Regional Extension Program

The Province is delivering a new 5-year producer-focused research and extension program that started in April 2023. This new program builds on past work completed under the Climate Change Adaptation Program (CCAP).

Program objectives

The primary objective of the Regional Extension Program is to help producers adopt beneficial management practices (BMPs) that make their operations more climate resilient, sustainable, and economically viable.

Through regional extension projects delivered by the ministry, the Regional Extension Program will:

1. Develop and share knowledge to support producers with BMP adoption
2. Support on-farm climate adaptation and greenhouse gas emission reduction
3. Foster collaboration and networking

Projects delivered through this program will address one or more of the following priority areas:

• Soil health including carbon sequestration and nutrient management
• Water supply and management
• Waste management
• Greenhouse gas emission reductions
• Riparian, grassland and habitat management
• Reducing impacts of wildfire
• Reducing impacts of flooding and extreme precipitation events
• Reducing impacts of extreme temperatures

Types of projects

The types of projects that will be funded and delivered through this program include:

• On-farm demonstrations and field days
• Knowledge transfer events (e.g. workshops, webinars, short courses, presentations)
• Communications and digital resources (e.g. factsheets newsletters, videos, podcasts)
• Relationship-building (e.g. farmer-to-farmer networks, discussion groups)
• Development of decision-aid tools
• Knowledge development (e.g. applied research, literature reviews, gap analyses, feasibility studies, modelling, BMP datasets, curriculum development, BMP protocol development)

16 projects began in 2023. More to be started in the coming months. Further information about projects can be found in the mid-year program report (PDF, 3.4 MB).  

A regional approach to extension

• Farmers, ranchers, and key agricultural stakeholders will have the opportunity to contribute local knowledge to the identification, planning, and evaluation of extension projects

• The ministry is working directly with producers through regional extension committees, to identify their priorities and knowledge gaps
• For example, committees are helping plan events in each region to get input from farmers and ranchers about local extension priorities
• Membership of each committee aims to represent agriculture in the region, and includes farmers, ranchers, and other key agricultural stakeholders
• The goal is to understand producers’ priorities and the types of extension activities that will provide knowledge and support to grow more climate resilient, sustainable, and economically viable farming operations
• This is not an application-based program, there is no formal open/close date for the program funding 

Resources

The ministry has also developed regional guides as a resource for producers, on-the ground researchers, and consultants to reflect on the climate issues challenging environmental sustainability and local farm businesses and food production.

• Regional Guidebook – Central South Interior (PDF, 4.8 MB)
• Regional Guidebook – Highway 16 North Cariboo (PDF, 4.5 MB)
• Regional Guidebook – Islands and South Coast (PDF, 4.4 MB)
• Regional Guidebook – Kootenay Boundary (PDF, 4.6 MB)
• Regional Guidebook – Lower Mainland and Sea-to-Sky (PDF, 4.9 MB)
• Regional Guidebook – Okanagan (PDF, 5.3 MB)
• Regional Guidebook – Peace (PDF, 3.8 MB)

The issues highlighted in the guides were identified by a regional extension committee that represents the climates, soils, and commodity groups in each region, facilitated by the ministry.

The content of these documents may change as a result of further engagement with producers in the region.

How to get involved

If you were not able to attend one of our regional engagement sessions, we invite you to share your feedback via the survey below. Provide your input on: 

• Environmental and climate-related impacts affecting your agricultural operation
• Extension programs and services for your region 

Provide your input

Engagement sessions

Regional engagement sessions took place in Fall 2023.  

Program budget

In the first year of funding $1.5M was allocated to support research and extension projects across the province. There is an additional $1.5M committed for 2024 to 2025.