By Ashley Robinson
In Saskatchewan 16 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture according to Environment Canada. That’s not too far behind oil and gas at 34 per cent and electricity at 21 per cent.
Agriculture over the years has made steps in order to reduce it’s carbon footprint — most notably the switch to zero-till. A recent study completed by the University of Alberta found out there is another step agriculture could take to reduce it’s carbon footprint. The study looked into how much carbon grasslands, particularly native grasslands, store.
“There’s a lot of information out there that suggests that land use change is one of the key drivers of changes in what they call biological carbon storage,” said Edward Bork, professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science Department at the U of A.
The study started in 2014 and studied 114 locations across Alberta. It was found that native grasslands store the most carbon out of annual crop land, tame and introduced forage, and native grassland.
“Any time you take these soils, you cultivate them, you’re actually releasing a very significant amount of biological fixed carbon that’s in the soil and you’re allowing the microbes to break that down and emit it back to the atmosphere,” Bork said.
Parts of Alberta have a similar land base to Saskatchewan which makes the study applicable here. Bork feels when it comes to public policy native grasslands are being undervalued.
“Where these areas remain they are essentially contributing far more than just forage production. They are contributing to carbon storage and therefore reducing the atmospheric Co2 levels,” he said.
Peter Phillips, a professor at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy feels the study is right however preserving all grasslands might not be the best option for Saskatchewan’s carbon policy.
“Stopping production in productive, profitable land is a short term solution because in many ways it doesn’t meet full sustainability. Grasslands at least in Saskatchewan don’t generate enough revenue to sustain the population base and the economic base,” he said.
Saskatchewan is a sustainable province when it comes to agriculture Phillips said.
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