Good afternoon and thank you, Mr. Chair.
As you heard in the introductions, my name is Keith Currie. I am the first vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. Along with my colleague Scott Ross, our executive director, we represent 190,000 farm families from coast to coast to coast across Canada. I'm also an eighth-generation farmer in the Collingwood, Ontario area.
CFA's pre-budget recommendations focus on how we can harness the agriculture sector's immense potential in the fight against climate change while continuing to produce food for Canada and the world. I'll touch on a few key priorities from our submission, but we'll be pleased to speak further to any recommendations that CFA has put forward.
The first priority I would raise relates to the tremendous financial pressure farmers have faced as a result of skyrocketing fertilizer prices over this past year, which has been exacerbated by the 35% tariff eastern Canadian farmers endured on Russian fertilizer imports. Average prices for urea fertilizer have increased from under $600 a tonne in January of this year to over $1,200 by spring planting.
That is why our top priority is to see the revenue from these tariffs reinvested into financial relief for farmers so they can invest in infrastructure and other tools to help them become more resilient to supply chain disruptions through, for example, investments in on-farm fertilizer storage and precision agricultural technologies. Most importantly, financial relief ensures Canadian producers maintain the financial health necessary to continue putting food on the table for Canadians and consumers around the world.
For our second priority, I would highlight the environmental targets the Government of Canada has set for our country: a reduction in 30% of fertilizer emissions and a commitment for the country to be net zero by 2050. Agriculture is obviously central for the first, but also can be incredibly impactful for the second. However, one of the biggest hurdles to achieving these goals will be adoption of further best practices at the farm level. I say it that way because farmers are already widely adopting practices to reduce GHG emissions, such as seeking agronomic advice from certified crop advisers, or CCAs, and adopting 4R nutrient stewardship practices.
For those in the room who haven't heard of it, 4R nutrient stewardship is a program with a framework oriented around the right fertilizer source, at the right rate, at the right time and in the right place. Recent industry analysis has found that our industry can achieve a 14% reduction in fertilizer emissions from 4R practices alone.
While many of our farmers already have a long-standing commitment to 4R practices, there is a need to expand and advance adoption of 4R certification across Canada to meet the government's emission targets. That is why our second priority is to invest in knowledge transfer by promoting 4R and other best practices and by supporting 4R training opportunities for agrologists that tailor these plans to farming operations across Canada.
To achieve the government's proposed goals while meeting increased food demand, farmers need guidance from experts and support to adopt the practices they suggest. To truly harness their potential in fighting climate change, farmers need assistance in managing climate change itself. Canada's business risk management programs must be improved to consider climate risk management and climate readiness. Participation remains low in AgriStability, a program that assists farmers facing severe income losses.
Despite recent enhancements that we applaud, farmers continue to note difficulty accessing AgriStability support. That is why our third priority is to increase the coverage level for AgriStability for each successive year without payment, up to 85% of the historic reference margin. Similar to things like car and house insurance where your rates reflect your risk profile, we would propose the same: increasing the payment trigger for every year a producer goes without making a claim and reducing it when payment is made. This would encourage participation and investments in on-farm climate risk management.
For the AgriRecovery program, which helps farmers recover from natural disasters, a collective review must be conducted after any program response. This review would assess and report on measures that could prevent similar risks in the future, and improve future responses. For this to truly drive change, it must bring federal, provincial and territorial governments and farmers together in a shared assessment.
Finally, our last priority speaks to the chronic labour shortages that cost farmers over $1.9 billion each year in lost sales. CFA and our partners are developing a national agriculture, food and beverage manufacturing workforce strategy that will be finalized in 2023, but support is needed for its implementation, first, through new funding to develop an industry-led secretariat to oversee and implement this ambitious plan and, second, to build upon the “step up to the plate” initiative and establish a public awareness campaign highlighting the important role of the sector and the career pathways it provides to encourage Canadians of all ages to consider a career in agriculture.
At CFA we believe that agriculture is one of the most important tools that Canada has for meeting its environmental and economic goals. We hope you agree.
Thank you.