Innovation, education and regenerative agriculture
Foothills Forage is committed to helping you complete an Alberta Environmental Farm Plan (EFP): a process that helps you identify and address environmental risks and opportunities in your operation. The EFP will play a key part in:
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Safeguarding your local environment
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Building credibility for your operation with financial institutions and the community at large
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Sustaining the health and future of the agriculture industry
The EFP program provides you with a voluntary, confidential self-assessment process to evaluate the environmental risks and strengths of your operation and develop a plan to address those risks and strengths.
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Learn more about how agricultural practices affect the environment
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Learn more about management options that protect soil, water, air and habitat quality
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Identify what you are already doing well and where improvements can be made
To find out more about the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan, please visit www.albertaefp.com for specific details on the Alberta Farm Plan program and its resources.
Renewing Environmental Farm Plans
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It is recommend to update your EFP often, especially when you make major changes to your operation.
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Effective April 1, 2018, producers will need to have an EFP completion letter dated within the last 10 years, before payment will be issued, to be considered current and eligible for cost-share funding with the Farm Technology & Efficient Grain Handling programs of the Canadian Agriculture Partnership (CAP).
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If your completion letter is older than 10 years, you will need to do a new workbook and action plan.
Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (SCAP)
The Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (SCAP) replaces the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) which expired on March 31, 2023. Sustainable CAP is a five‐year
(2023-2028), $3.5-billion investment by federal‐provincial and territorial governments to strengthen competitiveness, innovation, and resiliency of the agriculture, agri‐food and agribased products sector. This includes $1 billion in federal programs and activities and $2.5 billion in cost-shared programs and activities by federal, provincial and territorial governments. The Sustainable CAP framework, in Alberta, represents a cost shared federal-provincial (60:40) investment of $508 million over five years towards strategic programs and services for the agriculture and agri-food industry.
Alberta will offer programs similar to the programs offered under the CAP framework. Most CAP programs will be re-branded and transitioned with minimal changes. In addition, a new Resilient
Agricultural Landscape Program will be added to help increase the resiliency of agriculturallandscapes. To review the programs and funding offered visit the Sustainable CAP website.
Resilient Agriculture Landscape Program (RALP)
The Resilient Agricultural Landscape Program (RALP) is a new program that provides funding up to $150,000 for Primary Producers, and up to $300,000 for Indigenous or groups such as Grazing Reserve Associations and/or Community Pastures for select BMP projects. Funding is offered on a per-acre payment basis for a term of three years. The program opened for applications on April 3, 2023. To review the BMP funding list and see if you qualify for funding visit the website.
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On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF)
First announced in Budget 2021, the $200-million On-Farm Climate Action Fund is an initiative to help farmers tackle climate change. The Fund is part of the Government of Canada's Agricultural Climate Solutions initiative, which falls under the $4 billion Natural Climate Solutions Fund, a program managed by Natural Resources Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
The program will provide financial support to producers to accelerate their adoption and implementation of on-farm Beneficial Management Practices (BMPs) to lower Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, support production efficiency, sustainability and resiliency on their farm operations. To assist producers with their adoption of new BMPs, the program will offer producers resources to support BMP implementation and provide BMP design recommendations.
The three activity categories in the OFCAF program are:
1. Improving Nitrogen Management
2. Increasing Adoption of Cover Cropping
3. Expanding the Adoption of Rotational Grazing
