No one’s against carbon sequestration but the best way to reward good stewardship is a tricky question
Reading Time: 4 minutes Should farmers be paid for the amount of carbon stored in their fields? Or for the practices that put the carbon there? That depends on who you ask. The head of the country’s largest bank recently backed the former, saying a “carbon soil market could be worth as much as $4 billion. But right now, […] Read more
The Big Divide: Are carbon credits a good idea or waste of time?
Eyes in the skies to boost effort to reward eco-system services
Reading Time: < 1 minute A “carbon quantification” project that uses remote sensing to measure biomass and soil carbon on conservation projects on marginal farmland is getting a $1.5 million boost from the charitable arm of the country’s largest bank. ALUS (originally an acronym for Alternative Land Use Services) is a charitable organization that assists producers in 38 communities, nearly […] Read more
Farmer-driven stewardship organization gets major funding boost
ALUS gets $5 million for expansion and to find a better way to measure carbon sequestration
Reading Time: 3 minutes A new $5-million initiative aims to find a better way to measure the carbon that Canadian farmers sequester in the soil to make sure they’re being paid fairly for the ecosystem services they produce on their land. “Despite what you might hear, carbon quantification in Canada is not very well advanced,” said Bryan Gilvesy, CEO […] Read more
New grazing stewardship program for 6,000 Prairie acres
Program has a component to help ranchers adopt multi-paddock grazing and regenerative agriculture
Reading Time: 3 minutes After growing its acres by 20 per cent last year, ALUS has lined up two big sponsors for a new initiative called Grazing Forward that will fund stewardship projects on 6,000 acres of Prairie ranchland. “A&W Canada and Cargill will together provide $1.8 million to support ranchers in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba as they continue to […] Read more
Bank signs on as launch sponsor for ALUS Canada’s New Acre program
“We know that restoring nature on the landscape has many benefits for both farmers and their communities..."
Reading Time: 3 minutes Three hundred acres of farmland across Canada will be transformed into conservation projects thanks to a sizable sponsorship from TD Bank Group to ALUS Canada’s New Acre program. “The TD sponsorship is an indication that the private sector recognizes the value of this kind of work and is willing to put money behind it,” said […] Read more
Manitoba puts $52 million in stewardship program — should Alberta be next?
More government funds for farms providing eco-services would be welcomed here — and put to good use
Reading Time: 3 minutes Is the idea of paying farmers for ‘ecological services’ finally ready for prime time? The Manitoba government is winning praise for setting up a $52-million endowment fund to create a province-wide version of a program that pays farmers for stewardship efforts such as protecting riparian areas and habitat restoration. The program will be based on […] Read more
Land stewardship for the long term
“Regenerating the land is a step ahead of sustaining it,” says one Alberta producer
Reading Time: 7 minutes Tom Towers grew up on stories of plenty and lack. As a boy, his grandfather would tell him about a time when you could take a boat from the family farmstead into town — and in the next breath, about a time it was so dry, you could drop a crowbar down the cracks in […] Read more
Tories’ climate plan focused on green investment
The federal Conservatives’ proposed replacement for the Liberal government’s framework on climate change offers several shout-outs to farmers, in a document focused on green investment rather than current consumption patterns. The lead opposition party’s plan, launched Wednesday by leader Andrew Scheer, proposes to scrap the Trudeau government’s current carbon pricing plan, which imposes levies on […] Read more
Conservation program has lots of love — but not as much money
Reading Time: 3 minutes [UPDATED: April 20, 2019] An innovative ecosystem services program has grown at “lightning pace” in Alberta over the past three years — but future growth could be limited if ALUS Canada can’t attract additional funds. “We have a waiting list of new communities that would like to join the program, but right now our largest […] Read more
Rain, rain don’t go away: How to capture more moisture on your land
When it comes to retaining rainfall, seeing is believing — and new infiltration tool does just that
Reading Time: 3 minutes Drought is a four-letter word in Alberta right now — but also proof that it’s critical to make the most of any moisture we get. “If we’re getting the types of rain we normally get, water infiltration probably isn’t that big of a deal,” said Ken Lewis, conservation co-ordinator with Red Deer County. “But in […] Read more
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