A slight economic impact has been predicted once Alberta’s new climate change policy comes into effect in January. The plan, which includes the end of coal-fired electricity plants by 2030 and higher levies on carbon emitters, would slow economic growth by .05 percent, according to a government document released Oct. 31. The government has developed […] Read more
Tag Archives Environment
Can farmers do more to cut emissions?
The average canola yield on the Prairies increased to 34.1 bushels per acre in 2010-13 from less than 25 bu. per acre in 2000-03. Meanwhile, greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural soil from applying nitrogen in Canada increased to 32 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2012 from 29 megatonnes in 2000. This means canola yields […] Read more
Keeping nitrogen from running away
A bioreactor trench 20 percent the size of a CFL end zone can filter up to 70 percent of the nitrates from an 80 acre tile drained field
Scientists around the globe are on a quest to keep cropland nitrogen out of waterways. A simple bioreactor trench filled with woodchips is one promising idea already being implemented. A great deal of research focuses on vegetated riparian buffer zones to absorb nitrogen and phosphorous, but these zones require a lot of land, which farmers […] Read more
Railways on side with emission limits
Canada’s two largest railway companies appear to be on board with Ottawa’s plan to limit polluting emissions for railway locomotives. Last month, the federal government announced its intention to place limits on Canadian locomotive emissions, bringing them in line with U.S. standards. The limits are aimed at protecting the environment and limiting the impact on […] Read more
Climate change research funded
Manitoba farm groups are taking part in a provincial program that looks for ways to reduce farm-related greenhouse gas emissions in the province. Keystone Agricultural Producers and the Manitoba chapter of the National Farmers Union are among the groups that entered new partnership agreements with the provincial conservation and water stewardship department Jan. 18. The […] Read more
Environmentalists target off-highway vehicles
Alberta groups want these vehicles banned on public land along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
Conservation groups in Alberta have called on the province to limit the use of off-highway and all-terrain vehicles on public land along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Such vehicle activity is affecting water quality and wildlife habitat and must be curtailed to avoid further damage, they said. In a Jan. 25 news release, […] Read more
Sage grouse to resettle in Alberta
Montana is giving sage grouse to Alberta this year to help stimulate growth of the province’s population of the birds. Sage grouse are considered an endangered species in Alberta and the province has a recovery plan designed to increase their numbers. Current estimates suggest there are fewer than 90 birds in the province, which is […] Read more
Carbon, nitrous oxide key to greener approach
Practices are available that increase soil organic carbon, but fixing more carbon in soil can have unintended consequences
Crop production’s carbon footprint is becoming more important, especially when selling feedstock for biofuel into markets operating under a carbon cap and trade framework. But how can growers reduce the amount of greenhouse gas that their farms emit? “You’re not going to be able to control how much energy it takes to make fertilizer or […] Read more
Ontario farm program targets Great Lakes
Producers can use funding from the program to improve their practices and prevent fertilizer runoff into water bodies
WARWICK, Ont. — Runoff from the long slope behind Lyle and Maaike Campbell’s farmstead races across the road into a little creek every spring. That’s a concern for the couple, who spread liquid swine manure on the adjacent fields at their farm near this rural hamlet in southwestern Ontario. They say it’s a waste of […] Read moreManitoba introduces new wetlands protection
Robert Stewart and Harold Kantrud, U.S. government scientists working at the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Centre in Jamestown, North Dakota, created a system for classifying wetlands in the 1970s. The system groups wetlands into seven categories. The first five are:
Manitoba is moving forward with new rules for wetlands drainage, based on a principle of no net loss. The province introduced legislation to protect wetlands in late November as part of broader changes to surface water management in Manitoba. Landowners wanting to drain a wetland would have to prove that the action provides “broad social […] Read more
