Federal government extends On-Farm Climate Action Fund

The federal government says it will distribute $300 million over the next three years in continuation of its On-Farm Climate Action Plan (OFCAF), which gives financial support to farmers adopting emissions-reducing practices.

Federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay made the announcement yesterday.

The funds will be split between 13 organizations previously designated to administer the funds: B.C. Investment Agriculture Foundation, Canadian Forage and Grassland Association, ECOCERT Canada, Manitoba Association of Watersheds, Manitoba Métis Federation, Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture, New Brunswick Soil and Crop Improvement Association, Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association, Perennia Food and Agriculture Inc., Prince Edward Island Federation of Agriculture, Results Driven Agriculture Research, Saskatchewan Association of Watersheds and L’Union des producteurs agricoles.

First announced in 2021, the OFCAF allocated $200 million to supporting farmers to adopt beneficial management practices in a bid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The funded practices fall into three categories: cover cropping, nitrogen management and rotational grazing.

The fund grew to $704.1 by early 2024. That total does not appear to have changed.