Thanks for the invitation to appear before the committee.
For those of you who might not know, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture represents farmers from right across the country, through general farm organizations and a number of commodity organizations, and deals with a number of issues that cross commodities. This is one of those issues that does cross a lot of commodities.
One of the things I'll say at the outset is that I'm pleased to see that the committee is looking at what we really accomplish moving forward to deal with climate change, because farmers are the first to feel the impact of climate change with volatility in weather patterns. We've seen crop issues in P.E.I. this year with potatoes, and crop issues out west with some of the grains. There's a lot of support for looking at how we can contribute to dealing with climate change and how to mitigate some of the stuff that's coming along.
First, I'll mention the carbon sequestration potential. It has been mentioned by the previous contributors. Back in 1999, a paper published by the National Climate Change Process identified that agriculture would put down approximately 22 million tonnes of carbon annually. That was before some of the new technology and the new plant technology was in place. There's an immense amount of growth, and as Rick mentioned, we're sequestering between eight million tonnes and 11 million tonnes right now. We've implemented a number of methods over the last number of years to realize this potential: conservation tillage, elimination of summer fallow, crop rotation and strategic fertilizer application, to mention a few.
The other thing that should be recognized in the livestock sector is that the unit of carbon for every pound of meat has gone down dramatically just because of improvements in genetics and crop production at the farm level.
It presents that there's a clear need to figure out how to incentivize the carbon capture and storage properties of Canadian agriculture. To incentivize this capture, agriculture must be recognized as an eligible carbon offset sector under the pan-Canadian framework on clean growth and climate change. The framework will apply an ISO standard to select eligible carbon sinks. It does not have a restriction on project types, and as such, the CFA recommends that it recognize a full array of agricultural carbon capture processes.
To further incentivize carbon storage, we must have an appropriate approach to measurement. We recommend following the precedent set by programs in other countries, such as Australia's 2018 carbon farming initiative. This initiative allows farmers to earn credits under an increased range of activities, including pasture, crops, horticulture and mixed farming activities. It also allows for land management practices to be tailored to the specific region and farm in order to respond to changing market forces and climate during the crediting and permanence periods.
Next we must address one of the chief drivers of the incentive: investment in innovation. Ensuring that farmer families throughout Canada have funding to implement carbon sequestration activities is crucial to success. There is concern that farming families without means to transition to low-emission fuels will be forced into paying carbon surcharges in the long term. This money that would be paid into surcharges would be better spent on retrofits that would eliminate the use of some of those fuels altogether.
The onus must be placed on raising awareness of available programs, and where required, generating new federal funding to increase access to sequestration technologies. There is also immense carbon sequestration potential to be realized through incentivized conservation. Initiatives such as the alternative land use services program, or ALUS, provide an example of a framework that offers per acre annual payments to farmers engaged in conserving carbon sinks, such as wetlands and forest stands. It is recommended that the federal government work with existing organizations such as the Canadian Wetlands Roundtable to evaluate the carbon capture potential of conservation efforts in the Canadian agriculture, forestry and other natural resource sectors.
With respect to bioenergy and bioproducts, there is immense potential in these fields in looking at how you can commercialize those operations. Agricultural waste and purpose-grown feedstock can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of many products when it replaces oil and gas feedstock. This goes above and beyond fuels to include composites, fibre, specialty chemicals and sugars.
The challenge has been a lack of investment in the processing capacity and the building of the supply chains in most areas. It is therefore recommended that the federal investment be targeted to incentivize the development of the bioeconomy through increased funding for innovation.
It is is also important to address the role of genetically improved productivity in reducing the per unit product amount of emissions in agriculture, which has been mentioned by the two previous speakers. The genetic approach may be one of the most tangible pathways to produce more food, fuel and fibre for a growing and more affluent global population while reducing emissions.
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture sees the need for a more holistic approach through climate smart agriculture; that is, one that sustainably intensifies yields, mitigates climate impacts and implements adaptation. I should mention that this does not just apply to crops. It also applies to livestock. If you take a look at the unit amount of grain that goes into producing a pound or a kilogram of meat, it has changed dramatically. By looking at genetic improvements in livestock as well as grains, you can reduce that carbon footprint.
In conclusion, our key recommendations are to recognize agriculture as an eligible offset sector, recognize the full range of on-farm carbon sequestering practices, implement regionally adaptive carbon sequestering measurements, and also look at the improvement in productivity in both livestock and crops.
Thank you for your time. We look forward to your questions.