Agriculture is an essential piece of the Canadian way of life. Whether you work in the oil fields of Alberta or on the sea in Nova Scotia, we all require agriculture in some way or form.
Climate change has put this all in doubt as food prices soar, heat waves have become the norm, and the government has had to step in to help ease the pain it has imparted on all our lives. With this in mind, let’s take a look at how climate change has impacted the economics of Canadian agriculture.
Canadian farmers face a magnitude of critical risks, from flooding to heat waves and invasive pests, that could jeopardize producer livelihoods and agricultural productivity. Across Canada, agricultural emissions are 12% of the national total.
While there are places in Canada where the productivity of crops could be increased by extending the growing season, extreme weather events and variability remain a threat to our farmers and our way of life.
And then there’s soil. As you travel northward, you encounter a wider variety of soil types. Rockier areas, such as the Canadian Shield, don’t contain the same type of soil that have higher yields such as Southern Ontario.
Increased carbon dioxide can also have a variety of effects on crop growth. While it can increase yields and enhance photosynthesis in some crops, these positives are far outweighed by the potential negatives that include pests and diseases, as well as extreme weather events. Scenarios such as these require us to be prepared for the significant costs and production losses that arise from climate change.
Along with soil comes the harvest. From planting to harvesting schedules, the cost of climate change is much more than simply where you can plant. Farmers will be forced to adapt their planting schedule to the whims of the weather.
“These changes will ripple through the food supply chain, potentially impacting the availability and cost of fruit, vegetables, legumes, meat, and dairy products,” said Hugh Henry, director of Environmental Sciences Western field station.
“We should be changing our practices dramatically to reduce climate change,” said Henry, who leads the WINter warming and Nitrogen addition in Temperate Ecosystems Research project (WINNER).
“There are many emerging technologies, and so much of it is focused on addressing the root causes of climate change while also producing more sustainable agriculture.”
Western engineering professors Franco Berruti and Cedric Briens and their teams are converting waste to resources and producing new soil supplements such as biochar, a form of lightweight charcoal that can sequester carbon removed from the atmosphere.
Meanwhile, Joshua Pearce, the John M. Thompson Chair in Information Technology and Innovation, and his Free Appropriate Sustainability Technology (FAST) research group, are making much headway in the field of agrisolar.
This technique involves the dual use of land for solar energy production and agriculture, which not only contributes to more sustainable and cost-efficient farming operations, but also creates a potential new revenue stream for farmers.
Pearce and his team are also extending berry season by growing the fruit indoors in an agrotunnel, which is an indoor growing system that can produce berries year-round.
As you can see, the effects of climate change are wide- and far-reaching, extending all the way to our economic sector.
From new technologies being created to combat the effects of climate change, to an increase in growing seasons and hazardous pests that come along with it, the economic effect of climate change on our agricultural sector can’t be understated.
Our only way to combat this is with the forward-thinking of people such as Joshua Pearce, along with Franco Berruti and Cedric Briens, who are utilizing new techniques that allow us to grow what we need, in whatever climate we need it.
Joshua Cooper | Contributing Writer
