Reading Time: < 1 minute The benefits from well-managed livestock systems got some recognition at the recent COP27 in Egypt, says Alberta cattle producer Bob Lowe, who attended the UN’s annual climate conference as an official observer. “Beef producers experience climate-related events firsthand and we work every day to continuously improve our working landscapes for generations to come,” Lowe said […] Read more
Cattle producers ‘aligned’ with climate goals
Soil moisture more critical than rainfall to estimate climate impact
Yields don’t always correspond to rainfall amounts, but researchers have solved that mystery
Reading Time: 2 minutes You don’t need a PhD in agriculture to know that water is critical to crop production. But for years, people like Jonathan Proctor have been trying to explain why the importance of water isn’t showing up in statistical models of crop yield. “Studies analyzing how crop yields respond to temperature and rainfall tend to find […] Read more
Schoepp: The business of carbon credits is murky and risky
The payments are small and the agreements are often complex and ill-defined
Reading Time: 3 minutes In overall climate discussion, there is constant reference to trade in terms of carbon sequestration known as carbon credits. This is a global movement in carbon offsets under an assumption that the land, sea, and forests will absorb all carbon from total greenhouse gases. Does this benefit Canadian farmers and consumers? It’s a complex matter […] Read more
Research with a twist: Farmers in the driver’s seat in Living Lab
Participating producers will be full partners in new program run by ABP
Reading Time: 4 minutes A new climate change initiative in Alberta will put producers in the driver’s seat so they can test-drive best management practices and see what works. The concept is called Living Labs, a three-year-old program that is already showing results in other provinces and is being implemented nationally. The version being rolled out here is called […] Read more
Schoepp: Climate-focused diet misses the mark in targeting meat
Advocates of ‘climatarian’ diet need to look at entire picture when it comes to livestock
Reading Time: 3 minutes The ‘climatarian’ diet promotes the elimination of beef and lamb. The original movement is based on the premise that elimination of these ruminants reduces carbon emissions. Beef and lamb, the founders claim, leave the largest carbon footprint. Being climate conscious involves more than choosing one main point, such as carbon, and one culprit, such as […] Read more
U.N.-backed investors set fresh targets in sustainable food shift
Reuters – A U.N.-backed group of global financial institutions including Dutch lender Rabobank on Thursday set out a series of company specific environmental and social targets aimed at helping drive a shift to a more sustainable food system. Set by a group of 11 firms in the Good Food Finance Network, including Nuveen Natural Capital […] Read more
Federal climate cash gets a welcome from producers here
Many farmers had rotational grazing, cover crops or nitrogen management on their to-do list
Reading Time: 3 minutes Federal climate cash is flowing out the door and being put to work on rotational grazing, cover cropping or nitrogen management projects on Alberta farms. “We’ve been out on a couple of farms to see projects and talk to people,” said Fiona Briody, program manager for RDAR (Results Driven Agriculture Research). “There are just really […] Read more
Opinion: Synthetic milk is no longer a sci-fi fantasy, it’s here already
Backers of this alternative milk say their product is indistinguishable from the real thing
Reading Time: 3 minutes The global dairy industry is changing and among the disruptions is competition from alternatives not produced using animals, including potential challenges posed by synthetic milk. Synthetic milk is produced without animals. It can have the same biochemical makeup as animal milk, but is grown using an emerging biotechnology technique known as “precision fermentation” that produces […] Read more
Opinion: The emissions controversy offers an opportunity for both sides
Like many farmers, I’m concerned but also see there’s a way to move forward if we work together
Reading Time: 3 minutes You may have heard the buzz lately. There has been a lot of talk about emissions, environmental impact, and what the future looks like with a changing climate. The past few weeks have been dominated by conversations about the government of Canada’s plan to reduce emissions from on-farm fertilizer use. With little substance revealed regarding […] Read more
Window for getting climate fund cash closes in early November
There’s been a rush of applications for grants, which can be as much as $75,000 per farm
Reading Time: 2 minutes The main Alberta administrator of funding under the On-Farm Climate Action Fund — a program offering up to $75,000 per farm — says its application deadline for the first round of funding is Nov. 7. Around 200 operations put in applications in the first month after the application window opened Aug. 4, Results Driven Agriculture […] Read more
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