Feds spend $97 million on agricultural clean tech projects

The federal government today announced some $97 million in funding for farms and agri-businesses to adopt cleaner technologies like more efficient grain dryers, solar power and precision agriculture technology.

“Canadian farmers fully understand the need to take care of the environment and they are constantly innovating to find new solutions to reduce their emissions,” said federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay in a news release today.

“Our investment in the Agricultural Clean Technology Program will help keep our farmers and ranchers on the cutting edge, so they can make their operations more resilient today and for generations to come.”

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The cash will fund 148 projects through the Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) Program’s adoption stream, which prioritizes projects that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
A further 14 projects through ACT’s research and innovation stream are also funded, the federal news release said. This stream supports research, development and demonstration of agricultural clean technology.

Among projects funded include 37 new grain dryers, 48 solar installations, and 31 purchases of “precision agriculture technology,” the ACT program’s database shows.

Other projects include anaerobic digesters, heat exchangers, and electric heating systems.

To date, 414 projects have been funded through ACT to the tune of nearly $170 million.

ACT first launched in 2018 with an initial promised spend of $25 million over three years and was later expanded to $495.7 million across the adoption and research and innovation streams.