Brent Preston grows salad greens and cucumbers on his farm near Creemore, Ontario. Preston is also the Director of Farmers for Climate Solutions (FCS), a national farmer-led coalition that’s advocating for an immediate transition to climate-friendly agricultural practices.
The group is calling on the federal, provincial and territorial governments to incorporate FCS recommendations for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the policy framework being negotiated in July.
The FCS’ 2022 report, Rooted in Climate Action: Recommendations for the next Agricultural Policy Framework builds on previous documents that focused on funding for lowering GHG emissions and a COVID recovery plan that integrates climate resiliency into agriculture.
Farmers, agricultural economists, climate scientists and policy experts worked together to identify the most cost-effective ways to rapidly reduce GHG emissions, build resilience to protect Canadian agriculture, and help Canada meet its 2030 Paris Agreement targets.
The task force identified on-farm practices that could reduce agricultural emissions by 14 per cent in the next five years sequestering millions of tonnes of carbon in agricultural soils.
FCS hopes the 19 recommendations outlined in the report will become part of the policy framework establishing a five-year funding agreement that will govern agriculture spending across Canada until 2028.
Farmers are at the front of the climate fight
Farmers are on the front lines of climate change, yet they are rarely ever consulted about how changing weather conditions are impacting their lives and livelihoods.
Preston finds this surprising, “because as a farmer who’s really focused on climate change, I think a lot about what the impacts are going to be. In the last year I’ve seen all kinds of impacts that have come as a total shock to me.”
In an interview with rabble.ca, Preston described a heat dome that formed last year that was actually cooking fruit on the trees. Then, there was the farmer in British Columbia (BC) whose turkey barn was destroyed by a tornado that was created by one of the wild fires. In addition to losing his infrastructure to the firenado, this farmer lost all of his livestock.
There were also farmers in Saskatchewan who couldn’t cut hay during the day because the heat was so intense the machinery was lighting the pastures on fire. Instead, farmers had to bring in the hay in the middle of the night.
Preston highlights the fact that this is a pivotal moment in Canadian history because climate change is not something that will be happening in the future, it’s happening right here, right now.
“This is such a crucial time and it’s so important that we get this right because we’re locking in a big chunk of agricultural policy for the next five years and that’s the bulk of the time that we have to meet our 2030 climate targets,” Preston observed.
He went on to say, “if we don’t have climate action as really central to this policy framework, then it’s really difficult to see how agriculture makes any kind of significant contribution to our national climate goals for the next decade. This is really our last shot at really changing the trajectory of emissions in Canadian agriculture.”
Agriculture is responsible for 12 per cent of Canada’s GHG emissions. The FCS has identified 19 different practices farmers can implement. These climate-friendlier choices have proven GHG emission reduction potential.
“These aren’t tech based or experimental practices. These are really practical things that farmers are already doing,” said Preston.
Farm related emissions a growing climate concern
Several of those practices relate to nitrogen fertilizer management. Nitrogen fertilizer is the fastest growing source of emissions in Canadian agriculture.
Nitrogen fertilizer can turn into nitrous oxide, an extremely powerful GHG. Through better utilization of nitrogen, farmers can decrease the amount of fertilizer they use without impacting yields.
Farmers can also dramatically impact GHGs, especially methane emission from stored manure, by simply covering the compost and capturing the gas.
Sulphuric acid can be added to liquid manure acidifying it and lowering the power of hydrogen, generally referred to as the pH. This drastically reduces the methane that’s produced.
These practices work, but need to be more widely adopted and implemented. Over the long-run these practices will also have financial benefits for farmers. Unfortunately, they take a lot of upfront investment and involve a measure of risk at the beginning.
“That’s where we’re looking for help from the government to get over that hump of getting people started on these practices,” said Preston.
Farmers actually produce all three GHGs and each requires different means of mitigation. Methane is produced primarily by animals. Nitrous oxide comes from synthetic fertilizers. Carbon dioxide originates from soil and machinery.
Ideally, trained agricultural professions and mentors would help farmers meet climate goals because as it stands right now the internet is the only resource available.
This is where an agrologist, certified crop advisor (CCA) or farmer mentor is key. Agrologists and certified crop advisors are both agricultural professionals who have a degree in agriculture and some training.
Essentially, they help farmers with all sorts of decisions. Everything from calculating how much fertilizer to apply, to what crop varieties are going to work best.
Reducing emissions can be cost effective
FCS is also working to train farmer mentors. These practicing farmers help their peers learn and implement practices that sequester GHG emissions in cost effective ways.
Mitigation cost is the amount of money required to eliminate one tonne of carbon dioxide or its equivalent. The federal government has put a price on carbon pollution in the form of a carbon tax. That tax is set to increase to $170 per tonne in 2030.
With the assistance of agricultural economists and GHG modellers. The FCS have determined the cost to incentivize farmers to use their new practices averages $40 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalents. That makes these practices extremely cost effective and well below the federal government’s carbon pricing.
Nitrogen fertilizer a key emitter
Truth is the only area of agriculture that the governments have set a target for is reducing the use of nitrogen fertilizer. Their focus on a 30 per cent decrease by 2030 is a disappointingly less than ambitious goal.
Push back from the fertilizer industry includes claims that using lower levels of synthetic fertilizers will impact yields. However, their rhetoric has not been backed with sound scientific proof.
FCS research shows, that by implementing their practices, farmers could realistically achieve a 33 per cent reduction in nitrogen emissions by 2028. That’s a 3 per cent greater reduction two years earlier than federal goals.
Admittedly, this is only achievable if farmers reduce the amount of nitrogen fertilizer they use.
One means is to employ agriculture professionals to help farmers determine exactly how much fertilizer they actually need to apply. It’s well documented that the average Canadian farmer over applies nitrogen fertilizers. So, cutting back not only slashes emissions but saves money.
Farmers could also be encouraged to use fertilizers treated with nitrification inhibitors which produce less nitrous oxide. Known in the industry as enhanced fertilizer formulation (EFF), this fertilizer is not only more efficient, it’s also more expensive and much harder to find. FCS would like to see improved availability and a subsidy put in place so farmers can lower emissions without breaking the bank.
It’s a win-win situation for farmers – use less synthetic nitrogen fertilizer to help mitigate climate change while decreasing the financial outlay for what has become a very, very expensive input.
Protecting wetlands and farmland
FCS has even included a section on the valuable role wetlands play in providing space for biodiversity, flood control, and temperature moderation. All of which create irreplaceable benefits for adjacent farmlands.
Ducks Unlimited, a collaborator on the FCS report, established that Canada is losing 15,000 hectares (over 37,000 acres) of wetlands from Canadian farms annually.
This has a massive GHG impact which is why FCS believes it’s urgent to stop this loss. Implementing a financial incentive program to fund easements on wetlands on farms would allow farmers to preserve invaluable wetlands without suffering a financial cost for foregoing draining and seeding the land.
Slowing agricultural GHGs will take national co-operation
Most Canadians don’t realize that agriculture is a shared jurisdiction. The policy framework being negotiated between the federal, provincial and territorial governments will undoubtably hit a few bumps. Some of those roadblocks can be attributed to the varying levels of climate ambition that can be seen across the provincial and territorial divides.
Preston suggests that the leaders of those provinces with less enthusiastic climate action plans turn their attention to the economic incentives that drive the adoption of the programs.
“Our trading partners and our competitors in terms of agriculture around the world, are spending far, far more than we are to help their farmers make the climate transition. The US is spending 13 times more than Canada on environmental programs and agriculture on a per acre basis. The EU is spending 70 times as much as we are per acre,” he said.
And, the Canadian customer base is changing. Whether the customer is a family at a farmer’s market or a multi-national corporation, they are demanding low emissions products.
In the case of grocery chains, they have climate commitments that need to be met through supply chains with the lowest carbon footprint possible. If they can’t get low GHG products from Canada then they will buy from the US and EU.
COVID also exposed just how vulnerable Canada’s food system is to border closures and supply chain disruptions. Premiers should keep in mind that food produced locally lowers Canada’s transportation GHG footprint while strengthening food security and food sovereignty.
Preston wants politicians to remember, “the agricultural industry and the food and food processing industry in Canada is a huge economic driver. Its a massive source of employment. It just makes good sense to support, encourage and nurture that industry in Canada when it provides so much economic benefit to Canadians and could potentially provide so much environmental benefit as well.”
Farmers for Climate Solutions (FCS) is a national coalition of farmer-led and farmer supporting organizations representing more than 20,000 Canadian farmers and ranchers from coast to coast.
Support rabble today!
We’re so glad you stopped by! Thanks for consuming rabble content this year.
rabble.ca is 100% reader and donor funded, so as an avid reader of our content, we hope you will consider gifting rabble with a donation during our summer fundraiser today.
Whether it be a one-time donation or a small monthly contribution, your support is critical to keep rabble writers producing the work you’ve come to rely on as a part of a healthy media diet.
Become a rabble rouser — donate to rabble.ca today.
Nick Seebruch, editor
