I'll continue by testifying, as a researcher, on the points raised in the report.
To ensure our food and economic sovereignty, it's essential that we integrate soil health into the very foundation of our agricultural management, as healthy soil is our first and best defence against climate shocks.
We're currently facing both an environmental and an economic crisis. The degradation of agricultural soils incurs a colossal cost, already estimated at $3 billion per year in Canada. In Quebec in particular, 90% of agricultural soils in the main large-scale farming regions are considered to be in poor condition. Heavy machinery has caused deep, often irreversible compaction, and we've lost 40% of our grasslands to row crops since 2006, which has eliminated our best natural decompaction tools.
The economic consequences are direct and measurable. Soil compaction now causes a 1% decrease annually in corn crop yields in Quebec. In the next decade, the profitability of many businesses could be seriously compromised. At the same time, the increase in climate hazards is putting unprecedented pressure on public funds. If this trend continues, this explosion in costs will threaten the financial viability of programs and will inevitably cause the rates charged to producers to skyrocket.