Farmers depend upon a favourable climate and weather conditions to earn a livelihood. We need climate stability to produce our crops, raise our livestock, and maintain the health of our agricultural ecosystem, and to provide the food Canadians eat.
We are also in a position to make a significant impact on Canada's carbon footprint by changing our agricultural practices. Both adaptation and mitigation are required for agriculture to play its part in preventing catastrophic climate change and for food production and farmer livelihoods to be maintained in the increasingly uncertain climate future.
Programs should be created to assist farms facing long-term climate-related problems. Budget 2017 should give priority to funding effective research and extension programs to reduce emissions from livestock production, promote adoption of low-input production methods, including soil carbon enhancement, and promote on-farm energy conservation practices. Currently, farmers get much of their information from the companies that sell farm inputs. Farmers need an alternative source of practical information, since the commercial agricultural sector has no incentive to provide this.
Thank you.