The Prairie Watersheds Climate Program in Manitoba saw it’s biggest year yet in 2023-24, according to Dan Cox, project manager with the Manitoba Association of Watersheds.
Cox unveiled the first aggregated numbers Nov. 12 during the Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association’s annual regenerative agriculture conference in Brandon.
Why it matters: The Prairie Watersheds Climate Program pays farmers to adopt select environmentally friendly practices.
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In 2022-23, 731 Manitoba farmers received funding for projects like pasture water infrastructure, seeding legumes or cover crops, incorporating urease inhibitors, soil testing and upgrading equipment for precision fertilizer application, among others. Those projects were worth $7.45 million and covered 200,000 hectares.
Between Saskatchewan and Manitoba, those numbers jumped to 1,411 farmers, with projects worth $15.6 million.
In 2023-24, Cox reported that 947 Manitoba producers had accessed funding. That included 734 new applicants, more than the total program intake of the year before.
“Our watershed districts did an incredible job of reaching a bunch of new producers who hadn’t yet accessed the funding … That is incredibly exciting and reassuring,” Cox told conference attendees.
The value of those projects also bloomed, with $9.75 million delivered and projects affecting 365,000 hectares in Manitoba alone.
The watersheds association is projecting another jump in 2024-25. It has a goal of reaching more than 1,000 Manitoba producers with projects worth $10.65 million. It hopes those projects will cover more than 250,000 hectares.
PWCP details
The program is part of the larger, federal On-Farm Climate Action Fund, which now taps 13 organizations to deliver direct farmer funding for select farm projects. Eligible projects have to relate to cover crops, nitrogen management or rotational grazing, the federal government says.
The watershed’s slice of that funding (up to $40 million, initially) became the Prairie Watersheds Climate Program to be delivered in both Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
Bigger and bigger
Producers must be within the borders of a watershed district to access the funding, and their planned project must be recommended by an agrologist or crop advisor.
This March, the province announced expansion of five watershed districts into new areas. That followed a December 2023 announcement of $294,000 for districts to broaden their borders.
Funding for the program has since increased. According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s On-Farm Climate Action Fund web page, about $64 million has been approved for the program.
The On-Farm Climate Action Fund, initially set to expire in 2024, has also been extended to 2028. It’s unconfirmed whether that expansion will cover the PWCP past its three-year pilot window.
“We are cautiously optimistic about the future of the Prairie Watershed(s) Climate Program in Manitoba as the government enters the On-Farm Climate Action Fund expansion phase for the next three years,” Cox said.
