Up to $100,000 in grant funding is available to ranchers for rotational grazing through the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association, but the time for planning to access it is now.
The On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF) application window opens Feb. 1, with a 70 per cent rebate on approved projects with an approved grazing plan in hand.
“Don’t wait until the very end of January to start your application,” forage specialist Jodie Horvath said in a presentation at the Innovation on the Range event in Bow Island, Alta., last month.
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“You have lots of time to work on it (grazing plan) over the winter. It’s a perfect time to do some kitchen table design of maps and what not. There is help for doing these applications, and there’s also lots of workshops to help throughout the winter, throughout the provinces.”
The fund applies to rotational grazing with fencing, water and perennial seeding categories eligible for funding.
Items such as cross or electrical fencing, virtual fence collars, portable crops, flow-line pipelines or shallow barren pipelines for water development are covered along with mobile units. Drilling or broadcasting legumes into existing stands to improve them are covered for seeding.
“Water development, not source water. There’s other programs that cover that, like digging wells and dugouts,” said Horvath.
Alberta was given $21 million this year to distribute to producers, enough for 42 projects.
“We have some projects that are massive. We have one that is 1,300 hectares that are looking to go in and intensify their grazing, so they needed a razor grazer and they seeded, they put in $70,000 worth of seed,” said Sonja Shank, program co-ordinator at the Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta, which helps deliver the OFCAF funding.
“So make sure you are in the know of what is out there. I’ll go into some of these meetings and nobody heard of OFCAF. And then I feel bad because it was a $210 million program across the country.”
Many tools are available to ranchers, including the online advanced grazing systems that can help producers get started on the application process and access help from mentors.
Project reimbursement for producers who become mentors increases from 70 to 85 per cent. There are currently 200 mentors, with more being trained over the winter.
An advanced grazing program helps with:Extending the grazing period.
Increasing pasture yields.
Improving forage quality for livestock.
Reducing weed pressure.
Improving nutrient cycling.
Helping build soil health.
The OFCAF’s objective is to support farmers in adopting beneficial management practices that store carbon and reduce greenhouse gases, specifically in nitrogen management, cover cropping and rotational grazing practices
The CFGA works solely to support the rotational grazing practices stream in Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec and Saskatchewan.
Shank is the contact for Alberta OFCAF along with other available programs. Funding can be retroactive for purchases made after February 2025.
