Opinion: Sustainable agriculture strategy needs farm input

The federal government has released a discussion document for the development of a sustainable agriculture strategy. Wading through all the buzzwords and motherhood statements is rather tedious, but the document does provide some insight into government thinking and how future programs are likely to unfold.

Let’s start with some positives, some praiseworthy statements amidst all the verbiage. Gene editing is mentioned a couple times as part of the science necessary to help agriculture adapt to a changing climate. Hopefully, Canada will stop its foot dragging and recognize gene editing as just another plant breeding tool that doesn’t need a lot of regulation.

The document credits prairie farmers with switching to conservation seeding techniques and reducing summerfallow, saying this has been a positive trend in soil health with carbon sequestered in the soil. In contrast, the document says soil carbon levels are generally decreasing in regions of Canada east of Manitoba.