Camrose Vocational Visits

Righto people I have been a little quiet lately, so here is a wrap up of the vocational visits so far.

At our first stop in Camrose I had a fantastic day with Lynn Clarke firstly visiting John Bibo at the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC). The AFSC are a provincial government owned bank that that caters for the financial needs of farmers and some commercial customers. The most interesting point of difference is the fact that lending approvals are largely based on the security position of the client. Farmers in Alberta have a number of quotas to limit production, including eggs and milkand these quotas manipulate the market. John also explained how the Canadian farmers are subsidised.

From there I headed to the Camrose CIBC branch and had a wonderful meeting with Kim, who is also a Rotary Member. Kim described how, aside from the government banks, the banking system in Canada is largely similar to Australia. The main difference is the level of in office approval. Most of the loan files are assessed in the office and and then move to another set of hands for the final approval.

From there I headed to Sunworks Farm to view their organic chicken farm. At the moment none of the major supermarkets do not have an organic line. As a result the chicken that is produced is sold largely through Whole Foods Grocery Stores and local farmers markets. The proprietors are trying to purchase more quota to increase their bird numbers, however each bird costs approximately $200 under the quota.

Thank you to Lynn Clarke for a wonderful day and a great start to the vocational visits.