The federal government is just a couple of months away from an initial funding round program to help farmers lower their emissions and improve climate resiliency under the C$182.7-million Agricultural Climate Solutions program.
The Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA) will receive up to $25 million to deliver the On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF) in the province, the Manitoulin Expositor reports. The funding is meant to help farmers with best management practices to reduce their emissions and enhance soil carbon storage, said Angela Straathof, programs director with OSCIA.
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Crop and livestock production account for 10% of Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, not including emissions from their use of fossil fuels or from fertilizer production. So the funding “is less about climate change resiliency or adaptation and more about modifying practices to reduce the likelihood that agriculture will contribute to climate change,” she explained. The program looks to practices that farmers can change to reduce emissions of nitrous oxide, methane, and carbon dioxide from operations.
The three target areas supported by the funding are cover cropping, nitrogen management, and rotational grazing, the Expositor says. Cover crops are plants, like clover and alfalfa, that are planted to cover the soil rather than for the purpose of being harvested. Funding could include payments per acre to cover adoption of cover cropping, for example, or related costs such as seeds and equipment.
Rotational grazing is the practice of containing and moving livestock through pasture to allow forage plants to recover, deepen their root systems, and improve soil health. Funded projects in this target area could include agronomic services to develop grazing management plans, interior cross fencing, or water system infrastructure.
Nitrogen management could include funding for agronomic services to develop nutrient management plans for individual farms, or equipment modification for fertilizer application in fields.
“Soil is the largest source of terrestrial carbon on the planet,” Straathof said. “In Ontario, a good deal of land cover is devoted to agricultural practices. Just by nature of the number of hectares the industry manages, there’s a lot of room to store carbon in that soil that they’re using for agricultural production.”
Typically, this is done by increasing soil or organic matter content, thus storing more carbon in the soil and releasing less carbon dioxide from the soil into the atmosphere. “That can be done through the crops that are grown,” she noted. “They are taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, and through their roots, they’re releasing carbon into the soil. When those crops are harvested and stop growing, anything that remains on the surface of the soil also breaks down into soil organic carbon, as well. Any opportunity the farmer has to minimize disturbance of the soil and maximize the amount of carbon going in is considered a good climate practice.”
OSCIA is targeting late spring or early summer to open a call for proposals for farmers. The initial intake will support projects for the current growing season, but program funding will continue through 2024.
“Farmers can apply to enhance their nitrogen management in fields or adopt cover cropping or implement rotational grazing practices if they have livestock,” Straathof said. “We’re trying to maximize the number of hectares across the province that these practices are being implemented on, and we’re trying to encourage wider spread adoption by farmers who may not have tried these practices before.”
The practices are scientifically supported, the Expositor adds, but may still be new to some farmers. The funding is an incentive for them to minimize the financial risk they would otherwise assume in trying something new.
“The fight against climate change is not only about reducing Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions, but also helping farmers to innovate and adopt more sustainable farming practices,” said Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau.
