
ALBERTA OPEN FARM DAYS
TRAINING SESSIONS
For Host Farms
Get ready for Alberta Open Farm Days with our host training sessions
Designed to help you plan, prepare, and get the most out of your event!
Below you’ll find a list of all upcoming training opportunities, along with session details and registration links. Whether you’re a first-time host or a returning favourite, these sessions cover everything from permits to promotion.
Training Sessions
To register for an upcoming training or to view the past recording, click on the session title.
- SEPT 22
From the Trenches
This session will give host farms an open space to discuss experiences, challenges, and successes from the year.
We will be gathering your input, survey responses, and early 2025 data to create a short summary presentation. It will outline what is working well, what visitors are responding to, and where Alberta Open Farm Days can continue to improve.
- NOV 03
Legacy Planning with Doane Grant Thornton
Join Doane Grant Thornton for a focused session on succession planning, tax strategies, and protecting your farm’s future. Their agriculture experts understand the realities of family-run operations and will share practical steps to help you transition your business with confidence.
- NOV 24
Media & Marketing Training
Join Cameo Hanlon, our resident marketing expert and founder of Best Marketing Co., for a practical session covering how to plan content, grow your audience, and turn online interest into real engagement.
You’ll learn simple, effective ways to communicate your farm experience and stay consistent throughout the year. Participants will leave with clear direction, helpful resources, and actionable next steps that can be put into practice right away.
- JAN 26
Understand Open Farm Days Insurance and Farm Insurance for Agritourism
Led by Perry Cramer from NFP Insurance, this training helps Open Farm Days hosts understand how farm and event insurance apply to agritourism experiences. The session covers key risk considerations, coverage basics, and practical insights for hosting visitors on working farms.
- MAR 23
Financial with Servus Credit Union
Join us for an upcoming training session in partnership with Servus Credit Union. This session will focus on practical tools, clear guidance, and real-world examples to help support your organization’s financial understanding and day-to-day decision making. Servus Credit Union will share insights, answer questions, and provide actionable takeaways that participants can apply immediately.
This training is designed to be approachable, informative, and useful for teams of all sizes.
Session recording unavailable due to network error - apologies for the inconvenience. - APR 27
Serve It Up - Getting Ready for My Farm Taste of Place with AHS
This session will walk host farms through the key food safety practices and guidelines needed to confidently prepare and serve Taste of Place samples. Alberta Health Services will introduce a new, streamlined approach designed to help hosts understand requirements, reduce uncertainty, and create a safe and enjoyable experience for visitors. Participants will gain practical, easy-to-apply information and have the opportunity to ask questions along the way.
- MAY 25
Rangelands & Reels: Know Your Land, Share Your Story
Your land, your animals, and your way of life are more compelling than you might think. This session explores the rich storytelling potential of rangeland and pastoralist farming — and shows Open Farm Days hosts how to turn those everyday moments into short-form video content that connects with new audiences on TikTok. You'll leave with simple, repeatable approaches to sharing your story in a way that's authentic to your farm and genuinely engaging online.
- JUN 22
Exploring the new Craft Beverage Scene with AGLC
This session, lead by the AGLC, is a new session with an updated approach for host farms to learn more about Alberta’s evolving craft beverage landscape, with a focus on on-site tastings and events. Participants will learn what’s permitted, how to work with craft beverage partners, and simple, compliant ways to incorporate beverages into farm experiences. The focus is on clear guidance and practical steps farms can apply right away.
04.11.26Roots in the Bush: How Lamberry Ranch Turned a COVID Dream into a Living, Working Farm
This Wasn’t the Plan. It Turned Out Better. When Gwen and her family left their five-acre hobby farm near Airdrie in search of more…
04.04.26Rooted in Grass: The Toews & Bale Story
Grass Looks Simple. It’ll Teach You Different. There’s a saying out on the Alberta prairies that the land always tells the truth. At…
03.31.26June 22 Training Registration AGLC
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03.31.26May 25 Host Training Registration
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Alpaca and Llama Experiences
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Healing Homestead
In or near: Parkland County
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Healing Homestead is a second generation family owned and operated mixed livestock farm located in Parkland County, AB.
We specialize in breeding, raising and conserving Heritage Breed poultry (Chickens, Turkeys, Ducks and a Peacock or two!) and our small herd of Alpacas. Our farm runs with the well-being in mind for the land and the animals we steward. The nutrient-density of our food is a direct reflection of the health of the ecosystem that produced it. Our thriving farm ecosystem produces nourishing pasture raised chicken, turkey, eggs, and produce. Zero chemicals, pesticides & hormones. All animals are fed a Corn & Soy Free diet.
Healing our bodies with nutrient dense food inspired our on farm Exclusive Gluten Free Bakeshop. Using high protein & fiber rich Alberta produced flours to make delicious GF Baked Goods. We also offer other local farm products like Honey, Goat Milk Soaps, Candles, Plants, Holistic livestock feed (Chicken, Rabbit etc.) and more in our farm store. Check out our website for all the details.
We invite our customers to connect with the land and where there food comes from, and find empowerment in our community while engaging with our products.
Mission
Using Permaculture practices to heal and rebuild the land we gratefully get to steward is the first step in our holistic approach to biodynamic farming.
Food security, control over where our food comes from, water conservation management and being able to include our children in this process.
Vision
Food Sovereignty, Community & Empowerment
Open Farm Day Schedule of Events
- Meet at the Tent every hour for a tour and Q & A session.
- Enjoy the sights and sounds of the open fresh country air, listen to the roosters crow, pet our friendly goats and Alpacas while sampling some delicious baked goods.
- Our year around Farm Store is stocked with Fresh Farm Preserves, Artisanal Gluten Free Pies, Cookies, Cinnamon Rolls & Sourdough, Spices & Seasonings, Good Morning Honey Products, Rooster Roaster Coffee, Farm Swag and more!
- Vendor Market with Quilting, Weaving and Alberta Wildcraft products.
- Take a stroll through our Forest where you can see Chickens, Ducks, Turkeys, Peacocks and even a Dinosaur too!
- Mini Golf & try your luck fishing for Rubber Duckies and win a prize. These activities are extra cost.
- Ducky Delights Treat Stand- Cold Drinks, Ice Cream Treats, Chips available for purchase (prefer cash)
Farm Store will be open to purchase GF & DF Baked Goods, Rooster Roast Coffee, Local Honey, Farm Fresh Eggs, Farm raised meats, Jams & Jellies, Canning, Beeswax Candles, Eco friendly Kitchenware, etc.
Pre Order Baked Goods on our website for pickup during the Event. Shop Online
*Farm Store Prefer Cash but can accept Credit or Debit
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Lone Pine Ranch B & B & Bale
In or near: Wildwood/Yellowhead County
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Welcome to the Lone Pine Ranch!
Looking for a relaxing place in the countryside? Come and visit us and our animals.
Hi my name is Sylvia. I am the owner of the Lone Pine Ranch Bed and Breakfast. With the support of volunteers from all over the world I run a herd of cattle and the B&B.
When you come and visit our place our 3 dogs Jake, Shiloh and Willow will be the first ones to meet you, they love to welcome everyone of our guests personally.
But there are many more animals to see:
Alpacas, llamas, sheep, chickens, ducks, pigs, cats, guinea fowl, donkeys, a horse and a pony call the Lone Pine Ranch home. We are an active cattle ranch, cows, calves and bulls are here, but not necessarily in sight.
Besides all the animals, we also run a Bed & Breakfast. Visitors can explore our cozy cabins and check out our dining room treats.
There will also be a Country Market and Garage Sale at the ranch on Sunday the 16th of August with a variety of vendors from the region and Edmonton. Outdoor activities will include a roping station, horseshoe pitching, glitter tattoos and other games.
Everyone is welcome to check out and observe the animals. There are eggs to collect in the chicken coop and we provide snacks so you can feed to the donkeys. For the Country market we will have a petting area for our sheep set up and you can watch our potbelly pigs relax in the sun.
We are looking forward to welcoming you here at the ranch!
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Providence Lane Homestead
In or near: Cochrane, Dogpound, Water Valley
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Welcome to our frontier!
Providence Lane Homestead is a small-scale regenerative farm located just 45 minutes northwest of downtown Calgary.
Since 2019, we have been Canada's only dedicated fibre farm to be certified Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World. With our flock of endangered heritage breed Border Leicesters - the breed was featured in the movie "Babe" - and a small troop of alpacas, we use our flerd to carefully manage the land we steward, including eight hectares of native prairie, a small outpost in a critically-endangered prairie ecosystem.
We believe in building community and have worked extensively with many partners, including the University of Calgary, the Alberta University of the Arts, Emily Carr University of Art + Design as well as our amazing conservation partners like MultiSAR and Cows and Fish as well as other community members (we call them our fibre friends) like our amazingly supportive handspinners and weavers, artists, makers and more. We prioritize climate resilience and rare breed conservation as we work hard to raise our heritage breed sheep in an environment where they will not only thrive, but they'll also become a critical part of building healthy soil, water and carbon cycles.
As much as we can be, we are an inclusive environment and welcome guests from every walk of life. For those of our guests who may require a quiet Sensory Space, we are pleased to provide an opportunity to ground yourself, catch your breath and re-establish your equilibrium. Please ask us and we will be happy to point you in the right direction!
PARKING NOTE: We have plenty of parking across the road from the farm gate. Look for the sign and we will be ready to welcome you on foot at the homestead!
Although we welcome all kinds of people to the homestead, we are unable to accommodate dogs. For everyone's safety and comfort, please leave your fabulous pooch at home. Clio, Brian and Mabel thank you!
During Open Farm Days, join us at Providence Lane Homestead on Saturday,
- Are you homestead-curious? Take a tour of our small-scale regenerative farm as Tara walks you through a "day in the life" for our resident pastoralists!
- Join shepherd and Livestock Guardian Dog breeder Jacquie Turuk from Shars and Sheep and Honeybees as she answers questions and teaches our guests about our incredible dogs, Brian and Clio, and others like them. Some of the things you may discover - how long have humans been working with dogs on open rangelands? What do these dogs do? How are guardian dogs different from pet dogs? Should guardian breeds be pets?
- Go for a walk and get your hands dirty with Dr. Steven Tannas as we explore the ecology of native prairie grasslands and some straight talk about what it takes to actually restore native grasslands once they've been altered.
- Pull up a patch and settle in for some yarnin' about life on the prairie from some local (and colourful) storytellers. If you jog her memory, Tara might even tell the story about would-be ostrich wrangler, Chicken Fred. You don't want to miss it!
- Our "Down the Lane" marketplace will be humming with offerings including - a selection of our own blend of native wildflower seeds, sheeps' milk soap, Jacquie's own honey and once again we're thrilled to welcome Jill back from Marty Lynn with a curated, made-to-order collection of knitwear!
With more activities and market vendors0 lining up, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and check back to catch the latest updates!
FAQ
According to Statistics Canada*, Alberta has 28% of the nations total population of alpacas and llamas and 47.3% of the western Canadian total!
According to 2021 Census of Agriculture, Alberta now ranks second in llama and alpaca inventories on farms, losing the number one spot to Ontario.
*based on 2021 statistics













