The country’s water policies, management and research efforts are under-developed and uncoordinated, it said, which leaves water resources and challenges largely unaddressed.

That’s something a national plan should fix, says the report written by Tyler McCann, Angele Poirier and Nicolas Mesly.

“Water security underpins food security and national security and should be considered a strategic asset. Without adequate availability and quality of water, food production and export are impossible,” says the report, titled “A National Agri-Food Water Action Plan.”

“The greatest impact will be achieved when governments work together.”

Canada has no national water policy, despite numerous attempts to link water management approaches over the decades.

“Canada has a fragmented and siloed model for water management,” says the report.

The strategy calls for federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers to work together to develop a pan-Canadian policy that will address the fractured situation.

“Multiple stakeholders raised the non-uniformity in data collection, the need for more research, and expressed frustrations with duplication and fragmentation of funding for water-related initiatives,” says the report.

The authors believe the recently created Canada Water Agency can be used to bring together Canada’s various jurisdictions to develop a coordinated approach, with water management based upon watersheds.

A key concern is that few seem to consider the water and land that make Canada one of only seven countries that are substantial net exporters of food.

“The country … doesn’t think enough about protecting its water in terms of food management and production,” the report says.

Large amounts of agricultural land are being paved as urbanization grows, while water resources are compromised, CAPI argues. In the United States, aquifers and other water sources are being drained and potentially lost permanently.

That is an example that could be avoided with a proper national policy and strategy, the authors say.

Water is a unique and perplexing commodity. It is often unpriced, which tends to devalue it in many people’s minds. Yet it is the most crucial substance for food production and human life.

There is no shared sense of how to treat water on the most fundamental level.

“There is a whole debate about whether water is a right, a commodity or an essential or even sacred resource for the protection of life and biodiversity.”

That lack of clarity leaves farmers without a focus on developing Canada’s rare opportunity.

The paper supports calls to reward farmers for water protection work they perform using sustainable practices.

“The environmental services provided by farmers, including protecting water quality, should be quantified and remunerated.”

The report said availability of water can take agriculture and food much further.

“Water can be a strategic advantage for increasing food processing, providing competitive hydroelectricity rates, access to quality and quantity not available in other regions and an asset in their conservation and recycling programs.”

It calls for long-term research and development.

– This article was originally published at The Western Producer.

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The 2021 Census of Agriculture reported an increase of nearly 2,000 female farm operators over the 2016 census, or about two per cent. The number of male farm operators dropped nearly six per cent in that time.

Manitoba saw an increase of 365 female farm operators, for about an eight per cent increase, mostly in the oldest age category. The number of female farm operators aged 55 plus rose by about 18 per cent. The rate of increase for women farmers in this category was more than five times higher than that of men of the same age.

In the same period, the number of female farm operators younger than 35 decreased by nearly 10 per cent, and those between the ages of 35 and 54 decreased nearly 16 per cent. Male farmers saw the same trend.

Why it matters: There are more women farming but there are barriers to their success.

The Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute hosted a Dec. 7 online panel discussion about the numbers and their implications for the ag sector.

Female farm operators include women who make managerial decisions for a farm and don’t necessarily need to own the land, said Matthew Shumsky, manager of releases for the Census of Agriculture with StatsCan.

It doesn’t include women who do paid agricultural labour but do not manage the farm, and therefore doesn’t fully reflect how many women work in agriculture, Shumsky added.

[RELATED] Alberta Farmer Express: The door is open and young women should walk through it

He said the greatest increases of female farm operators were among farms in the highest revenue classes.

Single-operator farms accounted for the entire increase of female farm operators, while the number of women on multiple-operator farms has decreased, said Shumsky.

The proportion of women farmers has been increasing since 1991, even though the overall number has declined in that time, according to StatsCan data. The number of male farmers has decreased more quickly.

In the United States, women farm operator numbers have also been rising, said Claudia Schmidt, a researcher with Pennsylvania State University. However, some of that increase came after the USDA began allowing for multiple farm operators on its surveys.

Research has shown that women farmers in the U.S. on average earn 40 per cent less than their male counterparts, making agriculture among the most unequal professions in the country, Schmidt said.

When asked why the number of Canadian women farmers was increasing in the high-revenue categories, Schmidt said there could be multiple reasons. More women are enrolling in agriculture university programs, she said, and peer support for women farmers has improved.

There’s also some (U.S.) research that suggests women are taking over the farm after their husbands’ deaths.

Canadian federal government programs have boosted the number of women farmers, said Jeannine Messiers, president of Agricultrices du Quebec, speaking through a translator.

[RELATED] Alberta Farmer Express: Women ‘a driving force’ in conservation efforts

In Quebec, a federally funded program called Dimension E links women in agriculture to consultants, a research database, coaching and other supports, Messier said.

Farm Credit Canada’s Women Entrepreneur Program has invested $500 million in female agriculture and food entrepreneurs since 2019, Shumsky said.

In terms of needed support, child care is an issue, said Messiers, especially since farmers work atypical hours. Other professions, like police and firefighters, also work atypical hours, Messier said, and should be included when making a case for government support.

She also suggested that labour co-ops could provide child care and household work support for women farmers.

Access to financial research and to land continue to be barriers for women, said Schmidt, and should be studied to see if women are discriminated against in these areas.

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Hosted by the Farm Foundation and the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI), the conference brought together trade experts from various backgrounds to discuss issues of trade on July 8.

Joe Glauber from the International Food Policy Research Institute said the 2016 election of current U.S. President Donald Trump ushered in a major change for international trade, but noted trade talks around the world had been slowing since 2008, in part because of the financial crisis that took place that year.

He reminded viewers of Trump’s decision to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal shortly after his election, as well as the threat to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the ongoing trade war between China and the United States.

Glauber said the U.S. decision to effectively render the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) useless by not filling vacancies on the dispute-settling body, combined with Trump’s other actions have resulted in “trying times.”

He also noted the United States is now likely exceeding its WTO limits on domestic support for agriculture in 2019 and 2020.

“Support levels could be well over US$30 billion for 2019 and 2020, which again would be these over domestic support limits,” he said.

While the WTO’s mission is to achieve economic integration for countries around the world, it has faced heavy criticism in recent years from the United States and other nations as protectionist policies pick up steam.

“Hopefully the U.S. administration will return to that, in my view, more positive effort to reform rather than simply criticize,” said Glauber.

Reform efforts are currently underway at the WTO, highlighted by a campaign to replace outgoing director general Roberto Azevedo, who decided to step down one year prior to when his term was set to expire.

Tough economic times spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic combined with more nativist policies around the world have resulted in the long-enjoyed rules-based trading system and multilateralism to be “under threat,” according to John Clarke, director general of agriculture and rural development for the European Commission.

“We would all agree the WTO is in a crisis,” he said. “Certainly, post-COVID, we need to recognize our interdependence. We can’t batten down the hatches and go solo, we need to recognize that economic integration, trade, health policy commitments are very much related and every part of the international community needs to work in synch and in tandem.

“The WTO can’t be isolated from the U.S. system, and vice versa.”

Peter Clark, from Grey, Clark, Shih and Associates, argued domestic supports are largely responsible for causing problems for the WTO.

“If we’re going to deal with the more broadly based membership of the WTO, we have to do a catalogue of the concerns of individual countries to see how we can group them together,” he said, noting the level of domestic support allowed by the WTO has caused problems for India, Canada and the U.S.

“One of my concerns about the support (in the U.S.) is this could become subject to trade remedy disputes, because these are subsidies with respect to agreements coming out of trade wars and trade disputes, where preferential arrangements are made for the supply of agricultural products,” he said. “Canada has not done too well with those because the deals are being made by other countries.”

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“It’s Good, Canada” will share personal stories of Canadians working across the food supply chain and provide information about farming, transportation, processing, retail and production on its website, itsgoodcanada.ca.

“It’s natural for Canadians to have an interest and questions about food, which touches our lives every day and has been foremost in the minds of Canadians recently,” said Kim McConnell, chair of the CCFI board of directors, in a statement. “‘It’s Good, Canada’ captures the spirit of the agriculture-food industry and delivers on the mandate of the CCFI to earn the trust of Canadians by providing credible, fact-based information and research.”

Campaign organizers hope it will begin a conversation with Canadians about food, while helping them understand the value chain. The campaign will also look to bring together people working within the food system, from farmers to forklift drivers.

“This campaign will initiate a substantial conversation regarding the Canadian food system, we will discuss topics such as jobs, food pricing, science and technology, climate change, exports — topics that are of interest to Canadians,” said a statement from John Jamieson, CEO of the CCFI. “Consumers may be surprised to learn just how many moving parts are involved in the production, processing, packaging, and delivery of food. At a time when consumers want to understand how they can ensure food is available to them, now presents an opportunity to have a conversation with Canadians.”

Another national campaign, “Growing Stronger” is being launched by the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) and the University of Guelph’s Arrell Food Institute.

The campaign is asking stakeholders, “Could we have done better?” during the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Organizers plan to connect players within Canada’s food system through an online portal and virtual consultations over the summer and into the fall.

Policy proposals will emerge from that effort and conclusions will be presented at the 2020 Arrell Food Summit before being brought to the CAPI Big Solutions Forum in 2021.

“In the post-COVID-19 world, seeking answers to the key question of “How to build a resilient Canadian agri-food system?” will become more urgent than ever, as this crisis brings to light both where we successfully adapted as well as revealing hidden vulnerabilities in the Canadian agri-food system,” Evan Fraser, Arrell Food Institute director, said in a statement.

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The Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) recently released the report, which took full aim at another recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. CAPI says it fails to mention “the Canadian agriculture sector has made significant progress in making the soils in crop and animal production a net carbon sink, as well as reducing emission intensity of animal agriculture.”

They also said the report isn’t a balanced look at environmental issues and agriculture because it chose to focus solely on greenhouse gases “… to the exclusion of other kinds of environmental effects,” said the study, authored by Al Mussell of the Agri-Food Economic System and Ted Bilyea and Margaret Zafiriou of CAPI.

“This needs to be better understood so that the role of agriculture as a prospective solutions-provider rather than a source of emissions can inform the policy debate around achieving Canada’s climate change goals,” the study said.

GHG emissions in the Canadian agriculture sector peaked in 2005 while production has steadily increased, leading to a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to output, the study said.

“Canadian agricultural producers have improved their environmental performance, aided by a willingness to adopt new technologies and best management practices (BMPs) along with new regulations, policies and programs, and investment in research and development,” the report states.

Crop and livestock production accounts for about 8.4 per cent of Canada’s total GHG emissions while the IPCC report says that globally agriculture accounts for about 23 per cent of the world’s GHG emissions, CAPI said.

Canadian agriculture stands well behind the “energy from combustion industry” and the transportation sector as sources of GHGs.

As it tries to cope with climate change, “global population growth and increased demand for more and higher-quality food products, including meat, dairy and protein alternatives, imply that Canadian agriculture has an opportunity to produce and export more agriculture and agri-food products. The challenge is how to do so sustainably.”

The carbon tax and other climate change policies could place Canadian agriculture “at a cost disadvantage, especially relative to its major competitors, such as the United States” which has dropped out of an international campaign to reduce GHGs.

“The role of the agricultural sector in addressing climate change has been given little attention, if not ignored,” CAPI said. “This is unfortunate as agricultural land operates on very large stocks of stored carbon and has the potential to sequester carbon — not just mitigate emissions — unlike most other sectors.”

While producers have made progress, the ability of the sector to “readily adjust and provide far-reaching GHG storage, sequestration, and mitigation services as an opportunity for the sector, continues to be a critical issue.”

The study says “Canadian beef production has become much less emissions intensive as a result of new genetics, increased feed efficiencies and better pasture management. Canada is now one of the lowest emitters for animal protein, particularly beef, in the world.”

Meanwhile, crop producers have made significant increases in soil organic carbon levels and cut sharply carbon emissions from their fields. The 4R program of Fertilizer Canada has played an important role in that development by educating farmers on better fertilizer application.

An Ontario study found using 4R in corn production increased yields by nearly 20 per cent and reduced GHG emissions by 75 per cent. New farm equipment is also helping.

The development of direct seeding has been another step forward because it reduces the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere, the study said. “On the Prairies where zero- and low-till practices have taken off, net GHG emissions have declined dramatically since 1996, contributing to substantial carbon storage and sequestration in Canadian soils.

The advent of regenerative agriculture has also helped build up carbon levels in the soil, the study said. “The resulting carbon-enriched soils are healthier, demonstrating better resilience to extreme weather, improving water permeability, increasing microbial diversity, raising yields, lowering input requirements and producing even more nutritious harvests — all of which improve the land and farmers’ bottom line.

“The quest for sustainable production still has a long way to go but it is also important to acknowledge the progress that has been made in Canadian agriculture,” the study said. “What remains is for the sector to better understand its role as a solutions-provider, along with the economics and policy to support it.”

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Organized by Canada 2020, the workshops will conclude in November with a session in the national capital that is intended to pull together the ideas that emerged during the workshops into an action plan to present to the government.

“We want to hit the ground running after the election to elevate our economic agenda with the government,” said organizer David McInnes.

A central theme that has emerged in the workshops is the need to make sustainability a key component of farming and food processing across the country, he said.

“We’re competing in a new world order and we have to protect our reputation,” McInnes said.” We’re in a more demanding marketplace and we need to be able to prove our food safety and sustainability claims. Consumer trust, animal care and sustainability are all linked to the Canada brand.”

The Canadian Roundtable for Beef Sustainability has developed a globally recognized brand that is an excellent example of what the entire agri-food sector has to adopt, he said, noting growing demand for sustainable products is a global trend.

“It’s key to differentiating our products from other countries,” McInnes said.

The common themes that have emerged during the Canada 2020 workshops are also prominent in the recent Senate agriculture committee report on the value-added sector, an upcoming release by the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute and the election strategies developed by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance. Then there is the 2018 report from the agri-food strategy table and before it the 2016 Barton report.

In other words, the time has come to walk the talk, McInnes said, noting that will require establishing “credible metrics” that prove to international customers that Canadian food production is sustainable. Making the Canada brand credible around the world will be a catalyst for profitability in the entire food system and that means the agri-food industry has to take the lead in developing it.

“Every player in the food system has a role to play while governments should remain a critical player by supporting innovation and having an internationally respected regulatory system,” McInnes said.

Making the Canada brand a world leader will be a complex task because the Canadian food sector is so diverse, he said. That means it’s more than just promotion and marketing. It’s about how claims are validated, and how sustainability is managed.

“That comes through paying attention to measuring what matters,” he said. “We have to remember that folks get very emotional about where their food comes from. We need to become more strategic to meet international standards. The domestic and global supply chains will expect more.”

The workshops made it clear that Canada has to be very clear in its aim to be a world leader in sustainability, he said. Not only does that entail having a good environment for growing food but also being “a great place to invest and a great place to be a future food producer.”

Canada needs to be a place that will sustainably produce more food — not less — while retaining consumer trust and confidence in the markets we serve,” McInnes said.

“Canada needs to own this outcome — the basis to differentiate and succeed in the unfolding global food system.”

Currently Canada’s average corporate sustainability score ranks a C minus, says CDP, a global index that measures environmental performance of more than 7,000 companies and several hundred states, regions and cities.

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The paper, distributed by the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI), concludes China is on the road to more food self-sufficiency and food import diversity. However the canola industry itself is more hopeful.

“We cannot predict when and how this current issue will be resolved, but what I will say is we have been facing issues like this for many years and we have overcome those issues in the past,” Brian Innes, the canola council’s vice-president of communications, said in an interview.

Innes said the current issue is very serious and has had a major impact on the sector. He says it will take significant focus from government to resolve. He insisted that other past issues have been resolved, including those with China, and that the sector would continue to work to resolve this one.

He also pointed out that despite the headlines there were record agri-food exports, including canola, in 2018.

“We will continue to have a strong industry based on exports going forward,” Innes said.

“As a canola industry we’ve been engaged for more than a decade — probably for much longer than that — on market access issue and we’ve had a formal plan to deal with market access issues since 2011.

Canadian Canola Growers Association CEO Rick White is optimistic too.

“Demand is still very strong in that country for high quality canola, which we have lots of,” he said in an interview.

“China will come back in their own time.”

In the meantime, under World Trade Organization rules China must demonstrate its phytosanitary complaint blocking Canadian canola imports is legitimate, White said

But Canada should not to escalate trade tensions, making finding a resolution harder, he said.

“China needs a path to find their way back and save face,” he said. “I don’t know what that path looks like, but the logical one is to sit down and have a good discussion about the science behind the quality concerns that they have.”

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China’s Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) said in a letter it would monitor canola imports “to protect the (domestic) rapeseed industry…”

The letter also states: “According to the supply and demand situation of rapeseed and rapeseed oil, production and trade situation, China will scientifically set the import threshold (maximum import volume) of rapeseed and rapeseed oil and increase the monitoring and early warning indicators of imports that are damaging to the industry. It will strengthen non-tariff measures as well as apply anti-dumping or countervailing duties when the import volume exceeds the threshold, or when imports cause substantial damage to the domestic rapeseed industry.”

The letter also says China will strengthen import quarantine regulations, according to the paper.

“Regarding the import of rapeseed, the state strictly enhanced the safety control measures for imported rapeseed, clarified the technical requirements for inspection and quarantine, and enhanced the research cooperation with China’s canola suppliers like Canada and Australia to protect the domestic rapeseed industry further.” the letter says. “In the next step, MOA will collaborate with related departments to continue to strengthen the quarantine inspection of imported rapeseed. It will strictly control the quality and safety risks of imported grain impurities, and, in a timely manner, report significant import quality and safety issues.”

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The Alberta beef producer had World Wildlife Fund representatives there to hear how their Madden-area farm’s grazing practices were benefiting species at risk.

“Well, it’s dirt,” Finn recalls them saying.

“I said, ‘you’ve got more life forms in there than the whole catalogue of animals and species you’re trying to protect.”

It was one of those ‘eye-openers,’ Finn told the 2018 Agricultural Excellence conference while a panellist at the late-November event.

And it’s the kind of conversation and understanding farmers need with the non-farming public to keep doing their job, and doing it even better, if they are to achieve new goals set by the federal government for substantially boosting exports and domestic production.

Finn shared his anecdote while detailing their farm’s year-round grazing strategies and their farm’s philosophy to work with the environment to improve it.

But he also shared some frustration, too. That word ‘sustainability,’ bothers him, he said, even as they practise it in all things they do on their farm.

“We’ve been what everybody is calling sustainable,” he said. “In the dictionary sustainable is a level line. That’s not where we want to be. We’ve got to be beyond sustainable.”

Every farm in the country is now expected to shore up its resources and deliver more and better, if Canada is to ‘unleash it’s growth potential’ by roughly doubling agri-food exports by 2025. That’s the ambitious target set in 2016 by the federal Advisory Council on Economic Growth, naming agriculture as one of six Canadian sectors expected to lead the way over the next decade in national growth.

At the recent Farm Management Canada-hosted event, the panel and other sessions delved into what farmers need to achieve that ‘sustainable growth.’

The Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) released a report earlier this year urging the agricultural sector to set its sights on ‘quality growth’ rather than race to the bottom with a production blast.

But it’s a deeper set of questions as to what quality growth actually looks like from the farm’s perspective, and what will make it achievable.

CAPI CEO and president Don Buckingham, who facilitated the panel discussion, was asking Agricultural Excellence attendees to weigh in.

The supports farmers must have to move on this — or as one put it, “to have a future as well as a life on the farm,” — are strong trade agreements that ensure market access, reliable infrastructure for handling, processing and shipping farm product, other panellists said.

“Sustainability is not only from the production side in relation to environmental practices but also includes market access, infrastructure, rural labour and public trust,” said fellow panellist Charlene Bradley, a Stranraer, Sask.-area farmer and manager of an inland terminal for G3 Canada Ltd.

The farm labour shortage puts huge pressure on farm families, and is a limiting factor for expansion, as it gets more and more difficult to find those willing to take jobs and live in rural Canada, she said.

“As an elevator manager finding manpower to support the grain-handling system in rural areas is one of my largest challenges,” she said.

An overarching concern is the ever-growing gap between those who produce and those who consume and the blowback modern agriculture is facing, panellists also agreed.

Added third panellist Kara Oosterhuis, a senior winner of the Alberta Young Speakers for Agriculture competition, agriculture must move forward in such a way that entices the next generation in, too.

“It’s not only making our lands and farms viable for future generations,” she said. “It’s showing future generations exactly how important agriculture is and why they one day may want to devote their lives to this challenging and exciting lifestyle.”

Canadians’ willingness to pay more for food, and thus generate higher returns back to the farm gate, is a critical part of the equation, as well.

A comment from an audience member was that the only reason Canadians now enjoy so much disposable income for all the other things they enjoy is because food is so cheap.

“We gave that to them,” he said.

And Canadians aren’t willing to give that up.

Generally, most aren’t prepared to pay more for food, noted Buckingham.

“That is the ‘bad news/good news,” he said. “If you’re not spending that much on food, you can buy more RVs and things like that. The bad news is that we have an expectation that we’re always going to have cheap food and each time we want something more we want the producer to include that in, as opposed to paying for that additional attribute.”

“Is now a time for more agriculture to be added to school’s curriculum?” asked another audience member who identified herself as a teacher.

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In recent years he’s tested new intercrop mixes and cover crops, hosted field and pasture tours, showcased a solar watering system and shared his forays into swath and high density grazing. His farm’s overall focus is on soil health and stewardship while not losing sight of profitability.

“Being a younger farmer kind of more at the outset of my career than at the end, I do tend to think longer term,” Boyd said. “I saw examples elsewhere and read things that have me convinced that I can be more sustainable or even better than sustainable — regenerative — with regards to the soil and our natural resources.”

By the measures of their latest report, Boyd is the type of farmer that the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI), is looking for.

The organization says sustainability is a key challenge to meeting the goals of the 2017 Barton Report, which would see Canada’s agri-food exports grow to $75 billion by 2027.

“Assuming that scientific advancements continue and all of that sort of thing, it’s not unreasonable to think that we can meet those production targets,” said Paul Thoroughgood, a Moose Jaw-area farmer and past chair for the Soil Conservation Council of Canada.

“I think the real challenge comes when we say, ‘Well, can we do that and protect the natural capital that makes Canada such a special place, both from a productivity perspective and just as a place to live?’”

Among a list of hurdles, CAPI argued that current prices don’t count environmental costs of production, such as soil degradation or pollution, and that those factors should be monetized, including measures to stop cities from encroaching on prime farmland.

In particular, the think-tank turned to carbon sequestration.

Thoroughgood, however, said he would have liked more concrete recommendations out of the CAPI report.

Although CAPI argues Canada should look beyond a carbon tax, Thoroughgood says policies should be looking past carbon itself.

“To say that carbon is the ecological good and service, well, it’s ‘an’ ecological good and service, but it’s not ‘the.’ I think we need to look well beyond that,” he said.

Thoroughgood suggested there could be a similar emphasis on fresh water and air, “green infrastructure” that filters water quality, biodiversity, and even landscape beautification.

There is no clear idea on what those policies would look like, he said, although he stressed that the first step should be stakeholder consultation and a clearer definition of “sustainability.”

Boyd, for his part, would see more support for farmers looking to experiment, something that is currently a hard sell when an unsuccessful gambit could mean substantial loss.

“That, I think, has limited things more than anything in the development or this movement to try new types of things,” he said, adding that revamped financial programs could help offset that risk.

At the same time, he argued, there must be research to nail down recommendations for sustainable management (something CAPI has also highlighted) and farmers must get paid for good practices.

Cargill’s Canadian Beef Sustainability Acceleration Pilot has been noted as a first step towards that for the beef industry. The pilot reportedly gave just over $20 a head by its second quarter this year, for cattle grown and finished on farms audited by Verified Beef Production Plus (VBP+).

“The whole process of developing the CSB (Certified Sustainable Beef) Framework has been an exercise in determining how to provide customers with what they want at a price point that all parts of the cattle and beef value chain can reasonably achieve,” VBP+ business manager Virgil Lowe said.

Sustainability standards

Canada’s certification patchwork also earned criticism from CAPI.

“Sustainability has been an entry requirement,” for some programs, it noted, “but the proliferation of standards makes it costly and confusing.”

Paul Watson of ARECA (Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta) couldn’t agree more.

Watson co-chairs the national environmental farm plan harmonization initiative and has been working to include sustainability assessments in a nationwide, standardized, environmental farm plan.

“I think there will never be just one standard, if you will,” he said.

He added there are always going to be supply chain-specific, commodity-specific requirements for some industries, and that the environmental farm plan and legislation won’t likely capture them all.

“But, as a whole farm metric, the environmental farm plan plus legislation plus a couple of questions being asked by some third-party entity could actually suffice as a tool in Canada for producers to show equivalency to the FSA standard,” he said.

The Sustainable Agriculture Initiative’s Farm Sustainability Standard was an attempt to create a single global sustainability standard that has since spread to 32 countries.

The conversation on sustainable agriculture policy will almost certainly stretch for years. Meanwhile, Boyd will continue his experiments, this time as a Nuffield scholar studying ruminant grazing.

“It is exciting times in agriculture in that there are opportunities to pursue these types of things that I am interested in and are starting to get talked about in the broader circles,” he said.

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