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Ontario operations receive $7.4 million from Canada’s clean agtech program

On Feb. 9, Francis Drouin, parliamentary secretary to the minister of agriculture and agri-food, along with Arielle Kayabaga, member of parliament for London West, announced support of up to over $7.4 million for the 17 projects approved so far across Ontario under the Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) program. This will help farmers adapt to a changing climate and boost their long-term competitiveness, all while cutting emissions. This funding is focused on three priority areas: green energy and energy efficiency; precision agriculture; and the bioeconomy.

As part of the announcement, J.E. Henderson Farms Ltd. in Mount Brydges virtually hosted Drouin and Kayabaga to showcase its new biomass unit to replace the propane unit on its grain dryer, made possible through ACT – Adoption Stream funding of up to $127,000.

Roelofsen Nursery Ltd. in Otterville also showed Drouin and Kayabaga its new precision farming machine with GPS positioning and plant-level sensors to manage its field nursery operation while reducing diesel fuel and dependency on chemical use, made possible through ACT funding of up to $183,000.

Drouin and Kayabaga also virtually toured the lab at Ontario Genomics in Toronto to learn about how the organization converts agricultural waste into bioplastics, a process intended to lead to lower energy costs, improved performance and a reduction in GHG emissions. With funding of up to $1.26 million through the ACT – Research and Innovation Stream, Ontario Genomics will optimize its lab process, pilot commercial processing equipment and produce material test samples for use by industry partners.

“Here in Ontario, we are working closely with farmers to develop and implement farming practices to sequester carbon and tackle greenhouse gas emissions,” Drouin said. “Through investments in local projects, such as J.E. Henderson Farms’ new biomass unit and Roelofsen Nursery’s new precision farming machine, we continue to enable the adoption of practices that will accelerate emission reductions in the agricultural sector. With pivotal research and development underway in the lab at Ontario Genomics to convert agricultural waste into bioplastics, the future of farming in Canada is promising.”

Under the ACT program, the Adoption Stream supports the purchase and installation of commercially available clean technologies and processes with a priority given to those that show evidence of GHG emissions and other environmental co-benefits. The Research and Innovation Stream supports pre-market innovation, including research, development, demonstration and commercialization activities, to develop transformative clean technologies and enable the expansion of current technologies.