When it comes to finding innovative approaches to problem solving, a great place to start is with collaboration. Living lab producers, partners and researchers are working together to co-develop and test management practices on the prairie landscape.
As part of a network of 14 living labs across the country, Living Lab – Central Prairies (LL-CP) encompasses one of Canada’s largest traditional agricultural areas. Primarily covering the brown soil zones from southeastern Alberta through to black soil zones on the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border, the area is known for cattle and grains on the landscape. The project is focused on producers’ interests and needs, with over 30 farm and ranch operations currently participating.
Living labs are about co-developing and testing innovative technologies and on-farm practices with producers and other sector partners in real-world conditions. Under AAFC’s Agricultural Climate Solutions – Living Labs program, the goals are to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and sequester carbon, while delivering other environmental benefits such as enhancing air, soil and water quality as well as biodiversity. With agricultural producers at the centre of each living lab, their experiences and knowledge sharing will help accelerate the development and adoption of sustainable, environmentally friendly on-farm beneficial management practices (BMPs) and technologies to tackle climate change.
The lead partner, South of the Divide Conservation Action Program (SODCAP), has a history of collaborating with ranching and industry on conservation projects, making the living lab’s collaborative approach a natural fit.
Living Lab – Central Prairies is focusing on solutions that are uniquely suited to the region, with participants drawing insights from their local landscape and environment. Prairies have a distinctive evolutionary history and extreme climate that have made them incredibly resilient. From this base, the team is finding ways to apply the adaptive strategies found in nature to today’s agricultural systems. How can participants incorporate the strengths of the native landscape — biodiversity, perenniality and beneficial grazing — into their operations? These are the innovative solutions Living Lab – Central Prairies is uncovering.
"Working prairie landscapes produce food, store massive pools of carbon and provide many other environmental benefits, despite the region’s extreme and highly variable climates.
The resilience of prairie systems depends on complex interactions among soils, plants, animals, and people. Land managers must be adaptive, innovative, and attuned to their local conditions to succeed. By learning from and expanding on their real-world successes, we can improve the overall environmental performance and resilience of prairie agriculture to better meet today’s challenges."
- Kelly Williamson, Co-Executive Director, SODCAP
Participants in Living Lab – Central Prairies (LL-CP) are working together to:
- Avoid converting native and naturalized landscapes to other uses
- Manage grazing impacts by understanding how timing, intensity and rest affect both native and tame rangeland
- Promote the use of perennial grassland plants to restore and enhance pasture and hayland
- Understand the benefits of polycropping – the planting of diverse species blends in annual cropland – as livestock forage or fodder.
The living labs model of innovation uses an iterative, collaborative process to develop, test and implement BMPs. Core participants help develop and improve the practices and provide input on what information their fellow prairie producers will require to consider adopting them.
"As ranchers in southern Saskatchewan, we’re looking at ways to manage our native grass and forage mixes in the best way possible," says Erika Stewart, a producer involved with the project. "We’re hoping that ultimately, the data from the living lab project will produce metrics that will broaden that conversation about the benefits of cattle on the landscape."
Researchers from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Environment and Climate Change Canada, University of Alberta, University of Saskatchewan, University of Waterloo, Bird Studies Canada, and the Canadian Wildlife Federation are working with producers to quantify the system-wide effects of implementing these practices, including on carbon, biodiversity, and economics.
AAFC is the major funding partner of this five-year project, with up to $8 million announced in 2022. Living Lab – Central Prairies is one of a network of Agricultural Climate Solutions – Living Labs across the country.
Learn more about the Living Lab – Central Prairies project.
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