Tillage is expected to increase this year as producers deal with ruts caused by wet weather or installation of fire breaks. But that can have implications for producers involved in the Alberta Carbon Offset Program-Conservation Tillage Protocol.

“If you till 10 per cent or more of your field, that field won’t be eligible to receive carbon offsets for the year that you tilled,” said provincial greenhouse gas offset agrologist Paul Jungnitsch. “It will not affect fields that you have not tilled. You will be eligible again in the following year if you continue to direct seed.”

The protocol allows discretionary tillage of up to 10 per cent of a field (excluding sloughs, waterways, buildings, and forested areas) to address field management issues.