MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - The county’s agricultural service board has been updated on the federal On-Farm Climate Action Funds for ranchers and farmers (OFCAF).
Fiona Briody, OFCAF program manager with Result Driven Agriculture Research appeared before the agricultural service board as a delegation.
“There’s lots of things that people are doing already, but this (program) also helps people do new things,” Briody told the board. “It’s a win-win for everybody.”
OFCAF provides support and funding to farmers to adopt beneficial management practices on their farms, she said.
“The goal is to decrease greenhouse gas emission and increase sustainability, efficiency, and resiliency of on-farm operations,” she said.
Three activity categories eligible for funding under OFCAF are nitrogen management, cover cropping and rotational grazing.
OFCAF operates from July 2022 to March 31, 2024 and will be delivered on a case-by-case basis and bound by the programs’ budget allocations, she said.
Regarding eligibility for funding, she said, “You must be an active producer, including proprietorship, corporation or registered partnership that can demonstrate a minimum of $25,000 of gross farm income in Alberta.”
Applicants work with qualified professionals to “develop a plan that describes the planned new activities and the cost difference from usual practices. You complete an application that includes a recommended plan and you provide permission for post-project inspections.”
Applicants are eligible for a multiple projects under the three activity categories to a combined maximum grant payment of $75,000, retroactive to April 1, 2022 and ending on March 31, 2024, she said.
“Applicants must pay 100 per cent of upfront costs with no payments for in kind,” she said.
Applications for Year 1 of the program opened on Aug. 4 and close Nov. 7.
For further information on OFCAF, see [email protected].
Agricultural service board members accepted the delegation report for information.
The board is made up of county council members and appointed members of the district’s agriculture community.
