The Saskatchewan Stock Growers Foundation is hosting a Reverse Auction to restore once cultivated land back to native grassland. The primary land of interest is in the short and mixed grass regions of Saskatchewan and priority would be given to land close to existing grasslands or critical habitat for species at risk. One of the top focuses for this project is monitoring native grassland’s ability to store and sequester soil organic carbon so land with an increased potential to do so will be given special consideration.
-Monitoring the grasslands ability to store and sequester carbon
-Increase connectivity of grassland habitat across the province
-Increase habitat for animals that call the grasslands home including species at risk
Grasslands are one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world due to an increase of land conversion to annual cropping and are an important part of Saskatchewan’s landscape. Converting cultivated lands back to grasslands will increase overall environmental biodiversity by increasing native plant cover and providing important habitat for species at risk.
Restoring native grasslands in close proximity to existing grasslands also increases connectivity to reduce habitat fragmentation and this can be remarkably important in areas of designated critical habitat. In addition to these benefits grasslands are capable of storing and sequestering significant amounts of carbon.
The landowner is able to put a price on what it will cost them to convert land back to native grasslands and be maintained in perennial cover for a minimum of 30 years. The SSGF will source and purchase the native seed blend while the landowner is responsible for all other costs including land preparation and seeding, controlling invasive weeds, loss of profit and changes in land value during and after restoration. Landowners must carefully calculate bids to consider all costs associated with grassland restoration. Once the landowner calculates how much it could cost them, they can use either the full cost of partial cost of their calculation in the bid. SSGF will consult with all interested landowners to ensure bids contain all appropriate information. If the bid is successful, they can ultimately receive compensation for the restoration project.
Reverse Auction Steps
1. Landowners contact SSGF and express interest in restoring cropland back to perennial cover using native species. Information needed includes land location and number of acres.
2. SSGF consults with landowner regarding the land of interest and goes over cost considerations for placing a bid.
3. Landowner places bid to receive money for grassland restoration.
4. SSGF compares all bids to determine a standardized price for restoring crop land back to native grasslands.
5. Successful bidders are selected based on the standardized price created from the levels of all bids submitted and the level of individual bids compared to this price. All landowners are contacted regarding the status of their bids.
6. Restoration Starts: Landowners receive compensation to begin restoration projects.
SSGF will negotiate a legally binding Habitat Restoration Agreement with successful bidders. Bidders must agree to maintain the land in native grass for a minimum of 30 years. Other restrictions may be negotiated as part of the agreement, such as maintaining existing wetlands, and avoiding developing roads or yardsites within the restoration area. These agreements are not tied to title. For more information on Habitat Restoration Agreements click here.
Additional funding is available if the producer is interested in signing a Term Conservation Easement that is tied to the land title. Monitoring will have to be carried out multiple times a year on the land to ensure project success. Communication with landowners will be forefront for when this monitoring needs to take place.
Still have questions to be answered? Click Here for our Reverse Auction FAQ
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Thank you for your interest in placing a bid to receive funding to undertake native grass seeding.
The Saskatchewan Stock Growers Foundation (SSGF) wants to support you in placing your bid. Here are some tips to get you started. Please contact the SSGF if you have questions or want additional support.
You submit your bid by completing the tentative bid form below and we will contact you for further details we may need. On that sheet you will be asked for information related to you starting with your name, address, phone number and email. Please enter this information, along with the date the bid is submitted, in the appropriate locations.
You will also be asked to enter information on your bid. To begin, enter the number of acres you are offering for seeding. The area for each bid cannot exceed one quarter section, or 160 acres. Landowners seeking to seed more than one quarter section (160 acres) are invited to submit additional bids for such lands. There is no limit to the number of bids that can be placed. For example, one landowner could submit four bids for each of four different quarter sections.
We need to know the precise location of the restoration area so please provide the coordinates or land location. Please include a map or drawing of the exact location if less than a quarter section.
The next step is to provide your bid amount. The bid is submitted as dollars ($) per acre considering current day prices. When deciding on your bid amount consider both direct and indirect costs. Direct costs include things such as pre-seeding land prep, rolling, weed control, establishment insurance, communications and interacting with monitoring crew, additional infrastructure expenses (fence and water), etc. Note that SSGF will supply the seeds. Indirect costs include things such as allowing for additional rest, lost income compared to traditional cropping or tame grass pasture, ongoing weed control, additional establishment rest, additional grazing management expenses. Taking these costs into account, establish the bid price on a per acre basis and enter it into the bid sheet. We have included a table following the bid sheet to help guide your bid calculation.
Enter the length of the term. The SSGF will consider term lengths of 30 years or greater with longer terms being preferable.
Please share any payment preferences. There may be options to pay in installments or lump sum payments at pre-determined times. Let us know what works for you and we will do our best to accommodate.
If there are additional terms that you would like to share with us, please do so in the designated area of the bid sheet. Examples of such terms are specific seed mixes or plants within the or management options.
Finally, there are a couple of questions that will help us improve this process in the future. These do not relate directly to your bid. The additional questions relate to the potential of seeding additional acres in the future (yes or now), the previous land use (for the last two years), your preferred seed mix (options presented to choose from) and how you heard about this program.