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Greenhouse gas emissions are becoming more pertinent to the agriculture sector on numerous fronts, including manure management practices, soil carbon sequestration and the potential for trading carbon credits from altering farm management practices. Also, in a process led by AAFRD, protocols necessary for evaluating greenhouse gases balances on Canadian hog farms is being studied. Once this protocol is finalized, the opportunity will exist to evaluate greenhouse gases balance on individual operations, allowing operators to choose whether they have opportunity to participate in a carbon trading system.

For the past three cropping seasons, Alberta Pork has worked with Alberta Reduced Tillage LINKAGES and the Canadian Pork Council to help deliver the Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program in Alberta .

For more information to go CPC Information Resources.

After three years, the Canadian Pork Council (CPC) has successfully concluded the Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program (GHGMP).  This program was to increase pork producers’ awareness of the economic and environmental benefits of GHG reduction.  Twenty-five demonstration projects, held across the country, showed producers how they can use equipment, procedures and management to benefit the environment, increase profitability and potentially capture GHG reduction credits.  These types of demonstrations included manure injection techniques and even barn modifications for improving feed conversion efficiency.

The CPC has received funding to now deliver a one-year greenhouse gas management, education and awareness project.  The CPC is partnering with the provincial pork organizations to deliver workshops to producers across Canada this fall.  During part of the workshop, producers will be shown how much GHG emissions they currently produce and how much of a reduction they may or may not have achieved over the last few years.  Workshop space is limited. 

Caution on Carbon Credit Trading - If pork producers are considering entering into agreement to sell or lease potential credits into a carbon credit trading system, they should be cautious.
 
If credits are sold into any carbon market and subsequent verification of the on-farm practices is less than the eventual officially established protocol, the responsibility for achieving the number of credits sold could be transferred back to the selling producer.  A producer may, in such circumstances, be required to purchase offset credits from elsewhere within the carbon credit trading system to account for the shortfall.

It is recommended that producers take part in the emissions credit trading program that the Federal Government has developed. 

Related Documents:
Canadian Pork Council's Carbon Credit Update Bulletin - July 2006

Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association Press Release - July 2006