Federal government announces support for ABP-led collaborative Living Labs project

After a significant amount of work on a submission to the federal government Living Labs Initiative, Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) is extremely pleased to announce a collaborative, multi-sectoral innovation and adoption project that will benefit Alberta’s beef, forage, and cropping sectors. Through the Agricultural Climate Solutions – Living Labs program, this project has been selected to receive $8.5 million in funding over five years.

“I would like to thank Minister Bibeau and the federal government for recognizing agriculture as an industry focused on climate solutions through this program. We recognize the importance of our industry’s continual efforts to improve carbon sequestration, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and mitigate impacts of climate change, while ensuring farms remain competitive, profitable, and sustainable for future generations.”

Dr. Melanie Wowk, Chair, ABP

In a release issued by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Minister Bibeau acknowledged that Canadian farmers and researchers have worked together for generations to find “new ways to protect natural resources while making production practices more efficient.”

With 16 partners involved, including agriculture commissions, Indigenous communities, NGOs, research institutions, and private industry, the project team will work directly with producers to develop and implement on-farm beneficial management practices (BMPs) that help to store carbon and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

This ABP-led project aims to increase understanding of how beneficial management practices can contribute to environmental stewardship and enhance climate change resiliency, while improving productivity and profitability for producers. The desired outcome will be to develop practical systems-based approaches that work on-farm, increasing adoption of BMPs by producers.

“Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) is excited to be a partner on this Living Labs project. Its focus on a collaborative, innovative approach to BMPs, conservation and agricultural advancements while applying sound scientific solutions to our environmental challenges, is proactive and intelligent. The Living Labs team is a collective group of well-rounded industry leaders, along with farmers and ranchers, who share a vision for beneficial outcomes for the agricultural sector, independent land managers and all Albertans.”
Craig Bishop, Senior Lead, Agriculture, DUC

“The Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions are pleased to be part of this Living Lab project.  It is critical for larger acre, commercial farmers to be represented in this initiative. Implementing, cost effective and logistically practical BMPs, on commercial scale farms, will have significant impact on carbon sequestration and reduction of GHG emissions in Alberta. This project will be instrumental in understanding how farmers can implement research findings in real-world, on-farm settings.”  
Tom Steve, General Manager, Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions

The six areas of focus are crop rotations and cropping systems, land use changes, grazing management, livestock feeding, nutrient management, and increasing carbon storage on the whole farm. Identifying financial and non-financial barriers faced by producers adopting these beneficial management practices will also be a priority.

The project hopes to recruit approximately 50 beef, forage, and cropping producers as core participants, including feedlots and Indigenous communities Project participants will be primarily located in three geographical regions: the Peace region, Edmonton/Central region, and Lethbridge region.

Media Contact

Debra Murphy
Phone: 403.451.1176
Email: debram@albertabeef.org