CEU Credits: 0.5
Carbon in Agriculture
This panel session will be a discussion about the current carbon programs in Canada as well as addressing the following questions:
- What is the point of tracking carbon?
- Are there better indicators that we should focus on?
- Does the Ag community have any market power?
- How well do we currently inform (both urban and rural) about the current carbon footprint of agriculture?
- Where does the public find the right info and how true is the info that is available?
Panel Members:
Dr. John Basarab, RDAR Research Professor, Beef Genetics, University of Alberta
John has over 30 years experience in beef cattle production and management. His current areas of work include improving feed efficiency, delivering genomic and production technologies to the beef industry, and greenhouse gas mitigation in beef cattle. Work completed has included the development of one of the largest genotype-phenotype databases for beef cattle in Canada for genetic marker discovery, global collaborations, and validation of the genomic tools like EnVigour HX. He is Associate Professor at the University of Alberta, Director of Beef Operations for Livestock Gentec, and past Associate Editor for the Canadian Journal of Animal Science. He is also the author or co-author of more than 300 scientific and extension articles and is the winner of the 2010 Canadian Animal Industries Award in Extension and Public Service. John received his Ph.D. degree in Animal Genetics and Biochemistry in 1981 from the University of Alberta.
Karin Schmid, Beef Production & Extension Lead (ABP), Alberta Beef Producers/Alberta AgriSystems Living Lab
Karin grew up on a mixed farm near Keoma, AB, raising purebred Simmental cattle and grain, and is still involved in the family operation to a limited extent. She has a Master’s Degree in Agriculture from the University of Alberta, and her thesis focused on the genetic and metabolic factors affecting feed efficiency in beef cattle. Before joining Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) in 2011, Karin spent just over four years with the Canadian Hereford Association as their Breed Development Coordinator.
At ABP, Karin is the Beef Production & Extension Lead, providing technical support in the areas of cattle health and welfare, research, and production practices. She works very closely with several industry and government organizations on issues of importance to the industry, and large part of her job is translating science to producers and explaining producer needs to researchers.
ABP was the lead applicant to the AAFC Agricultural Climate Solutions Living Lab program which is the major funder of the Alberta AgriSystems Living Lab.