Grasslands called key to carbon future

SASKATOON — Producers will be financially rewarded for the carbon stored in grasslands some day, but they have to first make sure those lands are retained, producers attending a recent livestock summit heard.

University of Alberta researcher Ed Bork said he believed landowners will eventually be paid for carbon storage and other environmental benefits that grasslands and pastures provide.

He said many third parties reap the economic benefits grasslands provide, including watershed management, wildlife habitat and pollinators for grain production.

Bork said in some parts of the world producers are compensated for providing these services and Canadians should be, too.

Studies have been able to quantify many of the benefits, including carbon value.

All agricultural systems remove carbon dioxide through plant growth. On the Prairies, carbon is fixed in the summer and gradually lost over winter. Bork said whether grasslands are a net source or sink depends on the balance.

Globally, grasslands store about one-third of the terrestrial carbon.

Bork said studies of more than 100 sites in Alberta, in a range of zones, found that drier grasslands contain 50 to 60 tonnes of carbon per hectare. The moist or high rainfall grasslands in the southwestern regions contain three times that much by conservative estimates, he said.