Reading Time: 2 minutes An application for the highly controversial Grassy Mountain coal mine has been turned down by a joint federal-provincial regulatory panel. “We find that the project’s significant adverse environmental effects on surface water quality and westslope cutthroat trout and habitat outweigh the low to moderate positive economic impacts of the project,” the panel for the Alberta […] Read more
Opponents hail decision to reject controversial coal mine proposal
Critics say Grassy Mountain coal mine would have polluted waterways, and a regulatory panel agreed
New federal grain dryer grant program about to launch
Indications are the new $50-million program will look a lot like one launched in Alberta last year
Reading Time: 2 minutes Farmers can start submitting applications this month for a federal program that will cover half of the cost of more energy-efficient grain dryers. Ottawa has set aside $50 million for the so-called “adoption stream” of its $166-million Agricultural Clean Technology Program. Another $10 million will be offered for “powering farms with clean energy and moving off […] Read more
Schoepp: People need to know livestock can be good for the environment
In a regenerative program, livestock bring a host of benefits — but that fact is being ignored
Reading Time: 3 minutes Livestock have come under the magnifying lens as being destructive for the climate and for the environment. Producers have been quick to respond and Canada leads the way globally with its environmentally conscious and sustainable beef supply chain. However, society as a whole does not understand the role of livestock in systems. The concept of […] Read more
Grasslands conservation effort gets $70-million boost
Major grasslands initiative to fund 800 stewardship projects across the Prairies
Reading Time: 4 minutes There have been a lot of grasslands conservation efforts, but none as large as the Weston Family Prairie Grasslands Initiative. Five organizations are being given nearly $25 million by the Weston Family Foundation for what may be the largest grasslands conservation effort ever in Canada. And each of the five groups will be committing additional […] Read more
Will the future be electric or driven by canola?
New fuel standard will give canola a major boost, but electric vehicles are a rival
Reading Time: 4 minutes Biofuels aren’t the only clean energy game in town, and a hoped-for boost for canola as a biofuel feedstock might be tempered by a surge in demand for electric vehicles. In December, the federal government released details of its Clean Fuel Standard, which ups the amount of biofuel in diesel. That prompted predictions it could […] Read more
Schoepp: Climate change policies — how will they impact your farm?
One of the newest initiatives is called rewilding and it illustrates the gulf between farmers and the public
Reading Time: 3 minutes Will changes in climate policy impact land use on your farm? We don’t know yet in Canada but here are some considerations and examples from around the world. Agriculture, and in particular animal agriculture, has long been proclaimed by special interest groups as climate culprits and has been accused of a litany of woes, stemming […] Read more
EU farmers could get cash to curb emissions from belching livestock
Brussels | Reuters — Farmers should get European Union funding to reduce methane emissions from livestock or increase organic farmland, the European Commission said on Thursday, under plans to make agriculture greener. The EU is nearing the end of a two-year battle to overhaul its massive farming subsidies scheme, to attempt to align the agriculture […] Read more
Climate change will bring drastic change here, say experts
Alberta has been hit hard by extreme weather in recent years, and a new report says more trouble lies ahead
Reading Time: 4 minutes Albertans can expect to see more extreme weather as climate change reshapes the landscape of the Prairies. “There’s quite a bit of strong scientific evidence that, in a warming climate, you can expect extreme weather events to occur with increased severity, in particular flooding and wildfire,” said Dave Sauchyn, director of the Prairie Adaptation Research […] Read more
Alberta weather disasters make Top 10 in 2020
Reading Time: < 1 minute It’s an unwelcome honour, but Alberta has two of the top three spots in Environment Canada’s Top 10 weather stories of the year. The June 13 hailstorm in Calgary caused an estimated $1.3 billion in damage – $386 million in smashed or cracked windshields alone along with pummelling “hundreds of thousands of hectares” of grain […] Read more
Stewardship projects getting ‘ticked off the to-do list’
ALUS Canada has seen a jump in interest in its conservation programs during the pandemic
Reading Time: 2 minutes The pandemic hasn’t just prompted more housebound urbanites to undertake property improvements — more farmers are also looking at conservation projects. ALUS Canada — which helps fund projects such as fencing riparian areas or protecting wildlife habitat — has seen more applications since COVID-19 struck, said Christine Campbell, ALUS Canada’s western hub manager. “We’ve actually […] Read more
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