Conservation efforts pay off for farmers

Jul 26, 2023

Farmers are learning that environmental stewardship can pay dividends.

During a recent field day, the Seine Rat River Watershed District highlighted two of the four projects in which farmers were able to take advantage of Alternative Land Use Services Canada (ALUS) funding to incentivize environmental upgrades to their land.

The district entered a partnership with ALUS in 2019, but the funding expanded to include the option of regular payments to farmers in some cases.

“Prior to 2021, we couldn’t give an annual payment as a supplement to a project,” says district manager Joey Pankiw. “We would just be paying for the establishment costs, and then the land would be taken out of production, and the farmer wouldn’t get any compensation.”

However, in 2021, the funding arrangement was amended so farmers could receive annual payments, which has helped encourage program uptake.

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Video: Democratizing Gene Editing - Pairwise’s Vision for the Future of Agriculture

Pairwise has built its business around an idea that runs counter to how many companies approach innovation: make transformative technology easier to access.

In this Seed World interview, CEO Tom Adams discusses why broader access to gene editing could speed crop improvement, expand innovation opportunities and help agriculture address emerging challenges. He explains why Pairwise believes no single company can solve all of agriculture's problems alone—and why making advanced breeding technologies available to more organizations could accelerate progress across the industry.

The conversation explores how consumer trust influences technology adoption, why innovations like pitless cherries and seedless blackberries matter beyond convenience, and how future crop improvements could help address labor shortages, automation, harvest efficiency and other production challenges. Adams also shares his perspective on what the industry may be underestimating about the next wave of gene editing innovation.

Watch the full interview to hear why Pairwise believes agriculture is approaching an important inflection point for gene editing, and why the pace of innovation over the next decade could surprise the industry.

Topics Covered:

o Democratizing agricultural innovation

o Consumer trust and technology adoption

o The business case for sharing innovation

o Expanding innovation beyond major crops

o Next-generation breeding technologies