Climate change debate must be better informed
I am writing in response to Kevin Hursh’s column on page 11 of the Oct. 14 edition. Without evidence to support the arguments made, the article downplays the effects of climate change, which hurts the effort to make prairie farms resilient to our current and future climate.
While the article described past climate models missing the mark, a 2017 study by the University of California and NASA supported the accuracy of these models.
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Downturn in grain farm economics threatens to be long term
We might look back at this fall as the turning point in grain farm economics — the point where making money became really difficult.
Seventeen climate models covering 1970 to 2017 were reviewed, and none heavily overestimated or underestimated the warming of the planet. Ten of the 17 models closely described the real climate conditions. The readers of The Western Producer would benefit if statements in the paper about climate change referenced the supporting evidence.
Climate change is commonly oversimplified, leading to political reactions that don’t give agriculture the results we need. The decision-making process for agriculture infrastructure and the reasons behind climate action were oversimplified in the Oct. 14 article.
Large companies investing in Canadian agriculture likely consider many factors in their decisions, not just the region’s future climate. Furthermore, for agricultural climate action, building resilient supply chains is just as important as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change will heavily impact Canadian agriculture, so our supply chain must be pressure ready.
Production numbers from 2021 were better than drought years during the period of conventional tillage and summer fallow. However, swift innovation is still needed at all levels.
Climate change is complex, and we should hold writers to a high standard of integrity when they discuss the issue. But climate change is here now, with impacts that will become more intense.
So let’s acknowledge the problem, pull up our boot straps and get to work as a team, which will make us all better off.
David MacTaggart,
Saskatchewan Forage Council director,
Lacombe, Alta.
Hard to be upbeat about cattle industry
After this fall I am so discouraged by what I am seeing. Drought makes it hard to find feed and even water, and now it seems anyone that can is producing feed for China.
There is a big “corporate” push to take all feed stocks and even straw, package it and shuttle it off to China, while packers are happy to keep us underpaid for the product we produce, but raise and raise consumer prices.
The future looks really bleak.
Fred Farrant,
Lousana, Alta.
