Farm-Scape, Episode 2164

Officials within the Canadian pork industry hope to begin field testing, this fall, a new tool designed to help farmers calculate the number of greenhouse gas offset credits they can qualify for by changing agricultural practices.

Since early 2004, under the direction of the National Offsets Quantification team, a pork technical working group began been developing the tables and calculations that will be used to determine the number of carbon offset credits generated by certain agricultural practices.

That work is expected to be completed by the end of this month at which time the calculations will be converted into a user friendly calculator.

Dr. Rob Janzen, with Agrologics Consulting, says, because this is one of the first protocols, time frames are elusive but the goal is to begin converting the protocol into a calculator this summer.

"The protocol allows farmers or companies that work with farmers to quantify greenhouse gas emission reductions by innovative practices in the barn or in manure management.

The person using it would follow the steps laid out in the protocol, which includes things like making sure that the correct data is kept in terms of the kinds of feed used and the amount of feed used. It would keep records in terms of when manure was spread, how it was spread, where it was spread.

All of those things will then become inputs into the calculation process in the protocol so that the reduction of greenhouse gases is compared to what would have been emitted if they hadn't used those practices, those innovations. That's all quantified in the protocol."

The calculator will be field tested on approximately 40 swine farms across Canada beginning this fall or winter and the hope is to gather enough data and feedback over the next 12 to 18 months to assess how well it performs.

Staff Farmscape.Ca