By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup for Monday June 7, 2021

Jun 7, 2021 | 10:11 AM

MELFORT, Sask. – The federal government has announced its new clean technology program for agriculture.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau said the $165.7-million program will help farmers grow food in a more sustainable way.

“In the face of this new climate reality and the expectations of Canadian and foreign consumers who want to know that their food has been sustainably produced, we must double down on our efforts, particularly by investing in the development and adoption of energy-efficient technologies,” Bibeau said in a media release.

Under the program, farmers and agri-businesses can access funds to develop and adopt the latest clean technologies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The adoption stream will support clean technologies, with a priority on projects that meaningfully reduce GHG emissions.

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The research and innovation stream will support research, development, demonstration, and commercialization of agricultural clean technologies.

The two-step intake of applications will launch later this month.

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McCain Foods Ltd. said all its French fries will be made with potatoes from a farm using more sustainable agricultural practices by the end of the decade.

The company said 100 per cent of its potato acreage will be grown using regenerative agriculture by 2030.

McCain said the farming technique promotes biodiversity, more plant cover on fields, minimizes soil disturbances, and maximizes crop diversity to increase water efficiency, protect against erosion, capture more carbon and create greater resilience to droughts and floods.

McCain CEO Max Koeune said the pandemic has put a spotlight on the precarious nature of the global food system, but that climate change remains the largest challenge.

McCain is the world’s largest manufacturer of frozen potato products.

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A study by more than three dozen scientists said Canada could cut just over one-tenth of its current greenhouse gas emissions by making better use of its vast forests, prairies, and wetlands.

It said a good portion of those emissions cuts could be made for under $50 a tonne.

Amanda Reed co-ordinated the research for the Canadian affiliate of The Nature Conservancy.

She said the biggest carbon cuts would come from stopping the cultivation of natural grasslands and pastures, which releases carbon from the soil into the air.

She said keeping wetlands undisturbed is the second-best opportunity.

Changing agriculture and forestry practices could also offer significant carbon savings.

Reed said the changes could be made without taking farmland out of production.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW