Alberta opens $60-million Agriculture, Water and Land Challenge to field-test farm technology

Alberta is making up to $60 million available for technologies that improve agricultural productivity, conserve water and restore disturbed land to productive use, under a new Agriculture, Water and Land Challenge delivered through Emissions Reduction Alberta. The Alberta Beef Producers said the competition is designed to move promising technologies past research and development into field testing, demonstration and commercial use across the province's agriculture, water and land sectors.¹

The program is funded through Alberta's Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction Fund, known as TIER. Successful applicants must provide matching private contributions of at least one dollar for every dollar of ERA funding, and eligible cash and in-kind contributions can count toward that requirement, according to the Alberta Beef Producers.¹

The challenge is aimed at technologies ready for practical testing or deployment rather than early-stage research alone. Projects must be piloted, demonstrated or deployed in Alberta and show clear potential for economic and environmental benefits under real-world conditions.¹

For the province's beef producers, the Alberta Beef Producers said the initiative could create opportunities to test and adopt technologies that improve livestock management, reduce operating costs and make more efficient use of land and water resources. Potential projects relevant to the beef industry include precision livestock technologies, improved nutrient and manure management, livestock methane reduction, water management systems and technologies that recover value from agricultural byproducts.¹

The challenge also covers innovations in land reclamation, soil management and water treatment, including approaches that could help return disturbed land to productive use. Farmers, ranchers, technology developers, industry associations, research organizations, municipalities, Indigenous communities and other eligible applicants can take part.¹

Producers are practical. They'll adopt a new technology when they've seen it work on a farm like theirs, with results they can trust¹Chris Paterson, executive director of AgSphere, in a release issued by the Alberta Beef Producers

Expressions of interest must be submitted by Dec. 16, 2026. ERA will also host an information webinar on Nov. 12 to explain funding requirements, eligibility and the application process, and the Alberta Beef Producers said full program details, application guidelines and webinar registration are available through Emissions Reduction Alberta's Agriculture, Water and Land Challenge.¹

The Alberta Beef Producers did not say how many projects ERA expects to fund, how the $60 million will be divided among them, or when successful applicants will be announced. The release also did not give the size of the Alberta beef herd or the number of people the industry employs.¹