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Ag Day in Canada – 2020

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Reading Time: 5 minutes
Published: February 11, 2020
Ag Day in Canada – 2020

It’s Ag Day in Canada and a great time to look back at some of the people and issues that shape our agricultural sector in this nation.

Food and agriculture in Canada is a multi-billion dollar annual business, but it’s a lot more. Farmers oversee Canada’s vast rural land resource suited for food production. The water resources the nation relies on flow through, and in many cases are sourced from, these regions. The industry secures Canadian’s food supplies and protects the country’s balance of trade. Canadian farms sequester carbon on more than 140 million acres of land. That soil carbon reservoir is about the same as the amount of carbon that would be released through 100 years of fossil fuel burning at the global rate.

In 2016, the agriculture and agri-food system generated $111.9 billion of gross domestic product and accounted for 6.7 percent of Canada’s total GDP. It employed approximately 2.3 million people, representing 12.5 percent of Canadian employment that year. GDP in the agriculture and the agri-food system grew by 11 percent from 2012 to 2016. In comparison, the Canadian economy grew by 7.8 percent over the same time period.

Here are some of our most recent On the Farm experiences with Canadian producers:

Return to family farm life-changing experience

Lesley Kelly, seen here with sons Jennings and Copeland, is a founding member of Do More Ag and was recently elected to the board of the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission. She and her husband, Matt, returned to Saskatchewan almost 10 years ago to become partners in her family’s grain farm. | photo courtesy of Lesley Kelly

B.C. cattle producers resettle in Saskatchewan

Erika, Hazel and Cyle Stewart on their ranch near Morse, Sask. | Karen Briere photo

Century ranch focuses on Herefords and Angus

Veronica and Brad Doenz raise purebred Angus and Herefords on their ranch near Warner, Alta., assisted by their sons, Branson, 4, shown here, and Jordy, 7, who was in school. | Barb Glen photo

Sustainability top priority for Sask. family

Jake and Stephanie Leguee, shown here with sons Asher, 4, and Grayson, 1, say it’s important to build opportunities for future generations who might be interested in agricultural careers. | Leguee family photo

Family strives for healthier food

Members of the Witzaney family include Valerie Witzaney, left, with daughters Thea, 13, Emma, 9, and TaraLee, 11, and husband, David. | William DeKay photo

Alta. ranch operators keen on tackling new ventures

Mike, left, Cora, Lucas, Dawn and Emma Williams live on a busy life on their farm. Mike and Dawn have full time jobs and manage the operation around their schedules. The kids are bussed to a rural school just 10 minutes away — the same school Mike and his parents attended. | Maria Johnson photo

Choosing a rural lifestyle, for the family’s sake

Stephen, left, Hayes, Kett and Nicole Poburan at home on their farm. | Maria Johnson photo

Farm has high hopes for the next generation

Jackson, left, Katelyn, Laura and Clinton Monchuk are part of a modern family-run farming operation that produces eggs along with grain, oilseeds and pulse crops. | Monchuk family photo

Alberta farm family finds a work-life balance

Dallas Vert and Natasha Popisil were named Alberta’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2019. They farm at Kirriemuir and have three children: Reese, seven, Tegan, three and Ryker, three months. | Barbara Duckworth photo

Sask. couple roots farm business from home

Karl Schiffer of U & K Greenhouses near Indian Head, Sask., fertilizes and waters geraniums while his wife, Ursula, pinches begonias. Outside temperatures on this day were -20 C, while temperatures inside the greenhouse were 30 C with about 80 percent humidity. | William DeKay photo

2019 stories:

Ag Day – On the Farm with Canadian producers

 

Ag Day – OPINION

Ag Day – Opportunity provided by a Rural Economic Development Minister

What’s happening around the country on #CdnAgDay

 

 

 

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