Grainswest - Fall 2022

Fall 2022 grainswest.com 11 BY TREVOR BACQUE • PHOTO COURTESY OF GOVERNMENT OF CANADA adoption. To that end, it’s important to understand why farmers adopt certain practices and then properly communicate this to a broader agricultural audience. “This knowledge also helps with policy development when it comes to identi- fying and potentially even providing appropriate incentives for producers to adopt certain practices,” she said. She also noted certain practices are great in theory, but a financial obstacle may pre- vent farmers from adopting them. Other times, the government may want to see action, but there’s no direct benefit to a farmer. “If we’re thinking about a pro- ducer implementing a practice on-farm that maybe doesn’t have a benefit to their operation, but the government really wants this to be implemented, what do they need to provide producers with in order to make that happen?” she said. Schmid also hopes the Living Labs ini- tiative can help answer the “million-dol- lar question” of what the true potential is to cut GHGs in Alberta. She noted mod- elling is great, but it’s simply modelling. Hard data is required to understand and measure a program’s effectiveness. She pointed out the Canadian beef industry pledged a 3.4 million tonne carbon re- duction in emissions each year while also reducing overall emissions by 33 per cent by 2030. Simply put, Schmid said these figures are difficult to pin down. “And that’s especially true when it comes to carbon sequestration,” she said. “Carbon sequestration is usually a slow and incremental process that’s also af- fected by environmental conditions. You need quite a bit of time to see measurable differences. And because the rate of gain is relatively small due to individual man- agement practices, we need to be able to multiply that out over a large number of acres for those differences to really start to be apparent and significant.” Schmid admitted there are promising technologies now available, or soon to be, that can reduce GHG emissions but more validation is required to gain greater uptake by farmers. Sheri Strydhorst, a farmer and agrono- mist near Barrhead, helped Schmid work “A program like this can really help to informwhat management practices can improve productivity and profitability for producers while also having that positive environmental impact.” —Karen Schmid on the program application while work- ing for the Barley and Wheat commis- sions. She said it made sense for the crop commissions to be part of the work with ABP because of the total acres served. “We want to make sure representation is present in the Living Labs; to make really measurable differences in carbon sequestration, it needs to be done on the majority of the farmed acres in the province,” she said. “We’ve lost some of the synergies between the livestock and the crop production system, and this is a way we can keep that specialization and the benefits from that, but maybe look at new models of how we can integrate our systems together for those sustainable benefits.” The project will ideally include 15 farmers each from the Lethbridge, Edmonton and Peace regions of Alberta. These participants will then hopeful- ly influence their neighbours through conversations about what is happening at their farm or ranch. “We were provided with maps [from AAFC] that indicate where there is the most potential to sequester carbon throughout the province,” she said. “Like anything, you start with the low-hanging fruit. So, in areas where there is perhaps lower soil organic matter, it’s easier to sequester carbon there than maybe in a soil where you already have higher organ- ic matter. We really were focused on the areas of easy wins.” For some areas of the province, certain practices, such as cover cropping just don’t make sense for everyone. However, Strydhorst pointed to the adoption of no-till farming as a primary example of a practice that benefitted farmers through- out the province. She hopes Livings Labs can produce another no-till style winner. “What is the next step to make further gains in increases in carbon seques- tration?” she said. “Because it made economic and profitability sense on-farm, that’s what we’re really looking for, is the next step in that process that makes economic sense and profitability sense on-farm.” Strydhorst is optimistic this program can be a way for farmers to take the bull by the horns and get out from constantly being on the receiving end of whatever government policy is released. It’s their chance to work new practices into their regular farm activities. This may include modifying a practice to suit their equip- ment or specific environment. “This is that chance to have a say, and to make things work,” she said. “So, it is a win-win for our contribution as agriculture to sequestering carbon. Also because I know farmers have done this in the past and really are proud of that. They really feel jaded when they don’t get credit for it.” To learn more, visit agriculture. canada.ca/en/agricultural-science-and- innovation/living-laboratories-initiative.