A $66-million funding announcement from Ottawa aims to target climate change.
Member of Parliament Terry Duguid said climate change, and the resulting extreme weather events such as last year’s drought, underscore the need, while at a news conference March 17.
“The extreme nature of these events is related to climate change,” Duguid said.
The Manitoba Association of Watersheds is the recipient of $40 million. Executive director Lynda Nicol said work being done on land in Manitoba was “… nothing short of inspiring.”
Watersheds says the money will be used to increase rotational grazing, cover cropping and nitrogen management, providing tools and financial incentives for participating producers. Nicol said farmers will be central to addressing environmental concerns in the province.
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“They’re on the leading edge of how to protect this land,” she told the press conference.
Nicol said sequestering carbon in soils and reducing greenhouse gases will benefit farmers in the long run, but the new funding will provide the financial backing for farmers to make the changes they need to.
The Canola Council of Canada will receive $22 million, most of which will support farmer participation in 4R fertilizer stewardship programs. That refers to right rate, right time, right place, and right product.
Curtis Rempel, the council’s vice-president of crop production and innovation, said farmers need to balance environmentally friendly production methods with the need to stay profitable in their businesses.
“Will the investment pay off in terms of actually giving us the yields and also bring down our nitrous oxide emissions?”
The sweet spot will be finding ways to use fertilizer more efficiently, and thereby reduce applications while maintaining or even boosting productivity.
The remaining $4.4 million is split over 10 Manitoba projects under the Agriculture Clean Technology Program. One food company will be installing a biomass power system in a new facility and some grain farmers will use funding to install new energy-efficient grain dryers through the program.
