Landowners getting paid to let the grass grow

By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Some Wheatland County landowners have extra dollars in their pocket thanks to a county program that pays them for taking lands out of production to provide “ecological services.”
The program, ALUS (pronounced “Alice”) Wheatland, is a partnership that started in 2018 between Wheatland County and ALUS Canada, a non-profit organization that funds environmental stewardship projects on agricultural lands throughout the county.
A main aspect of the program is providing market-value lease payments to landowners for lands that perform poorly for production, so that they are no longer cultivated, explained Sarah Schumacher, Wheatland County agricultural conservation coordinator.
“They fund per acre payments to producers for implementing projects that provide ecosystem services,” said Schumacher. “The focus is on marginal lands – saline areas, riparian areas, wet areas – places that are being underutilized for farming production.”
That way projects remain production neutral, meaning producers will not see yields decline as a result of having a project on their land, she explained.
“We’re not taking the best agricultural land and converting it over,” she said.
Projects are focused on providing “ecosystem services,” referring to beneficial aspects of maintaining naturally vegetated lands, such as increasing sediment filtration or flood control.
The program “helps maintain clean air, clear water (and) biodiversity, and protects soil health,” which “benefits the community as a whole,” Schumacher said.
ALUS Wheatland assists landowners to revegetate these lands.
“Instead of seeding an area, you could put in a perennial grass, which helps to control weed issues in the area, soil loss, or increasingly saline soils,” she said. “Because you have permanent vegetation there, it is better for your soil microbiology, biodiversity and carbon storage.”
In 2019, four ALUS Wheatland projects were approved for funding, consisting of 108 acres in total. Another successful aspect of the program thus far is the installation of riparian fencing and off-site watering systems to keep livestock out of creeks and wetlands, she said.
Per acre payments are funded through The W. Garfield Weston Foundation, explained Schumacher. However, projects also are funded from over 200 other programs and organizations, including the Calgary Foundation.
Wheatland ALUS has a partnership advisory committee that is made up of Wheatland County Agricultural Service Board (ASB) members and representatives from the Wheatland agricultural department, Ducks Unlimited Canada, and Alberta Agriculture and Forestry.
“The role of that committee is to guide the program and to approve projects and any other decisions that need to be made, and help bring in new farmers and ranchers into the program,” Schumacher said.
ALUS Wheatland is an opportunity for county producers to get more value out of their lands, especially for those who are “more into the grain side of the industry,” said Jason Wilson, Wheatland County councillor and ASB chair.
“They have marginal land that isn’t producing a lot of value in their crop production,” said Wilson. “They have a chance to turn it back into forage, whether it be low-lying areas, or riparian areas around swamps or streams, and they can actually get paid per acre for taking it out of production.
“It’s a great opportunity for producers to turn unprofitable acres into profitable acres.”