Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members.
I'm pleased to appear before you today.
When I received your invitation, I was very happy to see that you want to investigate ways to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, promote soil health, reduce the agriculture sector's dependence on fossil fuels and encourage farmers to adopt environmentally friendly practices. These are precisely the right questions and the right aims. Thank you for pursuing this work.
In the seven minutes I have left, I will share with you seven points that can contribute to the foundations of your work.
First, your work is important, timely and will build upon and, most importantly, will advance the work that is under way in parallel. Work to develop on-farm measures and government policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is advancing, but it can benefit from your support and assistance. I'll mention three pieces of work under way, as examples.
In 2019, the National Farmers Union produced the report, “Tackling the Farm Crisis and the Climate Crisis”. That report contains a detailed plan to reduce agricultural emissions by 30% by the mid-2030s to improve soils and to provide other environmental co-benefits.
In 2020, more than a dozen organizations came together to form Farmers for Climate Solutions. The Farmers for Climate Solutions task force has provided recommendations to the Government of Canada, and some of those recommended programs were included in budget 2021. Thank you for that.
In 2021, the NFU published its report, “Imagine If.... A Vision of a Near-Zero-Emission Farm and Food System for Canada”. That very positive and very readable report provides details on how farmers and policy-makers can co-operate to achieve ambitious and rapid emissions reductions in the coming decades. Your study will build upon work already under way. I mention the NFU's report so that you might have a sense of some of the research and resources that are available and that we are happy to share.
My second point is that in terms of reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, the most important thing you can know is that agriculture does not produce greenhouse gas emissions. Agricultural inputs produce greenhouse gas emissions. We know this for sure because we have 10,000 years of data. For 10,000 years, farmers farmed and they did not affect the atmosphere or the climate. That remained true until the early 20th century. Then, as farmers adopted a growing array of farm inputs, emissions soared. It follows inescapably that any low-emission farmer food system will be a low-input system.
My third point is that measures to reduce emissions can increase net farm income. Farmers' margins have decreased steeply. Another way of putting this is that for every dollar that farmers earn, a larger and larger share goes to pay for inputs. Farmers' increasing over-dependence on purchased inputs is driving emissions up and driving margins down. Thus, reducing dependence on purchased inputs can have the double benefit of reducing emissions and increasing incomes.
My fourth point is that nitrogen fertilizer is a huge environmental problem. Nitrogen fertilizer is unique among all human products and processes in that it is a major source of all three of the main greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. In its manufacture, nitrogen fertilizer is a major source of carbon dioxide. For example, the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in Manitoba is the Koch brothers' fertilizer plant in Brandon.
In its use in farm fields, nitrogen creates emissions of nitrous oxide, and nitrogen fertilizer produces significant sources of methane from its natural gas feedstock. In Saskatchewan, where I am from and where I farmed for many years, nitrogen fertilizer tonnage has quadrupled since 1991. There is a wide range of damaging environmental impacts from nitrogen overuse, including ocean dead zones, acidification and nitrate pollution of groundwater. We must soon decrease our use of nitrogen fertilizer.
Again, agriculture does not create environmental problems. Overuse of agricultural inputs creates environmental problems. Thus, low-input approaches are a key to environmental solutions.
My fifth point is a request that you not support the wrong solutions. Under the guise of fighting climate change, there is a struggle for control of Canadian farms. We have a climate crisis. As is often the case in a crisis, some are looking for ways to profit.
Agribusiness corporations have come forward with technologies they say can reduce emissions, technologies such as data platforms, artificial intelligence, precision agriculture, sensors, drones, bots, driverless tractors, etc. However, these technologies threaten to entangle farmers in a vast web of data flows, patents, software licences and technology platforms. This web of technology will reduce farmers' control and their margins. There is an alternative, namely, measures that focus on soil health, biodiversity, resilience, farm-supplied solutions and working with nature.
As you undertake your study, please remember that there are two competing solution frameworks: in one, farmers are made ever more dependent on industry; in the other, farmers get more of what they need from biology.
My sixth point is to please advance justice, diversity, equity and inclusion. In thinking about ways to make our farms less environmentally damaging, please also ensure that the programs and policies you advocate benefit all farms, of all scales and all production methods. Please look for ways to support small and medium-sized farms, young farmers, new farmers, BIPOC farmers and the full diversity of Canadians who want to produce food for our tables.
Finally, point number seven is that we must pursue emission reduction with near wartime levels of intensity, effectiveness and speed. Climate change is the most serious crisis ever to face humanity. Despite this, we're moving too slowly to counter its intensifying effects. I ask you to proceed as if faced with a massive emergency, because we are. Please be ambitious and courageous.
Thank you. The National Farmers Union, the Farmers for Climate Solutions coalition, and others have prepared plans to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, increase resilience and reduce environmental impacts. I look forward to sharing those with your committee as you move forward in developing your report.
Thank you very much.