Panel discussion brings RBC CEO to U of S to talk about how farming can contribute in the fight against climate change.
A farmer, a banker and an academic walk into a room — it might read a bit like the set up to a joke, but for Kristjan Hebert, who farms just over 30,000 acres near the village Fairlight, Sask, a panel discussion at the University of Saskatchewan was another opportunity to deliver a message to financial and academic leaders.
“Farmers need to get credit for what they have been doing, and what they continue to do,” he said following the live discussion between himself and RBC CEO David McKay, moderated by Angela Bedard-Haughn, dean of the U of S College of Agriculture and Bioresources.
“I only hurt my own kids if I don’t take care of my land,” he said.
Zero-till is a farming method based around minimal disturbance of the soil between harvest and planting. It has several advantages for Saskatchewan producers looking to cut costs and raise yields; it also helps keep carbon that would be released during tilling in the ground, rather than in the atmosphere where it contributes to climate change.
All that carbon locked under Saskatchewan farmland is potentially worth quite a lot of money, as the world seeks to reduce emissions, as it could allow producers to sell offset credits.
Hebert said farmers themselves are generally too busy managing their operations to take on all the work of setting up a system to buy and sell carbon offsets themselves.
“It takes the collaboration of an RBC that brings capital and brains, of a U of S that brings academics and researchers and time, with the farm that has the data and are actually doing the work to sequester carbon to really get this journey figured out so that we capture this opportunity at the farm level,” he said.
For his part, McKay said he understands that “we’re from the East, and we’re here to help” might not be a message Western Canadian producers want to hear from a bank, but added that he “sees a role” for RBC both in education and raising awareness, but also on the business side, even potentially helping to make markets for carbon offsets.
McKay added that he believes there’s a strong possibility Canada will miss its 2030 emissions reductions goals. He said this could trigger more urgency among policymakers, which could “change the market” and create a massive opportunity for Canadian farmers.
Hebert also said he sees tremendous opportunity for Saskatchewan agriculture to be part of the solution on cutting carbon emissions. However, he said any future carbon market should ensure farmers are the ones who collect the profits, rather than the taxman or large firms.
“I preach and say very often to all the large CEOs – the white papers and stuff have been great to get everybody thinking about collaboration, but we need to see some cheque-writers,” he said, adding that in his view, keeping as much money as possible in farmers’ pockets benefits everyone.
“If farms get extra dollars per acre, they spend all that money locally,” he said.
Post a Comment