Sask. rolls out strategic programs

Mar 29, 2023

Saskatchewan has signed its bilateral agreement on farm supports with Ottawa and announced its strategic initiatives program for the next five years.

Agriculture minister David Marit, with federal rural economic development minister Gudie Hutchings, announced the $485 million spending plans under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership March 20. It takes effect April 1 and represents the non-business risk management portion of the policy framework.

About $89.4 million will be spent each year, compared to $71.2 million per year in the last agreement.

“It’s a 25 percent increase over the last five years,” Marit said.

Half of that increase goes toward the new Resilient Agriculture Landscapes Program and the other half is spread among the other initiatives.

“It’s to look at water quality, soil health and biodiversity, and we’ll have some overlap,” he said of RALP, which focuses largely on livestock.

Click here to see more...

Video: Swine Industry Advances: Biodigesters Lower Emissions and Increase Profits

Analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG emissions) in the Canadian swine sector found that CH4 emissions from manure were the largest contributor to the overall emissions, followed by emissions from energy use and crop production.

This innovative project, "Improving Swine Manure-Digestate Management Practices Towards Carbon Neutrality With Net Zero Emission Concepts," from Dr. Rajinikanth Rajagopal, under Swine Cluster 4, seeks to develop strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

While the management of manure can be very demanding and expensive for swine operations, it can also be viewed as an opportunity for GHG mitigation, as manure storage is an emission source built and managed by swine producers. Moreover, the majority of CH4 emissions from manure occur during a short period of time in the summer, which can potentially be mitigated with targeted intervention.

In tandem with understanding baseline emissions, Dr. Rajagopal's work focuses on evaluating emission mitigation options. Manure additives have the potential of reducing manure methane emissions. Additives can be deployed relatively quickly, enabling near-term emission reductions while biodigesters are being built. Furthermore, additives can be a long-term solution at farms where biogas is not feasible (e.g., when it’s too far from a central digester). Similarly, after biodigestion, additives can also be used to further reduce emissions from storage to minimize the carbon intensity of the bioenergy.