Publications

Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Canadian Agriculture: Policies and Reduction Measures

Current reports indicate that during the 21st century, global warming of 1.5° C and 2° C will be exceeded. Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continue to increase in Canada, with the agricultural sector contributing approximately 10 per cent of these. Since GHG emissions are closely tied to population growth, it is imperative to act now to mitigate emissions because the agricultural sector is under pressure to increase production as the population grows. Estimates are that the world’s population will grow from 7.7 billion in 2019 to 9.7 billion by 2050. There is no one solution that will effectively mitigate GHG emissions in all regions. Different regions in Canada have different challenges and capacities to address their GHG emissions. Guidelines, programs, policies, and best management practices need to consider these regional differences to ensure their success. They also need to support sustainable development, food security, poverty eradication, justice, and equality. The key to designing successful regional policies is having carbon accounting programs that the industry is willing to use. Even though there are accounting schemes (globally, federally, and provincially), they are not consistent and have limited monitoring and verification of actual carbon reductions. In addition, producers do not use them due to the large amounts of paperwork and small economic benefit. Regularly monitored, seamless carbon accounting programs can be adopted within subsectors of the agricultural industry and within similar climatic regions to help determine potential carbon sinks and opportunities to minimize GHG emissions, as well as identify best policies for each region and subsector. Data from carbon accounting programs need to be shared and communicated to help align industry, provincial and federal GHG inventory programs. These data need to be included in the National Inventory Report for a better overall view of GHG emissions and the effects on them of programs and policies. 2 Adoption of a federal, provincial, and municipal carbon tax can also be an effective solution but there are many barriers to the carbon tax, including general public opinion. To make the carbon tax successful, there must be increased communication between policy-makers, agri-businesses, and the general public to help identify contexts and barriers to its adoption. Successful measures and practices for reducing agricultural GHG emissions tend to support technological solutions and do not face significant barriers to uptake, such as no-till practices, optimizing animal feed and additives, feed grain processing for improved digestibility and genetic selection and breeding, to name a few. Many of these techniques are already supported by provincial best management practices and farm stewardship programs. Finding policy solutions that increase farm net income while reducing GHG emissions in Canada is possible and will be the most successful. A few modeling tools are currently available to producers to assess GHG emissions of a variety of land uses and farm activities. The more user-friendly the models are, the more producers and businesses will use them, and the more data will be captured and used to improve GHG emission estimations and predictions, and mitigate GHG emissions from Canadian agriculture.

Wednesday, May 04, 2022

Ymène Fouli, Margot Hurlbert, and Roland Kröbel

Near-Term Methane Reduction Options

The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is a global goal across sectors. Methane, an especially potent greenhouse gas relative to carbon dioxide, is the target of the Global Methane Pledge, an undertaking by over 100 countries to reduce methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030. The agricultural sector is uniquely positioned to support Canadian methane reductions through mitigation of enteric fermentation in cattle. Enteric fermentation in dairy and beef cattle contribute to over 85 percent of methane emissions from the agriculture sector. Different mitigation strategies and technologies have demonstrated variable effect on methane reduction, depending on factors related to cattle diet, management, and operational practices. Relevant research and literature based on criteria related to potential application in western Canada and Canadian cattle production in the beef are dairy sector was collected and reviewed using PRISMA approach. Research in the beef and dairy sector were divided and compiled into separate databases to determine the most effective and impactful mitigation strategies. Overall, the use of 3NOP and marine algal strains as dietary additives were identified as the most promising technologies in reducing enteric fermentation, without negatively impacting production markers and subsequent profit. Tanniferous legumes as a forage also shows promise, however current findings in research demonstrate mixed effects on various production markers in dairy and beef cattle. Other mitigation strategies identified through the review process, including the use of various natural and synthetic dietary additives, require further investigation as inconclusive and insignificant results are predominant. To drive adoption of methane reduction strategies by farmers, introduction of the mitigation technologies and strategies discussed must align with Federal and Provincial policy development and implementation and ensure sufficient profit to producers, potentially through the sale of carbon offsets as the market development, in order to cover additional costs of adoption and incentivise use. Prompt introduction and adoption of the mitigation strategies discussed can effectively reduce enteric methane emissions in Canadian cattle herds, propelling Canada towards the 30 percent emission reduction goal in time for 2030.

Saturday, April 30, 2022

Courtney Kowk, Elena Vinco

Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Canadian Agriculture: Policies and Reduction Measures

Near-Term Methane Reduction Options

Global Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Enteric Methane

Global Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Direct Fertilizer-Based Emissions

Carbon-Credit Systems in Agriculture: A Review of Literature

Western Canada’s Flooded Supply Chain