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Tag Archives Environment

Group calls for investment in farm greenhouse gas reduction
Farmers for Climate Solutions says $300 million is needed from government
Reading Time: 2 minutes A group of farmers is calling for the federal government to invest $300 million to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on farms. Farmers for Climate Solutions says such an investment could reduce agricultural emissions by 10 million tonnes. Why it matters: The federal government is currently working on creating its 2021 budget and there’s an expectation […] Read more

EU farmers could get cash to curb emissions from belching livestock
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — Farmers should get European Union funding to reduce methane emissions from livestock or increase organic farmland, the European Commission said on Thursday, under plans to make agriculture greener. The EU is nearing the end of a two-year battle to overhaul its massive farming subsidies scheme, to attempt to align the agriculture […] Read more

Small farmers called key to fight against climate change
Bayer president says the world’s ‘smallholder’ producers can make a difference by sequestering carbon in their soil
Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – The smallest farmers might be the key to successfully using agriculture to fight climate change, Bayer Crop Science President Liam Condon said in a recent presentation. So many millions of “smallholder” farmers have so much improvement possible on their farming that the gains could be huge. Why it matters: Population growth is […] Read more
Environmental Farm Plan update process eased
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA) has made it easier for producers to update their Environmental Farm Plan (EFP). Farms with a third or fourth edition EFP are now eligible to renew through a new, one-day workshop. “Farmers requested an efficient way to update their EFP and take their best management practice learning […] Read more

Harvesting riparian buffers sees little impact to water quality
Science Notes: Harvested vegetation could increase biofuel efforts
Reading Time: 2 minutes Allowing farmers to harvest vegetation from their riparian buffers will not significantly impede the ability of those streamside tracts to protect water quality by capturing nutrients and sediment – and it will boost farmers’ willingness to establish buffers. That is the conclusion of Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences researchers, who compared the impacts of […] Read more

Burnbrae solar farm wins Excellence in Agriculture award
Reading Time: < 1 minute Burnbrae Farms is one of the recipients of the Ontario government’s Excellence in Agriculture awards. The province made the announcement at the start of the recent Ontario Agriculture Week. Burnbrae Farms operates the largest solar-powered egg farm in Canada, operating off the electricity grid. Four barns use high-efficiency motors, lighting and ventilation systems to ensure […] Read more

Editorial: When good policy is foiled by bad additions
Biodiversity provisions are unworkable in clean fuel standards
Reading Time: 3 minutes The increase in demand for biofuels coming from the federal government’s Clean Fuel Standard should be a cause for celebration for farmers, but there’s concerning fine print in the regulations. It can be argued that ethanol policy over the past 20 years has been the most successful farm support program in history. It created a […] Read more

Low-carbon plan aims for premiums
Agriculture companies increasingly see carbon scoring as opportunity
Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – What does it take to produce a bushel of grain? How much fertilizer, fuel, chemical and carbon? These are questions a new company — Gro Network — hopes to answer. If things go as planned, farmers who participate in Gro Network’s low-carbon grain scoring program will receive premium pricing for every bushel […] Read more

The economics of cover crops
Ridgetown research highlights profitability gains and losses in grain and vegetable systems
Reading Time: 2 minutes The impact of cover crops on profit margins is a long-contested subject, but new data from the University of Guelph shows some clear winners and losers. Vegetable crop yields, specifically, benefit most – grains not so much, unless farmers get credit for carbon sequestration. Studies showing the economic costs and benefits of cover crops exist, […] Read more

Continually agitated manure system launches in North America
Irish-developed system installed in new Wellington County dairy barn
Reading Time: 4 minutes In an innovative new dairy barn near Moorefield, the centuries-old practice of composting solid manure is being combined with a new-to-North-America approach to continually agitating liquid manure. On May 12, Kristina and Simon Signer moved their 53 Brown Swiss from a tie-stall set-up in the Sigview Farms bank barn to a new composting bedded pack […] Read more
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