At least one farm organization has concerns about the federal government’s planned national sustainable agriculture strategy.
The Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association said the online consultation toward the strategy could signal more intrusive regulations.
The organization said the replacement for what was originally known as a Green Plan for agriculture comes after the carbon tax and the plan to “voluntarily limit the use of fertilizer.”
“With due respect to the federal government, we know farm sustainability better than they do,” said president Gunter Jochum in a news release. “I’m concerned that what this is really about is setting up a system of higher costs and increased regulation for farmers.”
Read Also
Ag in Motion speaker highlights need for biosecurity on cattle operations
Ag in Motion highlights need for biosecurity on cattle farms. Government of Saskatchewan provides checklist on what you can do to make your cattle operation more biosecure.
Jochum said farmers are already working to make their operations sustainable by producing the most with the fewest inputs. He said the WCWGA is prepared to spend money to tell Canadians that the federal government’s sustainability plans could harm the food supply.
The Sustainable Agriculture Strategy is part of the government’s 2030 Emissions Reductions Plan and is to be developed over the next year. An advisory committee is guiding the work, which will also include technical workshops.
The government said the strategy will bring together “action needed in the agriculture sector.”
It will identify goals and actions from other initiatives, such as the fertilizer emissions reduction plan, the National Adaptation Strategy, the country’s methane strategy and development of the Canada Water Agency. It will focus on five areas: soil health, adaptation and resilience, water, climate change mitigation and biodiversity.
The discussion document says supporting farmers’ livelihoods and maintaining competitiveness are key to any approaches the strategy will take.
However, it also says that regulations could be amended or instituted “that could establish performance standards and/or mandate or prohibit use of a specific agriculture practice to efficiently and significantly scale up the adoption of practices or technologies that currently have low levels of adoption.”
The committee includes 20 representatives from across the sector, as well as environmental organizations.
Fertilizer Canada is one of the members, and president Karen Proud said it welcomes the opportunity to consult.
“Engaging stakeholders in the development process is vital to ensure the SAS is realistic and achievable,” she said.
Proud said the 4R best management practices support each of the focus areas and are the best tool to optimize fertilizer use. Fertilizer Canada has asked the government to develop a national 4R strategy.
The online consultation is open until March 31.
