By McKenzie Paget, AAg, Agri-Environmental Specialist, Weyburn
February 2024
Funding to improve the environmental resiliency of agricultural land is available to producers through the Resilient Agricultural Landscapes Program (RALP), as part of the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership suite of programs.
RALP provides various funding opportunities for those wanting to implement beneficial management practices (BMPs) that help improve economic and environmental viability of agricultural land and minimize environmental impacts. These BMPs are categorized as land use, grazing management and livestock stewardship.
Under the Land Use BMPs, producers may be eligible for funding if they seed tame or native forage onto land previously used for annual crops (rebate based) or if they use small ruminants for targeted grazing weeds and brush encroachment.
The Grazing Management BMPs provide funding for projects for native rangeland grazing, riparian area grazing and rangeland health assessments (rebate based).
The Livestock Stewardship BMPs provide funding to producers looking to implement extensive wintering sites, livestock water protection strategies and sulphate water treatment infrastructure for livestock watering.
Each BMP has a different funding cap and cost-share level. You can learn more about each BMP and their benefits by connecting with your local agri-environmental specialist.
To be eligible for funding, applicants must be a Saskatchewan agricultural producer, at least 18 years old and have a gross-farm income of $50,000 in the year of or the year prior to applying. To increase the accessibility of our programs, there is also a new entrant policy to allow new agricultural producers who may not meet the $50,000 gross farm income and have farmed for less than five years to apply for funding.
If you believe you meet the eligibility criteria and have a project in mind, please call the Agricultural Knowledge Centre at 1-866-457-2377 to be put in touch with your regional agri-environmental specialist for more information.