I would start by recommending that, at the beginning of the development of any policy or program, regions be consulted and that there's consultation done both at organizations such as ours as well as with industry to ensure that the programs are on point for the region or the sector that they're intended for.
For example, in Nova Scotia, some of the issues we have that may not be the same as those in other parts of Canada are related to the fact that we have very acidic soils. Liming is a key facet for improving fertilizer use. Making sure the money that producers are investing in fertilizer is essentially getting the best bang for their buck means making sure that the pH is at a level that nitrogen use efficiency can be used to the best of its ability.
Some other examples could be that in Atlantic Canada we have a range of climates, much like other parts of Canada, but one of the things we have been dealing with as a result of climate change is that, because of having waterlogged soils, we actually end up seeing a lot of denitrification and nitrous oxide emissions. It's a powerful greenhouse gas.
For example, considering that this is something that occurs in Nova Scotia, one of the programs may look at funding something such as controlled drainage. That would allow producers to readily drain their fields when there are high levels of rain or precipitation. The opportunity for installing structures such as these, like controlled drainage, means that in times of drought, which we are seeing more and more in Atlantic Canada and in Nova Scotia, we actually can use these structures to increase the water level in soils and make the most use of irrigation practices as well as precipitation.