Cover image: Iain Aitken in front of his Luing herd in Belmont, MB.
News release from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s livestream of the announcement
Remarks from Karen Ross, Director of Farmers for Climate Solutions
What a privilege it is to be here today on behalf of Farmers for Climate Solutions. We’re a national coalition of famer-led and farmer-supporting organizations working together to support farmers to reduce emissions and build resilience in the face of climate change. We currently represent over 20,000 farmers and ranchers from coast-to-coast, and 22 member organizations.
I’d like to begin with two stories from the land this season.
I’ll start in Saskatchewan, where farmers are facing one of the worst droughts on record. Much of the crops on Ian McCreary’s 3000 acre grain and livestock farm are ¼ to ⅓ of the yield he’s used to. His hay fields ignited with the slightest spark so haying this year involved having a water truck available and calling in the water bombers on local community pastures. The hay ultimately turned to dust in the baler so he, like his neighbours, had to cut withered crops as feed for cattle because of shortage in forage. Woven within this story of devastation is resilience, however: Ian’s farm is performing relatively better because he has maintained trees on his land which has helped manage wind and erosion, he’s waiting on rain to plant cover crops to help absorb unused nitrogen, and his grazing rotation has helped to drought-proof significant components of his land.
Now over to BC, Arzeena Hamir, a vegetable farmer, lost 80% of her berry crop to scorching temperatures. The fruit cooked on the plants. But, because she has diversified her operation to include highly complex rotations and has planted cover crops, her business has remained resilient in these tough conditions.
Tens of thousands of farmers have stories like Ian’s and Arzeena’s that mix despair with hope. The fact is that many farmers across Canada have not sat idly by while the weather has changed around us. Many farmers have already taken the initiative to implement a set of proven, cost-effective practices that reduce emissions and build soil health - and we want to see these scale up. That’s why the program being announced today is so encouraging for many farmers in our membership.
Last year, Farmers for Climate Solutions brought together a Task Force of scientists and experts, under the leadership of Ian and Arzeena, the farmers I just spoke of, to short-list some practices that could be implemented to address the increasing impacts of climate change. The On-Farm Climate Action Fund being announced today includes support for three of the most promising practices that we identified. What’s both unique and compelling about this new program is that it prioritizes direct support to farmers to help us adopt these practices across millions of acres of Canadian farmland. Expert agrology advice to support improved nitrogen management. Per-acre payments to support increased adoption of cover cropping. And fencing and water infrastructure and peer-to-peer learning to support rotational grazing. This is exactly what farmers have identified as being fundamental to scaling up these practices. This program therefore recognizes that farmers are the leaders best positioned to drive change in our sector. It is by empowering farmers with the right support to make new management decisions on their land that our sector will not only remain competitive but will also do its part in supporting Canada to reduce emissions.
Something else has also changed alongside climate: our markets are also changing, with buyers at every scale increasingly demanding farm products that are more sustainable. Earlier this week, a UN report recognized that all sectors must continue to do more in the face of climate change, and that failing to significantly change the current high-emission course will lead to more frequent and intense droughts. Our farms already lose 2 billion dollars annually as a result of climate impacts. This is lost revenue that must be reduced and redirected into farmer profits through programs like the On-Farm Climate Action program.
This program will drive momentum in our sector, and as farmers, we’re always looking ahead to the future. What we know is that there are many more climate practices that we can implement, and millions more acres that could benefit from climate-smart management. Agriculture, like every other sector, needs support to make the inevitable transition to a clean, climate-friendly future. Today’s announcement recognizes the imperative to build resilience in our sector and the importance of farmers in addressing the climate crisis, and we are very optimistic that this opens the door for more to come from here. We look forward to continuing to work with Minister Bibeau to build on the success of this program to help farmers meet the immense challenge of climate change.