Lowering fertilizer use should come in ways that don’t reduce the capacity for yield increase in crops.

Are greenhouse gas emission reduction goals too costly?

Reducing fertilizer use might be a tough target without cutting production and incomes, says industry

Glacier FarmMedia – A recent report prepared by accounting firm Meyers Norris Penny says Canadian farmers could lose $48 billion over the next eight years if the federal government moves ahead with plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from on-farm fertilizer use by 30 per cent. In its report entitled Implications of a Total Emissions […] Read more

Gord Green, right, and his son Dave of Greenholm Farms near Embro stand in front of the farm’s biodigester, which uses both on-farm and off-farm sources of organic waste.

Provincial rule changes could boost biodigesters

Ontario regulations will allow for more off-farm materials to be used in digesters

It may become easier to install and use on-farm biodigesters due to recent regulatory changes implemented by the Ontario government. The annual volume allowance has quadrupled and limitations on types of materials from off-farm sources have been eased. Limits are also being eased for on-farm source materials. Why it matters: The changes are expected to […] Read more

The private sector has an important role to play in fostering a carbon market that encourages responsible investment and catalyzes meaningful engagement in agricultural offset projects.

How the private sector can boost agriculture’s role in carbon markets

Agriculture is emerging as a key sector for generating carbon offsets that will help companies and countries meet their net-zero targets. Carbon markets are also a pathway to incentivize farmers to adopt practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance carbon storage in soils and vegetation.  In Canada, Alberta farmers were the first to gain […] Read more

An unclear Clean Fuel Standard

An unclear Clean Fuel Standard

Farmers wary of potential for lost acres, inadequate credit system

Canada’s Clean Fuel Standard act – intended to achieve a reduction of 30 million tonnes of annual greenhouse gas emissions in fuel and energy – includes restrictions on land use for crops grown for biofuels. Ambiguous language and stipulations regarding buffer strips, however, have some growers concerned they will lose the ability to grow crops […] Read more

From left: 1-clean water; 2-ammoniacal nitrogen; 3-bio-liquid potassium. The Solugen treatment creates clean water and usable nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, all of which can be put back into farm soils or put into other uses.

Hog manure treatment could limit need for manure pits

Canadian technology separates manure into water, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus

Solugen, a Quebec-based company, is testing a manure separation technology on a hog farm. Widespread implementation of the technology could limit the need for manure pits. The technology was invented to assist in the treatment of liquid residual materials to help simplify wastewater management while enhancing the value of contaminants. It didn’t take long for […] Read more


Yara executive touts fertilizer as greenhouse gas solution

Yara executive touts fertilizer as greenhouse gas solution

Company believes more efficient production will avoid destroying forests for extra cropland, but other groups disagree

Fertilizer companies can do more good than bad when it comes to combatting greenhouse gases, according to Yara’s chief executive officer. Svein Tore Holsether said agriculture is responsible for one-quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. “On the one hand, that is a big challenge, but it is also a very big opportunity,” he told analysts […] Read more

Canada's PM Trudeau walks to the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa

Opinion: Senate report calls for agriculture carbon off-set credits

Capital Letters with Kelsey Johnson of iPolitics

The Senate forestry and agriculture committee says the federal government should develop a series of carbon offset credits for the Canadian agriculture industry as well as exempt all on-farm heating and cooling fuels from federal carbon pricing. Those are only two of several recommendations included in the committee’s highly anticipated report on climate change, released […] Read more

About 34 per cent of corn produced in Ontario already goes to ethanol production.  Photo: John Greig

Ontario proposal aims to double ethanol blend in fuel

Government move would boost corn market in the province

An Ontario government proposal could dramatically increase the amount of Ontario corn going into ethanol production and help bring consistency to the basis price for corn in the province. The government has posted its proposal to increase ethanol content in the province’s gasoline from five to 10 per cent to the Environmental Bill of Rights […] Read more