Native grass prairies and sunset

Grants preserve grasslands and wildlife habitats

Provincial funding funds conservation easements to protect 13,000 acres from development

Reading Time: < 1 minute The Alberta Land Trust Grant Program is giving more than $7 million to support 24 different projects that will conserve 13,000 acres of private land containing watersheds, grasslands and wildlife habitats. The grants will support projects by the Alberta Conservation Association, Ducks Unlimited Canada, the Legacy Land Trust Society, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, the […] Read more



Ducks Unlimited Canada conservation specialist Bryon Wolters points out the benefits of conservation easements to provincial policy specialist Warren Robb (right) and farmer Shawn Jacula (centre) at a real estate workshop this fall.

This ain’t your grandad’s conservation easement

Easements are changing with the times, making it less restrictive for producers to protect their wetlands

Reading Time: 3 minutes Producers can find the right buyers for their marginal lands — if they know where to look. “There is a market out there now for some of these parcels of land that producers might have a hard time off-loading because they’re wet,” said Warren Robb, provincial policy specialist at Ducks Unlimited Canada. And his organization […] Read more

cattle grazing grass

Cropland conversion program seeing increased uptake

Program gives rebates on Proven Seed forages for producers putting cropland into grass

Reading Time: < 1 minute There’s increased interest in a program that offers producers a price break when converting cropland to forages, says Ducks Unlimited Canada. “Declining prices for wheat and other cereal crops, as well as a simultaneous increase in beef prices, are leading many landowners to seriously consider the move to increase their cattle herd,” said Craig Bishop, […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Ducks Unlimited shifts forage incentive for Manitoba

A program encouraging Prairie farmers to improve waterfowl habitat by flipping cropland into hayland or pasture will continue the same this spring, except in Manitoba. The DUC/CPS forage program, offered by Ducks Unlimited Canada and Crop Production Services (CPS) Canada, will still see growers in Saskatchewan and Alberta get a rebate of $100 for each […] Read more

Western Winter Wheat Initiative gets $1-million boost

Western Winter Wheat Initiative gets $1-million boost

Reading Time: < 1 minute Winter wheat in Western Canada is getting a boost thanks to The Mosaic Company Foundation, the newest member of the Western Winter Wheat Initiative. The foundation is giving the initiative $1 million over the next three years. “Now that The Mosaic Company Foundation is on board, we are able to continue supporting the growth of […] Read more


Barry and Charmaine Ronsko have restored wetlands on one quarter and purchased 
two others under another restoration program.

Making it better when it is wetter — and when it’s dry, too

Ducks Unlimited has two wetlands restoration programs drawing on $31 million in provincial funding

Reading Time: 3 minutes Whether floods in 2013 or drought this year, extreme weather has taken its toll on producers throughout Alberta in recent years. The good news is Mother Nature can help with that. And the provincial government is also chipping in, with $31 million in funding over three years to encourage farmers and other rural landowners to […] Read more

overhead map of a watershed

What’s it worth? New project aims to nail down the value of wetlands

Innovative new project features a reverse auction in which producers ‘bid’ on the compensation they’d want for giving up acres

Reading Time: 4 minutes Wetlands often present a difficult choice for producers — keep them for their environmental value or drain them for the sake of the bottom line. Until recently, converting wetlands to croppable land was commonplace, and even encouraged by government projects that paid farmers to drain them. Wetlands advocates know it will take compensation to reverse […] Read more


 photo: laura rance

Alliance offers support for winter wheat growers

Bayer and JRI team up with Ducks Unlimited to promote 
agronomic and environmental advances

Reading Time: < 1 minute A new group aims to offer information and support to winter wheat growers. Bayer Crop Science, Richardson International, and Ducks Unlimited are collaborating on the Western Winter Wheat Initiative. “The purpose of this initiative is to build awareness and credibility of winter wheat as a highly productive crop option for western Canadian farmers,” says Janine […] Read more