Video: Taking a Bite out of the Climate Crisis through Regenerative Agriculture

According to Agriculture Canada, 10 percent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions are from crop and livestock production. At the same time, agriculture can help slow climate change by harmlessly storing carbon in the soil. This means that Canadian farms have the potential to go from carbon emitters to significant carbon sinks. Join us June 22nd to hear three Canadian farmers discuss how they are addressing the climate crisis on their own farms and collectively through organizations like Farmers for Climate Solutions. Find out how you can support farmers to make agriculture part of the solution to climate change.

Panelists and Moderator:

Tony McQuail serves on the Boards of Farmers for Climate Solutions and Holistic Management Canada. He was an early adopter of rotational grazing and has decades of experience in pasture management and fencing systems. The McQuails have been using Holistic Management principles and tools for over 25 years. They took a played-out crop farm from approximately 1.5% soil organic matter to 3.5 to 7% organic matter moving CO2 from the atmosphere into the soil. McQuail was instrumental in founding the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario and the Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training. He was also the executive assistant to the Ontario Minister of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs in the early 1990’s. During that time, he was involved in the process that developed Ontario’s Environmental Farm Plan Program which continues to this day.

Dana Penrice farms near Shoal Lake Manitoba with her partner and in-laws. She is an Accredited Professional with the Savory Institute and teaches Holistic Management to farmers and ranchers. Dana brought the Ecological Outcome Verification program to the Prairies and works with producers to help them better understand the ecological health and benefits of the grasslands they manage. Dana also works with Young Agrarians, which is working to grow the next generation of ecological farmers in Canada.

Blaine Hjertaas is a third generation farmer in SE Saskatchewan. This is his 49th cropping season and 25 of these have been regenerative. Naomi and Blain’s son and daughter in law do the day to day operations on the farm. In semi retirement Blain has been working on the General Mills Oat pilot project. This project is attempting to change farming to a more regenerative model which sequesters rather than emits carbon, is better for ecological goods and services, produces more nutrient dense food, and is more profitable. He works with 50 farmers from the Yorkton area through to the Red River Valley.