Ontario Grain Farmer April/May 2021

10 TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE Gas (GHG) emissions you need to understand where and how you are emitting. Canada’s National Inventory Report, as reported by the Government of Canada, tracks and reports Canada’s GHG emissions across sectors. While this can provide great insights into our GHG impact on a sector by sector basis, it does not provide a detailed understanding of the GHG emissions of a specific product or process. With a greater emphasis on reducing GHG emissions, consumers and companies are increasingly interested in the GHG emissions of a product, practice, or event through product carbon footprints. WHAT IS A CARBON FOOTPRINT? A carbon footprint can be defined as the total GHG emissions caused by an organization, event, product, or individual. Carbon footprints are a standard approach to measure, manage, and communicate GHG emissions related to goods. A carbon footprint is based on a life cycle assessment (LCA) but focuses on a single issue which is climate change. Carbon footprints follow specific standards to ensure consistency with reporting. Companies are increasingly looking to measure and communicate GHG emissions of a product. An example of a carbon footprint could be the GHG footprint of producing a loaf of bread. This would include all processes from the farm producing wheat, to the flour mill, and the bakery. CROP CARBON FOOTPRINTS Through the Canadian Roundtable for Responsible Crops (CRSC), carbon footprints were produced for 10 grains and oilseeds across Canada. These crop carbon footprints calculate the GHG emissions of crop production from planting a seed until it reaches a grain bin. The CRSC crop carbon footprints do not go beyond the farm gate but are the first step in being able to create a product carbon footprint like the example of a loaf of bread. Determining the carbon footprint of crop production requires information on crop performance, production practices, crop inputs, soil, and climate parameters. This does not require direct farmer information but takes an average of that crop’s production practices in a particular region. Production practices include fieldwork, potential irrigation, grain drying, and storage. The carbon footprint examines areas of crop production which emit GHGs including: • Direct on farm energy use (crop production, irrigation, and grain handling) • Fertilizer manufacturing • Seed and pesticides manufacturing Carbon footprints 101 UNDERSTANDING EMISSIONS ON ONTARIO’S GRAIN FARMS Michael Buttenham Sustainability • Direct N 2 O emissions from soils (nitrogen fertilizer and manure application, crop residue decomposition, N mineralization where soil organic carbon has been lost, and changes in tillage practice) • Indirect N 2 O emissions associated with volatilization and leaching (commercial fertilizer and manure application) • Soil organic carbon changes due to conversion from perennial to annual crops, change in tillage practices, and change in area of summerfallow. MARKET DEMANDS Government — Governments around the world are placing added emphasis on reducing GHG emissions including Canada. After signing on to the Paris Agreement, which is an international framework that looks to combat climate change, Canada has committed to reducing its GHG emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. Most recently, the Clean Fuel Regulation looks to biofuels such as ethanol to reduce GHG emissions in our transportation sector. As a result, the carbon footprint of ethanol production, including corn feedstocks, are essential to communicate how ethanol reduces GHG emissions in fuels. Supply Chain — Companies are increasingly interested in the GHG emissions within their supply chains. Walmart recently established Project Gigaton which looks to work with their supplier to reduce emissions by one gigaton (one billion metric tons) by 2030. Agriculture is one of the areas that is identified and through the adoption of agricultural best practices, including precision agriculture and feed optimization, there is a potential to reduce GHG emissions. Other companies such as General Mills have also made commitments to reducing GHG emissions. Over the next decade,