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A big push is now underway
to encourage farmers in Alberta to reduce
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—and
increase profits while they’re at it.
“[Farming 4R Land] is designed to help
Alberta farmers get better economic and
environmental results through better
stewardship of fertilizer products,” said
Clyde Graham, vice-president of strategy
and alliances at the Canadian Fertilizer
Institute (CFI).
Farming 4R Land (Alberta) is part of
a new national project by the CFI that
aims to ensure as much fertilizer as
possible ends up in the bin, rather than
the air or water.
“The more nutrients you get into the
plant, the better the return,” said Dan
Heaney, the top soil fertility scientist on
the project. “And the more nutrient you
get in the plant, the less there is to wander
off and get into trouble in the water or
come off as greenhouse gas.”
In recent years, Heaney said a
lot of high-level research into
fertilizer use optimization
has been done across North
America. The result of this
research is the “4R” meth-
od of fertilization, which
focuses on applying the right
fertilizer source, at the right
rate, at the right time and in
the right place. Following these
best practices optimizes fertiliz-
er uptake, and reduces runoff and
GHG emissions.
For example, Heaney said, fertilizing
in the winter is generally the wrong time,
since most of the nutrients can’t penetrate
the frozen ground and will simply run off
in the spring, taking the farmer’s invest-
ment with it. Similarly, “broadcasting”
fertilizer equally across entire fields is less
effective than ensuring higher concentra-
tions are spread onto areas that need it
most, Heaney said.
“The 4R method is aimed at reducing
the environmental impact of fertilizers,”
he said. “It’s not a fertilizer reduction
program.”
Reducing the amount of nitrous oxide
that is released into the atmosphere from
the province’s agricultural land is a key
goal of Farming 4R Land.
According to Heaney, all agricultural
land emits a baseline level of nitrous
oxide, even when unfertilized, due to nat-
urally occurring chemical processes. En-
suring more nitrogen gets into the target
crop, he said, helps keep this greenhouse
gas out of the atmosphere.
Fertilizing for theFuture
By JEFF DAVIS
FARMING
FOR TOMORROW
Farming4R Landhelpsgrowers enrich soil the rightway
The Province of Alberta has set targets
to reduce GHG emissions from agricultur-
al land with the Nitrous Oxide Emission
Reduction Protocol (NERP).
Graham said this presents Alberta farm-
ers with an opportunity to make some
extra money on the side by collecting and
selling offset credits.
“If they can get involved in offset
projects, they can make some money
by getting some offset credits,” he said.
“These can then be sold to large indus-
tries that have emissions and need those
offsets to comply with Alberta’s emis-
sions programs.”
Farming 4R Land estimates that using
the 4R best practices will reduce GHG
emissions by 15 to 25 per cent by using
nitrogen fertilizer more efficiently.
Bruce Ringrose, vice-president of
business development at GHG emissions
management provider ClimateCHECK,
said global companies like Walmart and
Unilever have also set targets to reduce
emissions throughout their supply chains.
Alberta’s farmers risk losing market share
to regions that are using more sustainable
practices if an effort isn’t made, he added.
“The downstream supply chain is start-
ing to ask for more and more information
about environmental stewardship on the
farm,” Ringrose said. “And the 4R frame-
work is a potential tool to demonstrate to
the supply chain that good practices and
stewardships are occurring.
“We need to be able to demonstrate we
can be good stewards of the land.”
Training courses in the 4R method are
available online, and farmers interest-
ed in participating in the program can
learn more from their crop advisors or
agri-retailers.
Winter
2014
Grains
West
46