Practical solutions and community support can help farmers manage stress, mental health advocates say.

Why it matters: Farming can be one of the most stressful professions in Canada, with farmers experiencing higher-than-average rates of depression and anxiety.

As spring begins, farmers are thinking about what to plant and which seeds and crop protection products to use. Meanwhile, weather, markets and geopolitics are out of their control.

“Think about the farmers across the country who experienced droughts, who experienced flooding, who experienced tariffs,” said Chad Bouma, a social worker practicing in the rural area around Drayton, Ont.

“All those things probably have been going through their mind since the harvest time.”

Bouma said he’s seen the stress and anxiety lead to decision paralysis.

“Those farmers have real difficulty even kind of making those decisions, because they don’t want to make the wrong decision, because maybe the decision they made last year was the wrong decision.

Stress clouds the judgement ‘window’

Stress can often cloud a person’s judgement and decision-making abilities said Megan Burnside-Poitras, communications advisor with Agricultural Wellness Ontario. Burnside-Poitras spoke at the Eastern Ontario Crops Conference earlier this year.

In her presentation, she compared stress and judgement to a window.

“I look out my office window in the afternoon. I’m looking out into the farm, into an orchard. It’s a beautiful window to look at.”

“Most days, you know, that window is pretty huge, a big picture window, and it’s very clear, and I can see how beautiful it is out,” she said. “But occasionally, it’s harder to see out that window.”

In times of higher stress, it is common to experience ‘hyperarousal,’ an agitated state with higher energy, or ‘hypoarousal,’ a state of shutting down. Both these situations can cloud that window.

“It’s a whole lot harder to see that same beautiful visual that’s on the other side of it, even though it’s still there, because things are getting cloudy because of that stress.”

Outside factors like weather, tariffs, market prices and public perception can “draw the blinds” on the window, obscuring the view.

How farmers can manage stress

Bouma said the role of a social worker is to give farmers the tools to see their situation clearly and understand when they need support.

“Some farmers experiencing anxiety, they don’t know that it’s anxiety,” he said. “They might just think it’s stress that they can’t get over, and then they beat themselves up.”

Recognition and awareness-building are critical.

“A lot of the time we don’t actually know that there’s something wrong until something catastrophic has happened, or there’s a crisis,” Bouma said.

One of the most important things in high-stress times is to focus on prevention and mitigation measures, Burnside-Poitras said. This means identifying stress triggers, how they can be mitigated and focusing on what can be controlled. This could be as simple as staying rested, hydrated and well-fed.

Community a mental health advantage

When it comes to mental health, the advantage in agricultural communities is just that: community.

Burnside-Poitras cited a study from Stanford University which concludes “Social ties in general are going to lead to lower stress, anxiety and depression, higher self-esteem, greater empathy, increased trust and cooperation and enhanced well-being altogether” as well as a 50 per cent chance of a longer life.

“The community perspective for mental health and farming is the most important piece of this,” Bouma said. “I cannot emphasize that any stronger.”

“When we isolate (mental health) or we individualize it, then it’s not going to go very far, is it?”

“There’s a lot of resilience already built into farming,” he said. Farmers have often seen previous generations go through similar seasons.

Keeping the community connection can mean checking in on neighbours or getting involved with local community groups.

The rhythm of the seasons can also provide critical reflection time. Bouma said some farmers will do this on their own, while others may draw on peer groups.

“They are looking for practical solutions,” he said. “Hoping for the best is all well and good, but they also need to have pen to paper for that too.”

The seven-plex folding air drill seeder, part of the company’s eight-year-old Quantum line, is scheduled for a full market release in 2027.

Why it Matters: Larger equipment generally allows crop producers to work more acres in a relatively short period of time.

Garth Massie, director of sales for Morris’s parent company, Superior Farms Equipment (SFE), says the new seeder is aimed at enhancing productivity for crop producers working around 9,000 acres.

“Canadian farmers probably have the shortest seeding window of anyone in the world,” he says.

“They’re trying to get a lot of work done in a very short amount of time. So there’s been this continuous push on the machinery development side to help farmers get more acres planted every day.”

Aside from increased width (the largest Quantum on the market today is 80 feet), the machine also features an extra six inches (48 inches compared to the previous 42) of spacing per rank compared to smaller Quantum models.

This spacing improves residue handling relative to the seeder width, said SFE director of marketing Melissa MacLean.

“That’s going to maintain the flow without bunching up or plugging so you don’t have to sacrifice any of that by going to a larger machine.”

The decision to go with a fully mechanical seven-plex fold with a single pivot design was based on grower feedback favouring a “traditional” folding machine, says Massie.

The machine’s travel profile — at 28 feet, three inches wide and 18 feet, four inches tall — was designed to be low and narrow in the interest of operator safety.

“Transport underneath power lines … is your key consideration there,” says Massie.

Fertilizer use efficiency was another major consideration in the seeder’s development. The machine uses a high-capacity air system with a smooth, three-inch primary hose to allow easier passage.

“It doesn’t have that rough interior that can restrict airflow,” says MacLean, adding the smooth primary — based on testing — delivers 18 per cent better air flow compared to a rough interior hose.

It’s also paid off in delivery power, says Massie.

“In our testing, we’re able to deliver up to 500 pounds of fertilizer per acre at five m.p.h. (eight km-h). So that’s a really impressive number to hit.”

MacLean also touts the seeder’s independent opener system with “consistent depth control and proven seed/fertilizer separation across the full working width.”

Other specs are much the same as previous Quantums. One exception includes frame depth (96 inches centre to centre compared to 84 inches).

The official launch of the Quantum 100 foot will take place at Ag in Motion July 21-23 near Langham, Sask. It will be paired with the Morris 10 Series 1440 bushel air cart.

“I’m hoping that you would have had your planter in the shop over winter … and you would have done your inspections on gauge wheel arms, gauge wheels, things like that,” said Eric Bossuyt, account manager with AgWest in Russell, Man.

Ideally, storing a planter in a shop makes inspections easier and keeps it out of the weather, but that’s not always possible.

Bossuyt added that operators should also inspect meter units to make sure seals are intact. Adding some graphite lube to the seed disc while they’re in there also helps to keep them spinning smoothly.

Hose connections should be given a close look to make sure they are secure and that no splits have occurred while in storage, especially if the planter was stored outside.

Bossuyt said ultraviolet light weakens plastic hoses over time when exposed to the sun and can lead to holes, resulting in vacuum loss within the system.

Preparing for downtime

No matter how well prepared you may be when planting season begins, malfunctions or breakdowns can happen in the blink of an eye.

Bossuyt said that a common trouble spot for growers at planting season is poor singulation.

This is often caused by a hole in a hose causing vacuum loss or worn internal parts on the meters themselves, whether your doubles eliminator is worn or the seed disc is having some issues if it’s too tight.”

“Maybe you’re getting surging with the V-drive. Stuff like that can cause missed singulation.”

It may end up being as simple as a misplaced wire or poor contact point, but it’s better to protect your seeding time in the field and check components later.

“That’s going to cause you downtime to try and diagnose what’s going on in the field,” added Bossuyt.

To prepare for these situations, he recommended having at least one spare row for the row unit to swap out individual parts if they malfunction.

“Every module, you should have one spare. That way, you’re not running to the dealership for one little finicky module,” said Bossuyt.

It’s easier to do a quick swap to keep running and the producer can always check on it later if the part is dead or if a contact point wasn’t connecting properly.

Bossuyt also said operators should check their on and off times every season to avoid misses in the field.

These can be caused by technology changes, such as a guidance system, which can lead to poor communication between equipment.

“The hertz might change and you might have frequency issues” said Bossuyt.

Getting started, setups

Before hitting the field, a test run closer to home is always a good idea in case a repair or a part swap-out is needed.

“Pull out the planter and simulate planting,” said Bossuyt.

“Run a few seeds out in the yard, fill it up, do whatever. You just want to make sure all your sensors are working, all your meters are running.”

Bossuyt said this is also a good time to check singulation and GPS timing and to ensure the on and offs are operating as intended.

Any fine tuning can be done in the field once you’ve confirmed everything is in good working order.

Ensuring good seed-to-soil contact should also be done once you’re in the field.

Bossuyt said the biggest thing equipment operators can do in this instance is to get out of the tractor cab.

“Not everybody wants to hear that, but we’ve got to get out,” said Bossuyt,

“We’ve got to be checking if the sun’s beating down and soil is drying up. We might need to adjust our depth or adjust our closing pressure, things like that.”

At the start of the year, analysts expected a comfortable supply of crude this year, but as this column was written, the war has made the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage between Iran and the Gulf states, through which 20 percent of global oil trade flows, into a virtual no go zone.

Ship owners and insurance companies don’t want to risk the dangers of passing through the strait, which is in close range to Iran’s missiles and drones.

Depending on how long the war lasts, it could seriously increase farmers’ costs for fuel and fertilizer.

The region is a major source of nitrogen fertilizer, ammonia, natural gas, sulphur and phosphate, and ships carrying those goods were also blocked.

No one knows how long the hostilities will continue.

U.S. president Donald Trump said March 2 that the bombing campaign could go on “for another four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that.”

It is a fast moving story. Observations made as this column is written could become irrelevant by the time subscribers read it.

For example, on the afternoon of March 3, Trump said the United States would provide risk insurance to ships in the region and held out the possibility of the U.S. navy escorting ships through the strait.

Will this solve the logistics problem and cause energy and fertilizer prices to retreat? Who knows?

Apart from crude oil and natural gas, markets are not sure of the economic implications of the hostilities. Will it spur inflation, affect interest rates, slow economic growth?

Agricultural crop commodities have not soared like oil and gas.

This is not a disruption such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, two of the world’s largest grain producers.

There is a link between crude oil and vegetable oil because of biofuel, but soaring crude in the days following the start of the bombing campaign had little impact on soy oil and canola prices.

Those commodities have seen steady, gradual price rises for months.

Canola is helped by China dropping its tariffs on seed and meal and soy oil supported by the expectation of favourable regulation changes for the U.S. biofuel sector. Also, late winter and spring are often a time of crop price rallies.

While the situation has not sparked crop price rallies, it is increasing input prices just before the spring seeding campaign.

Farmers’ margins were already precarious, and this could push up the potential for losses.

Corn, with its thirst for nitrogen, might be the crop most affected.

Global nitrogen fertilizer supply is tight, with prices rising this year due to China export restrictions, strong demand from India and global production generally lagging behind demand. The price rose even higher on the Iran war.

Josh Linville, vice-president of fertilizer for StoneX, a financial services company strong in commodities analysis, posted a telling post on March 3 on X.

He noted that urea arriving at the port of New Orleans on Dec. 4 was US$350 a ton but had risen 71 per cent to $600 by March 3.

The December 2026 new crop corn futures contract in the same period rose to $4.73 a bushel, up from $4.65, an increase of two per cent.

He and others have previously noted that the price of urea relative to the price of corn is among the worst ever.

The price of other fertilizers are also very high relative to corn.

This raises the potential for farmers, particularly those who have not already bought fertilizer, to seed less corn than they were hoping to.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast in February that American farmers would lower corn area by 4.8 million acres to 94 million and increase soybeans by 3.9 million to 85 million.

The USDA survey-based Prospective Planting report comes out March 31.

Getting back to oil, at the end of 2025, many analysts expected that an oversupplied market would caused Brent crude to average around $55-$60 a barrel. On March 3, it was trading at more than $81. The build-up of tensions starting in January had already pressed the price to the $65-$70 range.

Stronger-than-expected Chinese demand and weaker-than-expected production increases from the U.S. and Brazil also supported the price this year.

Nevertheless, if the Iran war ended soon, prices would likely get back below $70 quickly. The expected surplus might not be as large as expected, but if were not for the war, there would not be a shortage.

OPEC+ is planning a modest production increase in April, which might or might not be a factor, depending on whether Persian Gulf shipping resumes.

Farmers are expected to stick with the 18.8 million spring wheat acres and boost their barley acres from the projection based on a December-January survey, as they respond to a spike in fertilizer prices due to the Iran war, an ongoing rally in canola prices, and a search for “safe” crops to grow in a geopolitically fraught world, they said.

Canada is the world’s top producer and exporter of canola seed and a top-five wheat exporter.

“I think we’re going to see some upward adjustment to the canola acres,” said analyst Jerry Klassen of Resilient Capital. “When this survey was done, canola prices were below the cost of production.”

In some areas like Alberta, many farmers can now make a small profit on canola at today’s forward prices, so farmers are likely to grow more, he said. An increase of 400,000-500,000 acres is likely.

“I’m sure they’re going to lean further in to the oilseeds if they have any opportunity at all,” said Lawrence Klusa of Seges Markets, noting the runup in global vegetable oil crop prices.

Canola prices rise after uncertain winter

Futures prices for 2026-grown Canadian canola are up by more than $80 per metric ton since mid-December, a bigger gain than most competing crops have experienced.

Farmers might also boost their acres of pulse crops like peas if the present surge in fertilizer prices continues, Klusa said. Pulse crops are able to produce much of their own nitrogen requirements, allowing farmers to grow them at a relatively low cost.

Canadian farmers have faced a host of issues this winter. China’s market was blocked to canola and peas by prohibitive tariffs that were reduced only in the past two weeks. Trade tensions with the U.S. and unclear U.S. biofuels policies made that major market for canola oil appear uncertain. The war in the Persian Gulf has suddenly made fertilizer costs and supplies look worrying.

Klassen said farmers are likely to stick with their spring wheat acres and boost their barley acres from what they told StatCan because of these risks and due to the likelihood of financial losses this year.

“Those are kind of safety crops and a good choice with the price of urea going through the roof and so much instability,” said Klassen.

1 acre = 0.405 hectares

To meet that demand, in February John Deere added a new, bigger air cart to its model lineup, the C1100T. It’s a four-tank cart capable of toting around 1,100 bushels.

That brings Deere’s total air cart lineup to 12 models: five tow-between versions with capacities from 350 to 650 bu. and seven tow-behind carts from 350 to 1,100 bu.

The C1100T takes all the features available in the existing lineup, plus a few new ones, and packs them into a higher capacity cart.

“The C1100T has all the great things the 850 has,” says Anthony Styczinsk, Deere’s marketing manager for air carts and planters.

“That all carries over from the C Series lineup into a bigger cart.

“When I think about the C1100T, it’s about productivity and efficiency. It has all the technology updates we brought to the C Series in 2025 with updates.”

The C1100T has four tanks. The small product tank size has been increased to 105 bu. The three main product tanks have 325, 155 and 535 bu. capacity. Eight primary product lines carry seed and fertilizer from them out to the drill.

The new cart gets an EZ Lift elevator to lift product bags up from a truck or ground level. There is also a longer and higher capacity conveyor for filling the tanks.

“The conveyor from the 850 changes,” says Styczinski. 

“We made it longer, lessening that angle really allows stuff not to roll back down that (steep) angle that you see on some of the other conveyors out there. it’s also bigger around.”

The EZ Cal calibration system that debuted on the existing model line, which allows for faster, easier rate calibration, will be available on the C1100T.

The John Deere Operations Centre will now have more real-time information available from the new cart. It will not only show how much product is left in the cart but will alsoestimate the number of acres the cart can cover before empty.

“(Before) you’d have to make those decisions yourself,” says Styczinski.

“As a tender truck driver, you can really lock in on where you need to be. When do I need to be there to refill?

“With Operations Center Mobile, you have that ability. Anybody that’s in the farm org can pull that up and see how many pounds are left in each tank and how long until they’re out. You have the desktop versions, Android or iPhone.”

To keep the cart rolling along and floating over wet ground, it rides on a set of radial 1100 tires at the front axle and dual 850s at the rear.

Deere will open its order books for the C1100T in April for deliveries in time for the 2027 seeding season.

“We’re excited about what it offers and what it’s going to bring our customers in productivity,” Styczinski says.

Several new features allow for more onboard fertilizer options, better seed placement and residue management.

“Planter advancements from John Deere are designed to help ensure the seed has the best chance to get off to a strong start,” says Anthony Styczinski, marketing manager for planters and air seeders.

For model year 2027, Deere planters will have an option for a dual-product fertilizer system that allows operators to carry and apply product in-furrow and/or off to the side. The company says that will give corn plants better access to the right nutrients at the right time in the growth stage, which should lead to higher corn yields.

The dual-product system includes both of the brand’s ExactShot and ExactRate systems.

ExactShot delivers nutrients directly into the seed furrow. Deere claims ExactShot can save growers up to 66 per cent of in-furrow nutrient input needs. ExactRate applies fertilizer off to the side of the furrow.

Planters can now be equipped with dual liquid fertilizer tanks with pumps mounted underneath them connected to stainless steel lines.

Both liquid tanks are equipped with level sensing, so an operator knows how much product is remaining in each tank.

Another update is a new agitation system, which is necessary to keep certain chemical blends suspended for even product coverage. An auxiliary tank option allows for the use of micronutrients, biologicals, fungicides and insecticides.

The dual fertilizer system is available from the factory on model year 2027 1775NT 16 and 24 row and DB60 24 row planters.

“We have thought through the entire planting experience, adding a way for the operators to know exactly what is going on with the planter,” says Styczinski.

“From the tractor cab, a display screen shows both fertilizer products on a single run screen. Additional improvements offer the operator to now select a dose length of four-inch and improvements to the map coverage page.”

Downforce automation

Also new this year to Deere planters is ExactDepth, which is an electric depth control that supports an in-cab, on-the-go range of depth adjustments and individual row unit depth calibrations.

2027 models also get downforce automation with FurrowVision. This automation determines the amount of downforce needed to optimize the furrow based on a number of factors, including initial margin setpoint, soil resistance, furrow health, raw depth, and ground contact.

FurrowVision also helps operators identify when residue is impacting the furrow, allowing them to manually optimize row cleaner settings. It uses three in-furrow cameras to provide real-time sectional views of the furrow, as well as depth measurement readings, residue detection filter and additional quality map layers available through the John Deere Operations Center.

Other features to help manage planter operations through Deere’s Operations Centre have been enhanced for 2027 as well.

Logistics is now available through the Operations Center available with the G5 Advanced license. It provides real-time monitoring of equipment location, work status and product levels. This can give tender drivers or anyone else on the farm detailed information about tank product and seed levels.

For Greg Stamp, he is hoping an early drop brings bountiful crops.

The Enchant, Alta., farmer seeded some spring wheat (AAC Oakman VB/AAC Westking) and durum (AAC Frontier) on Jan. 12 in a demo plot, mimicking research by Brian Beres on ultra-early seeding.

Why it Matters: With warmer southern Alberta weather, earlier seeding for spring wheat and durum opens up all sorts of possibilities for farmers

Beres conducted a four-year study that involved ultra-early seeding dates with hard red spring wheat on dryland sites in several locations across Western Canada, including Dawson Creek, B.C., Edmonton and Lethbridge, Alta., and Scott, Indian Head and Swift Current, Sask.

The overall conclusion was ultra-early seeding produced as good as, or in several cases, higher yields than crops seeded during the more traditional April/May seeding times. Seeding dates in the past have been more arbitrary, determined more by crop insurance deadlines than actual scientific research on sweet spots of seeding timing.

“The idea here is to treat the field like it’s a winter wheat crop. So we’ve got fall rye, trits, and winter wheat right beside it. Then we’re going to go in February and March again if we get a Chinook and the soil temperature warms up. Then we’re going to plant our normal spring demos in late April, beside all these as well.”

As a dryland farmer, the goal is to take advantage as much as possible of early moisture, and beating the heat for flowering and maximizing disease control. Stamp was aiming for 1 C at one inch in his planting. Stamp used a Crop Intelligence weather station with temperature and moisture probes to see how the seeding is faring.

The early-seeding practice is the exception, not the norm in southern Alberta, with other producers like Alison Davie at North Paddock Farms in Taber dabbling in it as well, according to Stamp.

“I think there’s value. I love this kind of research because it’s so practical to farmers. It’s not a typical practice, but I think long term, there’s going to be more people doing this,” said Stamp.

The initial hesitation by some farmers Stamp admits is the logistics of the practice. Putting a drill in the ground in January, people are at staff meetings or on holidays, and equipment may be in the shop getting repaired. Another challenge is weed control.

Pre-planning has to be done in September-October, with spraying your field or laying down a residual herbicide. In essence, treating it like a winter crop. Wheat and durum varieties developed in Western Canada have adapted for cold tolerance, battling abiotic stress in more frigid temperatures.

“Even with seed, we need to have the varieties that the person is going to want to plant cleaned and ready to go, so they can buy seed at that point too,” said Stamp, adding he is targeting a high plant stand at 40 plants per square foot.

“There some work being done on what varieties are better. How does vigor impact this? Some of those things are unknowns at this point that we are assessing.”

Ultra-early seeding takes a shift in traditional mindsets with the practice, but it all comes down to the bottom line if the practice is to be continued.

“If there is money to be made or risks to be reduced, then I think there’s an opportunity there,” said Stamp.

Stamp is doing a field day in June with hopes Beres will speak on his ultra-early seeding research.

Crop rotations, moisture conditions, price expectations and input costs/availability will be the main factors determining seeding decisions, said AAFC. “Additionally, heightened uncertainty surrounding international trade is expected to play a role in shaping planting strategies this year,” said the government agency.

Wheat

• Wheat area is projected to decrease 0.3 per cent, at 10.937 million hectares. Of that total, durum area is expected to decline to 2.461 million hectares, from 2.643 million in 2025/26, while other wheat will increase 2.2 per cent to 8.476 million hectares.
• A return to average yields would see total wheat production down 12.5 per cent on the year, at 34.979 million tonnes.
• Wheat ending stocks are forecast to dip to 5.700 million tonnes by the close of the 2026/27 marketing year, which compares with an estimated carryout of 7.5 million tonnes projected for 2025/26.

Canola

• Planted canola area is forecast to be up 1.9 per cent on the year, at 8.915 million hectares.
• However, production is forecast to decline to 19.200 million tonnes from the record 21.804 million tonnes grown in 2025/26 given a return to average yields.
• AAFC raised its call for 2025/26 canola exports to 8.200 million tonnes, from an earlier estimate of 8.000 million tonnes. Exports for 2026/27 were forecast at 7.500 million tonnes.
• Canola ending stocks were estimated at 2.750 million tonnes for the current marketing year and 1.650 million tonnes in 2026/27.

Barley/Oats

• Barley area is forecast to increase 6.1 per cent on the year, to 2.635 million hectares, while total production will dip to 8.450 million tonnes from 9.725 million tonnes the previous year.
• Oats area is projected to increase by 1.8 per cent, at 1.235 million hectares, with production down 9.4 per cent at 3.550 million tonnes.

Peas/Lentils

• Area planted to peas is forecast to be down 15.5 per cent, at 1.200 million hectares, while lentils are forecast to see a 9.7 per cent reduction in seeded area.
• Pea production is forecast to be down by 1.1 million tonnes on the year, at 2.850 million tonnes. Lentil production is expected to see a similar cut to production, at 2.250 million tonnes.

Soybeans/Corn

• A return to average yields in Eastern Canada, after hot and dry conditions hurt corn and soybean yields in 2025/26, is forecast to result in increased production for the two crops.
• Soybean area is forecast to increase by 2.6 per cent, at 2.401 million hectares, with production rising to 7.600 million tonnes from 6.793 million tonnes in 2025/26.
• While corn area is expected to be down by 0.7 per cent, at 1.520 million hectares, the early call from AAFC is for production to rise to 15.200 million tonnes from 14.867 million in 2025/26.

The On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF) application window opens Feb. 1, with a 70 per cent rebate on approved projects with an approved grazing plan in hand.

“Don’t wait until the very end of January to start your application,” forage specialist Jodie Horvath said in a presentation at the Innovation on the Range event in Bow Island, Alta., last month.

“You have lots of time to work on it (grazing plan) over the winter. It’s a perfect time to do some kitchen table design of maps and what not. There is help for doing these applications, and there’s also lots of workshops to help throughout the winter, throughout the provinces.”

The fund applies to rotational grazing with fencing, water and perennial seeding categories eligible for funding.

Items such as cross or electrical fencing, virtual fence collars, portable crops, flow-line pipelines or shallow barren pipelines for water development are covered along with mobile units. Drilling or broadcasting legumes into existing stands to improve them are covered for seeding.

“Water development, not source water. There’s other programs that cover that, like digging wells and dugouts,” said Horvath.

Alberta was given $21 million this year to distribute to producers, enough for 42 projects.

“We have some projects that are massive. We have one that is 1,300 hectares that are looking to go in and intensify their grazing, so they needed a razor grazer and they seeded, they put in $70,000 worth of seed,” said Sonja Shank, program co-ordinator at the Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta, which helps deliver the OFCAF funding.

“So make sure you are in the know of what is out there. I’ll go into some of these meetings and nobody heard of OFCAF. And then I feel bad because it was a $210 million program across the country.”

Many tools are available to ranchers, including the online advanced grazing systems that can help producers get started on the application process and access help from mentors.

Project reimbursement for producers who become mentors increases from 70 to 85 per cent. There are currently 200 mentors, with more being trained over the winter.

An advanced grazing program helps with:

• Extending the grazing period.
• Increasing pasture yields.
• Improving forage quality for livestock.
• Reducing weed pressure.
• Improving nutrient cycling.
• Helping build soil health.

The OFCAF’s objective is to support farmers in adopting beneficial management practices that store carbon and reduce greenhouse gases, specifically in nitrogen management, cover cropping and rotational grazing practices.

The CFGA works solely to support the rotational grazing practices stream in Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec and Saskatchewan.

Shank is the contact for Alberta OFCAF along with other available programs. Funding can be retroactive for purchases made after February 2025.