Mr. Finnigan and all members of the committee, thank you for this invitation today.
My name is Doyle Wiebe. I am a farmer and a director with the Grain Growers of Canada. We have 13 members representing over 50,000 grain producers from coast to coast. I'm currently chair of the Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission, treasurer of the Canadian Canola Growers Association, and past president of the Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association. I'm also a member of a new committee formed last year by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment, entitled the agricultural water management policy advisory board. This committee was formed to help with the implementation of new water drainage regulations in the province, which have been brought in to support the hundreds of farmers looking for ways to deal with unprecedented water levels on their farmlands.
I'm a fourth-generation farmer in my community of Langham, near Saskatoon. This spring I will be seeding my 45th crop along with my business partner, a new, young neighbour in the community who is planning to be my successor on the 6,000-plus acres we farm together today. He has two young sons whom he hopes will succeed him in due course. We grow canola, wheat, and barley as traditional crops, but we are also working at growing new crops like peas, soybeans, and quinoa, to diversity the rotation and reduce the risks associated with variable weather patterns, which affect each crop differently.
The soil in my area is considered marginal. It is quite sandy and prone to salinity, which is exacerbated when soil moisture levels are high. Historically, this type of soil was prone to wind erosion in fallow years, which is mostly done to conserve moisture for the next year's crop, as sandy soil does not hold a lot of moisture. In the most recent years, however, we have seen a complete shift from the driest conditions in my father's lifetime to the wettest. Currently, it is quite dry again.
In the last 10 years, crop insurance programs in Saskatchewan and Manitoba have paid out more due to excess moisture than due to dry conditions. In my own case, five years ago I lost 25% of my cultivated acres due to excess water levels. Just imagine how losing 25% of the productive assets of any business and leaving most costs untouched will affect the profitability of that business. It's not sustainable.
Yes, climate change is real. With warmer winters and generally more moisture, fungal diseases, insects, and surface water issues in areas where there is nowhere to drain it have required new ways of thinking.
I tell my non-farming friends that I do not gamble; I manage risk. I mentally take stock of all the risks I need to manage each year, and I determine what strategy is best to mitigate them and yet remain profitable. Weather, which farmers talk about every day, is the single largest risk to any dryland grain producer in the world. Because of this, farmers themselves have been incredibly innovative and proactive in adapting to the changing climate. Many have worked with equipment manufacturers to deal with wetter soil conditions.
For example, it was quite rare 10 years ago to see dual wheels on combines. Now it is mostly standard equipment. There are even tracks on some. Dual wheels on wet soil help to spread the weight of the equipment, reducing soil compaction, preserving soil health, and not getting stuck in the mud.
Off the farm, farmers are also leaders in developing proactive approaches to this issue. As I said earlier, I am involved with several organizations that work to mitigate the impacts of climate change on our operations. The Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association is a great example of a group that has been around since the mid-eighties, promoting conservation and agriculture systems to improve the land for the future. In addition, Grain Growers of Canada is a member of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Crops, whom you heard from here in December. The CRSC is working within the industry to develop and measure sustainability metrics for Canadian grain in a proactive way.
While farmers are working hard to find solutions and are investing time and money in research and innovation, they cannot do it alone. As such, one of the areas where government investment would go a long way is in research and innovation. The federal government already has a track record of supporting and nurturing agricultural innovation through Growing Forward and Growing Forward 2. This is a natural fit. Potential partnerships already exist for government and industry. Public research is crucial to developing crops that will allow us to adapt to climate change.
Plant breeding efforts have needed to shift focus to try to address disease and insect issues and other stresses. There has been some success, and we have embraced these solutions whenever possible to improve performance and avoid pesticide applications. As a result, new drought and disease-resistant varieties are having a real, positive impact on the environment.
These efforts in both the public and private sectors need to be strengthened and enhanced if we are to continue to increase our production as costs continue to escalate. This requires investment by government in public sector research.
It is also essential to have a regulatory and policy environment that allows private sector research to thrive and new technologies to become available to farmers who need them. All of this work is intended to help me manage the risks in front of me as best I can. However, there's only so much a farmer can do when nature works against all odds. That is why strong business risk management programming is an important tool for managing and adapting to changing climates. Crop insurance with premiums cost-shared by governments and producers is an essential risk management tool for grain growers across Canada.
While BRM programs should only pay out assistance when truly required, it is essential that tools be available and meaningful when risks can no longer be managed by the farmers themselves. However, every farmer has a different financial risk, and risk profiles have been changing over time. Mine is quite different from my business partner's and BRM programming must be improved to help ensure his little boys will have the opportunity to continue his legacy.
The federal, provincial, and territorial governments are currently undertaking a comprehensive review of BRM programming. We have a unique opportunity to take a close look and develop programs that work for the future. Grain growers look forward to working with the government and committee to ensure that the review is meaningful and puts everything on the table. That is the only way we can ensure that BRM programs will be the backstop growers need as they face increasing risks in the future.
Grain farmers have adapted to many challenges and are leading in environmental stewardship. They are in business for the long term, and therefore look at the long-term impacts of their practices. Farmers are increasingly asked to do more with less, and they have become very efficient at using the most modern technologies. We are only now getting a clear picture of just how much carbon is being sequestered in the soil thanks to modern farming practices, and it is much more than was theorized 30 years ago. It is imperative that the positive impacts of this are passed on to farmers when government puts climate change initiatives like carbon prices into place.
There's a lot of public good in what we do. Added costs in the value chain trickle down to farmers, and we cannot pass these on. Grain farmers' contribution to cleaner air, water, and removal of greenhouse gases from the environment, while building healthier soil for the next generation, is part of the legacy we are leaving today. We are proud of that legacy and want to work with government to ensure a strong future for our industry.
Thank you for having me, and I look forward to your questions.