Canola growers paid for following 4R program

Aug 19, 2022

WESTERN PRODUCER — The Canola Council of Canada has unveiled its Canola 4R Advantage program, which pays growers up to $12,000 per year for using best management practices (BMPs). | Screencap via canolacouncil.org

Canola farmers can now be rewarded for their nutrient stewardship practices.

The Canola Council of Canada has unveiled its Canola 4R Advantage program, which pays growers up to $12,000 per year for using best management practices (BMPs).

The council is receiving up to $17.4 million in funding for the program over the next two years from Agriculture Canada’s On-Farm Climate Action Fund.

Growers in the three prairie provinces will be able to claim up to 85 percent of eligible costs for up to two of the following four BMPs:

• soil testing

• enhanced efficiency fertilizers

switching from fall nitrogen application to spring banding or a split of spring banding and in-crop application

field zone mapping consulting services for variable rate nitrogen

The annual funding limit for each BMP is $6,000 per grower, which means $12,000 is available to each farm business per year of the program.

Applications can be submitted starting on Aug. 17. Eligible expenses must be incurred between Feb. 7, 2022, and March 31, 2023, for the 2022 application.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.