profit, producer driven organization that has been in operation since 1988, serving agricultural producers of the Municipal District of Northern Lights.  NPARA is a research and extension-based society conducting applied agricultural research, demonstration trials, research plots and extension.

The NPARA office is located at 116 - 4th Avenue in Manning (the old Treasury Branch building) and the research farm is located ½ mile west of North Star (4 miles south of Manning) on NW-32-90-23-W5M.

MISSION STATEMENT

The North Peace Applied Research Association's mission is to serve farmers within Municipal District #22, to meet the special needs that results from our unique climatic, geographic and soil conditions.  To meet these needs, NPARA conducts applied research as determined by our Board of Directors.  Our goal is to promote soil and water conservation, agricultural production, marketing and technology transfer within the MD.

2009 BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Executive Council

            President: Bill Gaugler

            Vice-President: Arie Loogman

            Secretary-Treasurer: Michael Scott

Directors

            Ed Schmidt

            Mark Ressler

            Esben Johansen

            Trevor Paulovich

            Judy Bowcott

Representatives

            M.D. #22: Teresa Tupper

            Agribusiness: Tim Burdick

 

ABOUT OUR REGION:

NPARA serves an area of 616,637 arable acres within the M.D. Northern Lights #22.  The total land area of the M.D. #22 is 20,749 km² (5,127,189 acres). 

 

LAND USE INFORMATION BY CROP  (in acres)
Wheat	59,388
Oats	19,083
Barley	32,248
Canola	76,673
Other field crops	338
Flax	2,350
Rye	690
Field Peas	6,440
Hay – Alfalfa	59,822
Hay – Tame	44,514
Forage for Seed	10,094

For a summary of the percent of seeded acres by crop (wheat and barley) for the Peace River Region click here.

 

LIVESTOCK
Cow/calf	34,737
Pigs	307
Sheep/lambs	1,726
OTHER LIVESTOCK
Horses/ponies	1,212
Goats	367
Wild boars	436
Buffalo	3,499
Elk	2,817
Hens/chickens	1,740

Statistics Canada, 2006 Census of Agriculture

Soil Types:

Soil types within the M.D. #22 are Gray Luvisolic soils and Dark Gary Chernozemic soils, Dark Gary – Gray Luvisols.  Please refer to Soil Group Map of Alberta for further classification.

Precipitation:

Precipitation for Peace River

	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Rain (mm)	1	0	0	8	28	63	62	51	38	14	4	1
Snow (cm)	26	23	18	9	3	0	0	0	3	11	24	23
Total (mm)	23	19	15	16	32	63	62	51	40	24	23	20
Snow Depth(cm)	28	32	19	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	12	21

 Temperature:

Temperature °C for Peace River

	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Maximum	-11	-7	0	9	17	21	22	21	15	9	-3	-9
Minimum	-22	-18	-12	-2	3	7	9	8	3	-1	-12	-19
Mean	-17	-12	-6	3	10	14	16	15	9	3	-8	-14

The weather statistics displayed here represent the mean value of each meteorological parameter for each month of the year. The sampling period for this data covers 30 years from 1961 to 1990.  Data obtained from http://www.theweathernetwork.com/statistics

LINKS:

M.D. of Northern Lights #22 www.mdnorth22.ab.ca/

M.D. of Peace #135 www.mdpeace.com/