Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program for Canadian Agriculture

The 1997 Kyoto Protocol called for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over 15 years to a level six per cent below the GHG emissions in 1990.

In response to the signing of the Kyoto Protocol, the Government of Canada created the Climate Change Secretariat which developed a process to assess climate change mitigation options, and initiated the Action Plan 2000 on Climate Change.

Under this plan, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) allocated $21 million to the Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program for Canadian agriculture. It will be the program’s responsibility to address agricultural GHG emission reduction and carbon sequestration enhancement in the areas of soil, nutrient and livestock management.

Goals

The GHG Mitigation Program’s goals are to:
  • identify management practices that reduce GHG emissions or increase carbon sequestration.
  • raise awareness and demonstrate to producers practices for soil, nutrient and livestock management.

Impacts on GHG reduction will be measured by scientists for specific practices and results will be reviewed to improve existing management practices. Practices that reduce GHG emissions in the areas of fertilizer formulation and application, livestock feeding and manure handling, and soil management will be addressed.

What was the CCA’s role?

The CCA administered the awareness, communication and demonstration component of the program for the participating national livestock groups.  Events are held across Canada to demonstrate the use of good management practices to reduce or remove atmospheric GHG.  

Good management practices

Many of the good management practices producers can implement to increase the production efficiency and thus the profitability of their beef operations also reduce GHG emissions per pound of beef produced, resulting in a win-win situation.

Production efficiency practices currently available to beef producers can often result in a decrease in GHG emissions per pound of beef produced. Such practical measures as testing feeds and balancing rations, implementing proper herd health and fertility programs, and avoiding the over-application and loss of valuable nutrients in manure are practices beef producers can adopt to ensure GHG emissions from the beef industry are minimized.

Some of these management practices include:

Grazing management strategies

  • increase the quantity and quality of forages on pastures and native rangelands
  • increasing the quantity of forage produced can increase the amount of carbon sequestered in soils
  • increasing the quality of forage can result in reduced methane emissions from the cow’s rumen

Feeding management strategies

  • intended to increase the efficiency of feed utilization by beef cattle
  • methane emissions from the rumen represent a loss of energy
  • although these emissions cannot be eliminated, they can be reduced, potentially resulting in feed cost savings to producers as well

Manure management strategies

  • preserve the nutrient content of manure can also result in decreased GHG emissions in the form of methane and nitrous oxide

For more information

To learn more about the beef component of the GHG Mitigation Program and/or the opportunities for project funding, please contact the beef project coordinator, Patricia Walker at (403) 601-8991 or pgwalk@shaw.ca.

If you’re interested in learning about the CCA’s involvement with the GHG Mitigation Program, visit http://www.jpcs.on.ca/biodiversity/ghg/mitigation/mitigation.html.