Agricultural societies across the province, including Cochrane, are receiving a desperately needed shot in the arm from the Alberta Government.

The Cochrane and District Agricultural Society (CDAS) is among those applauding the announcement of $2.5 million annually to help update existing infrastructure.

CDAS president Justin Burwash says they've been somewhat successful in receiving grants in the past but it's always been in competition with all Alberta nonprofits.

"It's very exciting news," says Burwash, "and I think agriculture societies across Alberta have been asking the province for this because there's many of them in the situation where their infrastructure is starting to age, and they need help to maintain their buildings."

He says he hasn't seen the fine details at this point, nor knows how long the annual funding will be available, but it's a big deal.

Right now, he says the top priority of CDAS is to replace the roof of its indoor arena that's partially underway. He says this funding appears to play right into helping with such vital work.

"We've got a 20-plus-year-old building and the roof is starting to age and fail and we've got to replace it. When you start getting the price tag on replacing things like this, with inflation you're up over $400,000."

The infrastructure revitalization program will be awarding grants between $10,000 and $100,000 for individual projects. It builds upon the government's existing agricultural societies grant program, which provides annual funding to support agricultural societies’ operational expenses.

Alberta has 290 agricultural societies, the most in Canada. They own or operate more than 900 facilities and host more than 37,000 activities and events per year.

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