EDMONTON – Slightly less than $6 million in federal and provincial money will help develop more agricultural offset programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the farm.
The new programs will join 10 existing agricultural offset programs in which farmers can trade their improved agricultural practices for carbon credits and cash.
Len Kryzanowski of Alberta Agriculture’s land use section said the money will be spent measuring and quantifying agriculture’s environmental footprint.
“This is our opportunity to show what is the agricultural footprint,” Kryzanowski said after the funding was announced at Farmfair International in Edmonton. “We want to develop mechanisms and tools to quantify the footprint and improve production for producers.”
Approved offset programs include adopting reduced tillage and reducing the amount of days on feed for pork and beef producers. A newly introduced program is for the improved use of nitrogen fertilizer.
About $38 million has been paid to Alberta producers in offset credits since the program began in 2007.
