But as of this fall, they can study closer to home, at Olds College, where an agriculture-focused communications program has launched.

“Communications has been part of our curriculum for most of our students for a number of years, but we didn’t offer a specific program in agricultural communications,” said Brendan Richardson, an instructor at the College’s Werklund School of Agriculture Technology, and chair of the curriculum committee.

After it tweaked some of the general communications courses, the committee saw more student engagement and realized there was a need for a formalized program.

The Agriculture Communications Certificate program is delivered online and this inaugural year has attracted students from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and beyond. Students also range in age and experience, from recent high school grads to those who are well into their careers and looking for a refresher or to upgrade their skills.

Cindy Green, a mother, farmer, and school bus driver from southeastern Saskatchewan, has experience in business and marketing and is excited about the curriculum and her classmates. Having just completed her first weeks’ worth of assignments, Green is enthusiastic about the program.

“I’m looking forward to diving into the curriculum,” she said. “We started working on developing our professional voice this week in writing and video. It really has me thinking outside the box.”

Green also noted the opportunity to learn from instructors as well as classmates.

“Our class has a real mix of people, different backgrounds and agriculture experience and students from as far away as India.”

Topics include the basics of writing, marketing and working with the media, learning about agriculture and the agri-food industry, and leadership and advocacy in agriculture. The one-year intensive certificate program has five courses each semester, followed by a work-integrated learning semester of 14 weeks.

The instructors include existing Olds College faculty as well as subject matter experts from other post-secondary institutions, and will provide students with the practical tools they need to start careers in agriculture communications.

“We are very excited about the first class in the first year of this program. We have achieved 90 per cent of the enrolment goal we set,” said Richardson.

The hope is that the online format will encourage students from across the country to participate, he said.

Students will be looking for work placements in spring 2024 and Richardson encourages associations and organizations in the agriculture industry to consider recruiting a student from the program.

“There’s an important opportunity to shape this program and mentor these students. Let’s build it together,” he said.

For an industry that faces growing skepticism that a lack of information or misinformation creates, training the next generation of agriculture communicators is an important goal.

“I love the ag industry and want to learn to talk about agriculture in an effective way,” said Green, adding she thinks the program will open doors to new possibilities for those who want to enrol.

“Just do it,” she said.

More information about the program is available at the Olds College website.

The post New program teaches communication in ag appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The target has raised a number of challenges and opportunities for researchers working to support these efforts, including how to calculate an accurate footprint, and what incentives are necessary to get growers on board. 

Two experts who know first- hand the complexity of this issue are Joy Agnew, vice-president of research at Olds College, and Joshua Bourassa, research associate with the Simpson Centre for Agricultural and Food Policy. They spoke at the Olds College AgSmart event recently to share the latest findings and discuss ongoing work. 

Apples to oranges 

To reach net zero, the Canadian ag sector must be able to show that any emissions (such as methane from livestock, emissions from equipment use, manure handling or farming practices) are equally offset by sequestration or carbon sinks. 

Sinks include conservation tillage, crop rotations and alternative grazing, among others. The biggest issue facing those trying to quantify a carbon footprint for agriculture is that there are no reliable ways to measure and compare emissions and carbon sinks. Nor are the measurements standard throughout. 

“There is no mechanism to evaluate the value of keeping land in grazing and not losing carbon to tilling for crop production,” said Karin Schmid, beef production and extension specialist with Alberta Beef Producers, another panelist at the show. 

Compounding this issue is the way these elements are measured. While emissions are measured as carbon dioxide, sequestration is measured as units of carbon. Equivalency calculations are used to make it easier to compare. 

The net carbon footprint of Canadian agriculture is calculated as approximately 12 to 72 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, which accounts for 1.6 to 9.6 per cent of Canada’s emissions. This is a fraction of one per cent of global emissions. The 2030 target is looking to reduce Canadian agriculture’s total annual emissions from 740 mega-tonnes of carbon dioxide to 400 by 2030. 

Canadian farmers lead 

Canada leads the pack in nutrient-use efficiency for crop production; 72 per cent efficient compared with 61 per cent in the European Union. The 4R Nutrient Stewardship Strategy is one reason. Growers use 4R (right source, right rate, right placement, and right time) to make decisions that raise the efficiency of the fertilizer being applied. Canadian growers have also begun to adopt practices that reduce emissions and also provide carbon sinks. 

“There are a huge number of practices to both reduce emissions and increase carbon sequestration, and they also provide cost savings and reduced environmental impacts. It’s a win-win,” says Agnew. 

Many practices improve efficiencies and the bottom line for growers. Using high efficiency fertilizers and variable rate applications improves crop nutrient use and reduces leaching and waste. 

Where to from here? 

While Canadian growers have the tools they need to accomplish GHG reductions, said panellists, adoption rates are still low. While approximately 70 per cent of crop production land is using some part of the 4R strategy, there are still gaps right source (6-14 per cent) and right placement (variable rate 15-40 per cent). 

The On-Farm Climate Action Fund has $200 million committed to support farmers who wish to adopt best management practices that store carbon and reduce GHG emissions, specifically nitrogen management, cover cropping and rotational grazing practices. 

There are also a number of other carbon programs available through organizations including FCL, Richardson Pioneer, Cargill, Nutrien and Farmers’ Edge. 

The big question is, will these incentives be enough to ramp up use of these practices in time to meet the target for 2030. 

That is a question examined by the Simpson Centre for Agricultural and Food Policy at the University of Calgary. The last major shift in practice was conservation tillage and the general consensus is that it took 30 years to become widely adopted. 

The Simpson Centre study involves growers in Western Canada and the northern great plains. While some practices may not result in significant yield increases, the reduction in nutrient loss will be a cost savings. 

“We aren’t sure yet if incentives and offsets alone will accomplish this goal. There are no major structural changes – new equipment, for example – needed to adopt these practices. Price is the biggest barrier,” says Bourassa. 

If everything else lines up and the consumers are willing to pay for the efforts made by the industry, another hurdle still remains. 

“Quantifying emissions reductions and soil carbon sequestration required for carbon markets is challenging. What’s the baseline and how do we know if we as a sector meet the target?”, says Agnew.

The post The unbalanced carbon equation appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.