The “Retaining Canada’s Grasslands Using Carbon Offset Markets” is a two-year pilot that will allow landowners and ranchers to generate carbon offsets for carbon stored in conserved grasslands in Canada. The pilot will enable qualifying landowners who sign a land conservation agreement that protects grasslands to generate additional revenue through carbon offsets. Grasslands are a resilient and often overlooked opportunity for carbon sequestration but they could play a critical role in Canada.

Funding for this project has been provided through the AgriAssurance Program under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative, with industry funding from Shell Canada. The project is led by the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association and supported by a diverse group of partners who are contributing significant knowledge and in-kind resources.

The pilot project aims to test and refine a carbon offset methodology, or protocol, to assess its feasibility and better understand the challenges and opportunities associated with an avoided conversion of grasslands program. Carbon offset protocols exist already in some jurisdictions to recognize the climate benefits associated with avoiding soil tillage or changing livestock feed to reduce GHG emissions produced through digestion. This project will build on the Climate Action Reserve’s Avoided Conversion of Grasslands protocol for Canada.

“This new protocol recognizes the significant contributions made by the ranching community when they choose to conserve grasslands at risk of conversion to crop production or other forms of development that significantly disturb the soil,” said Cedric MacLeod, executive director, Canadian Forage and Grassland Association. “Although it’s early days, the initiative could play an important role in protecting grasslands in Canada by compensating landowners for responsible stewardship of the land.”

The pilot project will help identify eligibility requirements, value propositions and land conservation agreement models for landowners. Lower-cost, remote sensing tools will be tested to streamline monitoring and verification requirements.

The full project group supporting the pilot includes the Alberta Beef Producers Association, Canadian Forage and Grassland Association, Radicle Balance, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Legacy Land Trust Society, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Shell Canada, Southern Alberta Land Trust Society, Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association, Brightspot Climate, Climate Action Reserve, Regrow and Viresco Solutions Inc.

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The Canadian Forage and Grassland Association (CFGA) has been advised of several situations whereby large deposits had been paid, but the hay was not delivered, and a couple of situations where the delivered hay was not of the agreed quality.
We urge buyers and sellers to take steps to ensure that the buying and selling is done in a fair and equitable manner benefiting both parties.

If you are considering purchasing or selling hay there are a number of factors that you should take into consideration including:
• Have you purchased from or sold hay to this person before? If not, are you able to obtain at least two independent references?
• Has the hay been analyzed and is the analysis information available? Is the hay free of mould and do you know the moisture content? Do you have some way to visually inspect the hay?
• Are you purchasing from a member of the CFGA who has agreed to the Code of Ethics of the CFGA? A list of our members is available on our website.

If you have concerns regarding the purchasing or selling of Canadian hay products please contact us through our website.

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