Farmers are fighting battle against climate crisis on the front lines

It is an unquestionable fact that climate change is already all around us, causing profound and detrimental effects on Canada’s agriculture sector. Our hard-working farmers are fighting vanguard battles against the climate crisis. The increasing frequency of extreme weather events is impacting everything from farmers and their bottom line, to feed for livestock, to shortages of healthy and affordable food on our grocery store shelves. In my home province of British Columbia, the effects have been especially pronounced. In 2021, alone, we experienced an intense “heat dome” phenomenon—an unprecedented heat wave characterized by the BC Centre for Disease Control as “the most deadly weather event in Canadian history.” Crops were killed, and livestock suffered—with some succumbing to the severe temperatures. The heat dome was followed only five months later by torrential rains and catastrophic flooding, which destroyed family farming properties that had been in operation for decades. Critical transportation infrastructure was hit hard, and the City of Vancouver was effectively cut off from the rest of the country. The damage from the flooding is still being calculated, but it is estimated to be nearing $9-billion. Unless we take the necessary steps to drastically reduce our emissions, our already-bleak climate reality and future will worsen. The root of farming practices that will assist in the fight against climate change lies in soil. Keeping carbon sequestered within the soil, where it belongs, and out of the atmosphere, where it is causing havoc, is an important part of this fight. An agricultural paradigm shift is needed, not just in federal policy, but also in recognition of the practices that many trail-blazing farmers are already adopting. I have been inspired by many in Canada’s agricultural sector who are adopting regenerative farming practices. They are going beyond sustainability as a principle and are observing the patterns and principles in ecosystems to reduce their inputs and help purify the air, purify the water, rebuild the soil, and increase diversity. In this way, they are building resilience against climate change by tackling and overcoming challenges without being completely overwhelmed by them. So how can policy at the federal level help drive this agricultural paradigm shift? In November, I introduced Bill C-203, which will develop a national strategy to promote efforts across Canada to conserve and improve the health of soil. This national strategy will help us get a better data on the status of Canada’s soils, help support and encourage best soil management practices, develop a national soil information system, and help with knowledge sharing to guide soil’s maintenance and enhancement so that its capacity can be rebuilt to continually produce healthy food and affordable fuel in harmony with our natural environment. My bill will also take steps to recommend the appointment of a national advocate for soil health, whose office will have a mandate for raising awareness of the critical role that soil plays in supporting agricultural productivity and in meeting global challenges such as climate change. The House Agriculture and Agri-Food Committee will soon resume our study on the environmental contributions of agriculture. Before the last election shut down the committee’s work, we heard from 20 witnesses and received half a dozen written briefs from stakeholder groups and subject matter experts. They informed the committee about important steps already being taken, and new technologies being explored, to reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint. I look forward to continuing this important work with my colleagues at the House Agriculture Committee and making recommendations to the federal government to assist farmers in adapting to and mitigating the impacts of climate change through regenerative methods and promotion of healthy soil practices. I also hope my colleagues from all political sides will come together to support my Bill C-203 so that we may enact a healthy soil strategy that will help guide our agricultural sector through the minefield of climate change. NDP MP Alistair MacGregor, who represents Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, B.C. He has served as the NDP critic for agriculture and agri-food since 2018 and has a small farming property in the Cowichan Valley using agro-ecological farming practices. The Hill Times