Canadian farmers are key partners in building a healthy environment and a more sustainable agricultural sector in Canada. Today, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, along with Member of Parliament for Kings-Hants, Kody Blois, announced an investment of up to $8.5 million under the On-Farm Climate Action Fund for Perennia Food and Agriculture Inc. (Perennia). These funds will help farmers across Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador adopt sustainable farming practices to build climate change resilience.
Based in Kentville, Nova Scotia, Perennia is an agency that has supported growth, innovation and economic development of the province's agriculture sector for over 20 years. Perennia will distribute the funding through individual application intakes to help farmers adopt on-farm beneficial management practices (BMPs) for cover cropping, nitrogen management and rotational grazing. Perennia is expected to distribute funds over the coming months to farmers from its first call for applications that closed at the end of July 2022. A second intake is anticipated to open in October 2022.
Under this project, Perennia will also develop a suite of educational courses and peer-to-peer learning to help farmers with adoption and implementation of BMPs and offer training to empower farmers to become experts in these GHG-reducing practices.
Taking immediate action against climate change is key to exceeding Canada's 2030 emission reductions target and setting the foundation for a net-zero emissions economy by 2050. Activities supported through the On-Farm Climate Action Fund are expected to reduce GHG emissions by up to 2 million tonnes by 2024, while improving biodiversity and the health and resiliency of farmers' soil. With the Emissions Reduction Plan launched in March 2022, the Government of Canada has committed over $1.5 billion in funding to accelerate the agriculture sector's progress on reducing emissions and becoming a global leader in sustainable agriculture. This commitment includes an additional $470 million for the On-Farm Climate Action Fund to broaden and extend the program past 2024.
The Government of Canada continues to work with producers across the country as they help to achieve Canada's national emissions reduction targets, protect the environment, and support economic resiliency for the agriculture sector across the country.
