Rural living is rich and rewarding, yet it is important that new residents know that rural life in Rocky View County is very different from life in the city.
Agriculture greatly shapes the economic, cultural and social fabric of the County. You have chosen to live in a rural setting among ranch and farm families. You can expect to share many of the benefits and challenges they enjoy, like open space and tranquility, wildlife sightings, variable weather and road conditions.
Here are some tips on how you can be a good neighbour in our rural community:
- Farmers and ranchers often work around the clock, especially during calving season in the spring and harvest time in late summer. Nearby agricultural operations may disturb your otherwise quiet surroundings. In most cases, those times will pass, so please be patient.
- Livestock may cause objectionable odors and noise. If you find them annoying, you may want to find a neighbourhood that is more urban.
- Gravel roads generate dust. If you’re on gravel roads adjacent to ranch lands and farming operations, drive slowly and with care. Excessive dust can affect both the health of the cattle and the quality of crops in the fields.
- Land preparation may cause dust, especially during dry windy weather.
- Large, slow moving machinery is often transported from field to field during seeding and harvest, and occasionally livestock may get out onto the road. Expect the unexpected and please drive carefully.
- Cattle are occasionally moved on public roads. When you encounter a cattle drive, please pull over to the side of the road and allow the cattle to pass. If a rider directs you to move forward, do so slowly.
- Herbicides may be used to control invasive weeds that can overtake farmland or native rangelands. Farmers and ranchers, just as all others, must operate within the constraints of public health and safety legislation that dictate the use of these products. Herbicides may legally be applied by airplanes that fly in the early morning and late in the evening. Expect the unexpected.
- The County enforces the Weed Control Act of Alberta. If your property has invasive weeds, it is your responsibility to know and control them. Some plants are poisonous to horses and other livestock.
- Pets / Animals. You are responsible to keep your animals/pets on your property and under your control. Dogs harassing livestock can be shot legally.
- Animals can be dangerous. Cattle, stallions, rams, and boars can attack humans. Do not enter pens or fields where animals are kept.
- Fencing. If you own livestock, it is your responsibility to fence them in, not your neighbor’s responsibility to fence them out.
- Firearm use on farms is permitted. Farmers with proper firearms license can shoot animals that are considered pests on their own land.
- Fire permits are required for farmers and acreage owners who live in Rocky View County. Don’t burn without a permit.
- Feeding wildlife is dangerous—for wildlife. Enjoy wildlife from a distance and do not feed any wildlife.
This information is available in brochure form as The Code of the West (PDF).