Big uptake from P.E.I. farmers for climate funding

A federal program saw huge interest from P.E.I. farmers who snapped up about $2.5 million dollars in climate funding in just a few weeks. 

Rimsha Khan is a climate action specialist with the P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture, the group that's distributing the funds. 

"It's a very overwhelming response, it's a great thing," said Khan. 

Khan said they saw a wide range of people applying for the funding from small farms to larger operations. 

This is the second year for The Agricultural Climate Solutions On Farm Climate Action Fund, which was created to help farms develop practices to reduce greenhouse gases released from agricultural activity. 

Farmer Alan Miller says the climate fund was a game changer for his grains and oilseed farming operation in Elmwood. 

Miller said he wouldn't have been able to afford to buy the new equipment on his own.

He used the money to help buy a fertilizer applicator which uses GPS to track where the fertilizer goes. 

"If you've already been over an area it automatically knows and it shuts off that part of the spreader, so it really takes care of human error and puts exactly the amount of fertilizer that I want on," he said. 

Miller said in the past, he would miss parts of his winter wheat field or make double applications in some places.

"If you have the right amount of nitrogen, the plants take it up and you don't get the emissions," 

It's also saved him money, which is helpful when fertilizer has almost doubled in price.

He estimates he uses about 10 per cent less fertilizer now. 

Beef farmer Nick Green got funding to help with rotational grazing fencing and new water lines, to supply water to other fields.