Don Horsman thinks it’s only fair that farmers who do something worthwhile for all of society should be paid for it.
He was happy to recently accept a cheque for more than $1,300 that rewarded him for direct seeding and storing carbon in agricultural soil.
The first cheques from a three-year carbon trading pilot program went out earlier this month to 194 farmers in Western Canada and Ontario; 143 of those farmers are in Saskatchewan.
Producers in the brown soil zone received $2.38 per acre, while those in the black soil zone received $5.43 per acre.
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The federal environment department is purchasing the carbon.
“It’s not a lot of money,” Horsman said. “It’s just a pilot trade. But if the price of carbon goes up I would expect in the future with real trades the (money to farmers) would go up.”
Under the pilot, producers could enrol a maximum of 247 acres. Although there are a number of management practices that enhance carbon storage, only those acres under zero tillage-direct seeding qualified for this project.
Blair McClinton, executive director of the Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association, said as the project continues it will answer many questions about storing carbon and how emissions trading could occur in the future.
For example, there were lots of grey areas in the definition of zero till that had to be resolved, he said. Meyers Norris Penny acted as a verifier, randomly selecting participating land to see if it was being managed under the agreed-upon definition.
Other issues that arose included how to handle the use of forages in crop rotation, how livestock could eventually be included and what to do about soil disturbance due to wet harvest seasons and the resulting ruts in the field from combines.
Some farmers dropped out of the pilot for various reasons. For example, they were not allowed to fall-band fertilizer.
“Some looked at the price and decided to go ahead anyway,” he said.
That takes the land out for that year only, but McClinton said opportunity costs have to be weighed.
Horsman actually spent some money to participate this year. Producers can’t bale the straw on harvested fields and because he grew flax on the field involved, he installed a straw chopper on his combine to help manage the residue.
He believes farmers shouldn’t lock themselves into long-term agreements of this type because there might be circumstances where they need to change their practices.
“You wouldn’t want to sign a contract where you’re doing this every year,” he said. “Don’t get tied into something that is so long term that it could become a liability.”
