Harvesting Carbon...

[bucket]

Why does no one promote farmers being paid for sequestering carbon thru minimum tillage?

Not one politician has said that there will be a payment for carbon direct to farmers.


There must be studies detailing how much carbon is sequestered with current farm practices.

[riders2010]

Absolutely. But it's more of the agenda to make political points with everyone except us.

The new carbon tax is bull crap other than it will lead to the pipelines being built.
Freeride is in an uproar guess doesn't want the pipeline. yet we ve had a failed carbon tAx here ever since the carbon sequestration flop. For political reasons we are ignoring the billions that is costing us right here and so worried about something that as I understand it will refund the money to farmers????

[bucket]

So far I have heard both the prime minister and the federal environment minister call it a carbon tax and then correct themselves to pricing.

It's idiotic. Although Trudeau has probably sold the country to the Chinese billionaires roaming around ...then they can use Canada as an offset.

[grassfarmer]

There must be studies detailing how much carbon is sequestered with current farm practices.

There are but they don't show what you'd like them to show. If you are "turning things black" as SF3 likes to, or likely even minimum till you are making the problem worse. With zero-till you are maybe at best holding ground, maintaining the OM at the sorry levels it was reduced to by your forebears. I know how to sequester carbon in agriculture because we are doing it every day - building OM, moving fences and trampling forage into the ground with animals. That's the only meaningful way to sequester carbon on agricultural land.
Maybe a few things you can do with cover crops, legume underseeds etc but conventional agriculture isn't generally harvesting carbon so you can't expect to get paid for something you aren't doing.

[fjlip]

If oceans sequester, so do all my sloughs and potholes...pay me, at least recognize that.

[farming101]

Grassfarmer, a link to an authoritive study please? Until then I beg to differ.

[checking]

11.4 kg of CO2 produced for each kg of live cattle weight. Is that significant gassyfarmer because I'm sure you tell your customers everything?

What's the methane belch end figure, significant or not, in greenhouse gas kg emission?

[grassfarmer]

Grassfarmer, a link to an authoritive study please? Until then I beg to differ.

I know someone doing research in this field and these are his findings , as yet unpublished. No doubt there are studies available on the internet but then it turns into a he said/she said argument.

I think the whole question raised by Bucket is moot anyway. It would appear likely that the only way you would get paid was if the carbon was captured for ever. No use paying a farmer to sequester for 3 years then the 4th year he ploughs the field and releases all that was captured. Same if one farmer does it well then sells the farm who someone who wants to turn it all over. Because of this chances are the necessary agreements would be something like a Ducks Conservation Easement - you are signing up the land use in perpetuity with strict conditions on your management practices.
Any takers for carbon sequestration payments on these terms?

[grassfarmer]

11.4 kg of CO2 produced for each kg of live cattle weight. Is that significant gassyfarmer because I'm sure you tell your customers everything?

What's the methane belch end figure, significant or not, in greenhouse gas kg emission?

I posted this link before, maybe you didn't check it checking.

[URL="http://holisticmanagement.ca/uncategorized/solving-climate-change-with-holistic-management/"]http://http://holisticmanagement.ca/uncategorized/solving-climate-change-with-holistic-management/[/URL]

Point 5 contains the figures to refute your argument. For every kg of cattle CO2 emitted between 17-39kgs were sequestered through their grazing management. Proven right there in Saskatchewan.

[westernvicki]

I am told the best kept secret is the groups that are working on this.. pray tell.

[checking]

Gas farmer.

Personally, I don't care about receiving carbon sequestering credits.

Yet, I don't suppose it bothers you that even though governments signed on to a base year that they promised to return the CO2 emission level to, Canada is about to tax you on all of your release. It bothers me that our government hasn't quoted to me what my non taxed ration should be on that magical year. Until it's identified, I'm going to be non supportive of this policy.

But back to your problem beef herd.

You must have a kg of live weight methane production number. Some people quote methane is 25 X to 100 X as potent a greenhouse gas as CO2. Surely your advice to customers is to consume kelp for their protein requirements.

What is your animal unit methane number, gas?

[grassfarmer]

I don't have the means to calculate that myself that's why I rely on scientists. If you'd read the link i'd posted you'd have seen the following:

"Two recent studies: Basarab in April of 2012 and Beauchemin in April of 2010 concluded that each kilogram of carcass produced emits 19.5 to 22 kg of C02-equivalent Greenhouse Gasses (Methane emissions included in that figure)"

But that's fine - we can sequester many times that with our grazing management.

[checking]

It's sounding like you rely on scientists, but at your operational level you don't agree with them.

Scientists say at live weight it is basically a saw off on emissions to slightly in your favor. You say it is multiple times on sequestration. Government doesn't agree as it will not recognize your live process. Besides, most consumers don't eat live raw meat, and their are many more CO2 steps to bring it to their plates.

You are hooped. You will be taxed. You are a destroyer of sea level countries. You are bad, and will continue to be referred to as a net greenhouse gas emitter.

[bucket]

OK let me try another tact....if when farmers buy these environmentally friendly tractors could we pass on the costs to anyone?

We are doing our part whether it be with grass, cows , notill etc but never seem to be awarded for it....AL Gore doesn't reduce his carbon footprint and becomes a billionaire. ..?????

[checking]

Bucket.

You will be carbon taxed on the first kv, first 1000 cf, first liter of any power source you need. Government intent is to stop the want waste, and will charge you until it hurts enough of its citizens until the agreed to target is hit. From that point on the tax will never be removed because governments need it for general revenue.

Truly, I believe the first wish was for the bastards to charge you on your oxygen use, but could not figure out how to stop animals from breathing, or those damn plants from producing it.