By Charlene Tebbutt

Province extends agreement with Fertlizer Canada

May 1, 2018 | 5:00 PM

The Saskatchewan government has extended an agreement with a national fertilizer industry association to promote environmental stewardship and sustainable farming practices.

The province signed a three-year extension to their Memorandum of Cooperation with Fertilizer Canada Tuesday, continuing an agreement initially signed in 2016. The MOC will allow for the continuation of a program that promotes growing more food using existing farmland and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the use of fertilizer by 15 to 25 per cent.

Fertilizer Canada has similar agreements in a number of other provinces, including Alberta and Manitoba.

Ken Panchuk, provincial soil specialist with the crops and irrigation branch of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, said the goal of the MOC is promote 4-R technology, which stands for using the right fertilizer source at the right rate, right time and the right place.

“That technology we need to keep in front of producers all the time, because it is so important for optimizing production and quality, as well as minimizing any flow of the nutrients, and the risk of the flow of nutrients into the environment,” Panchuk said. “This is good for farmers because it helps us keep in front the goal of optimizing yield and quality as part of our plan for growth and to meet our export requirements.”

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Garth Whyte, president and CEO with the Fertilizer Canada, said the 4-R approach to farming is the best way to insure sustainable farming practices.

“Essentially, we really do have to increase food production if we’re going to meet the demand of an increasing population over the next 20 years,” Whyte added.

“And, we don’t have much more land, so we’re going to have to make our land more productive, and one way is by using 4-R nutrient stewardship.”

There are currently 17 demonstration farms across Saskatchewan using the 4-R principle, including at the Conservation Learning Centre south of Prince Albert, and near Melfort and North Battleford.

Whyte says the 4-R program is based on a decade of research across North America looking at different crops using a range of soils and temperatures.

“This is really a climate-smart agriculture that we’re going to keep pursuing,” Whyte added. “It helps productivity, it helps profitability, it allows them (producers) to say that they’re sustainable, and it helps the environment.”

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 9:26 a.m. on Wednesday, May 2, 2018, to clarify that Fertilizer Canada is an industry association and not a fertilizer supplier.

Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt