Reading Time: 4 minutes It was a dramatic claim — if Canadian farmers reduce their fertilizer use by the federal government’s proposed 30 per cent, they could lose $48 billion by 2030. It came last month in a release from Fertilizer Canada, which said that, that would be the loss if Canada followed the European model of cutting fertilizer […] Read more

Industry and farm organizations fear fertilizer volume cuts
A made-in-Canada approach using 4R proposed as a means for meeting emissions targets

U.S. farm co-op CHS to pay members to enrol in Bayer carbon farming program
Reuters – Agricultural seeds and chemicals supplier Bayer AG is expanding its carbon farming program to members of U.S. farm cooperative CHS Inc, boosting incentives for members to participate in the program, the companies said on Wednesday. The agreement will make it easier for CHS’s 75,000 farmer-members to enrol in Bayer’s Carbon Program, an early […] Read more

U.S., UAE lead $4-bln effort to help farming adapt to climate change
Johannesburg | Reuters – The United States and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday used COP26 climate talks to launch efforts to channel funding into making agriculture resilient to climate change, as well as to cut its emissions. The farming industry, a major part of the U.S. economy, is already battling the effects of climate change, including […] Read more

Water outlook ‘bleak’ as glaciers recede in Rocky Mountains
Loss of glaciers would greatly affect summer flows of rivers, already seeing lower water levels
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters – Where fly fisherman Shane Olson once paddled summer tourists around in a boat, he now guides them by foot — carefully navigating shallow waters one step at a time. “Every year, these rivers seem to be getting smaller, faster,” the 48-year-old said as he whipped a fishing line over the Crowsnest River. “We […] Read more

EU parliament committee approves farm subsidy reforms
Brussels | Reuters — The European Parliament’s agriculture committee on Thursday approved a deal to overhaul the European Union’s huge farming subsidies, including new measures aimed at making agriculture greener. The committee approved three pieces of legislation, which from 2023 will govern spending from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) — a scheme that will […] Read more

AgCanada rolling out $200-million initiative to cut agricultural emissions
Cover cropping, reducing nitrogen use, and rotational grazing to be promoted by new program
Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal government is looking for partners to help farmers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions — and is putting $200 million on the table for three “target areas.” The three areas are cover cropping, nitrogen management, and rotational grazing practices, the government said in a release issued a few days before the federal election call. […] Read more

Once-in-50-year heat waves now happening every decade: U.N. climate report
Reuters – Extreme heat waves that previously only struck once every 50 years are now expected to happen once per decade because of global warming, while downpours and droughts have also become more frequent, a U.N. climate science report said on Monday. The report www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1 found that we are already experiencing those effects of climate […] Read more

What’s the latest news on cattle and carbon?
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Beef Cattle Resource Council has created a new primer on cattle and greenhouse gases. The ‘Beef Cattle & The Carbon Cycle’ web page, for example, looks at carbon sequestration on grasslands and why they’re a more stable carbon sink than forests but also why it’s hard to say with precision how much carbon is […] Read more

Federal budget plays to mixed reviews from ag groups
Funding for green initiatives, carbon pricing rebate plan hailed
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) says it is “pleased” the 2021 federal budget included some of the recommendations it had made. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s first budget, released April 19, included significant spending to help producers transition to a greener economy and cited agriculture as a foundational pillar of Canada’s future. “CFA will be […] Read more

Top court upholds federal carbon pricing policy
Farm groups, fearing unsustainable costs, press for next steps
Calgary/Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s Supreme Court ruled in favour of the federal government’s carbon pricing policy on Thursday, upholding a central pillar of Prime Minister Justin’s Trudeau’s climate plan and infuriating some provinces that opposed it. The country’s top court said climate change is a threat to Canada as a whole and upheld the […] Read more