Senator Black Champions Soil Health Across Canada

Jan 08, 2026
By Farms.com

Senator reflects on a year promoting soil protection and youth leadership

Senator Rob Black was elected Deputy Leader of the Canadian Senators Group in December, a role he will take on when the Senate resumes in 2026.

As 2025 ended, Senator Robert Black reflected on a busy year advocating for agriculture and soil health across Canada.

Black concentrated on sharing the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry’s soil health report, Critical Ground: Why Soil is Essential to Canada’s Economic, Environmental, Human and Social Health, tabled in June 2024, whenever he participated in speaking engagements. “We celebrated the one-year anniversary of the report this June, and it has been well-received by Canadians and parliamentarians coast to coast,” said Black.

Throughout the year, Black met with stakeholders from Victoria, B.C., to Churchill, Manitoba, and the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, discussing soil protection initiatives and the report’s recommendations. “There is exceptional work being done across research, agronomy, and farms. It was inspiring to hear about these contributions to soil health and agriculture,” he said.

In support of the report, Black introduced Bill S-230, An Act respecting the development of a national strategy for soil health protection, conservation and enhancement, on June 10, 2025. The bill passed second reading in November, and Black looks forward to further study by the Senate committee in 2026.

Photo Credit: pexels-asphotograpy

Video: How farmers are protecting the soil and our food security | DW Documentary

For a long time, soil was all but ignored. But for years, the valuable humus layer has been thinning. Farmers in Brandenburg are clearly feeling the effects of this on their sandy fields. Many are now taking steps to prepare their farms for the future.

Years of drought, record rainfall and failed harvests: we are becoming increasingly aware of how sensitively our environment reacts to extreme weather conditions. Farmers' livelihoods are at stake. So is the ability of consumers to afford food.

For a few years now, agriculture that focuses solely on maximum yields has been regarded with increasing skepticism. It is becoming more and more clear just how dependent we are on healthy soils.

Brandenburg is the federal state with the worst soil quality in Germany. The already thin, fertile humus layer has been shrinking for decades. Researchers and farmers who are keen to experiment are combating these developments and looking for solutions. Priority is being given to building up the humus layer, which consists of microorganisms and fungi, as well as springtails, small worms and centipedes.

For Lena and Philipp Adler, two young vegetable farmers, the tiny soil creatures are invaluable helpers. On their three-hectare organic farm, they rely on simple, mechanical weed control, fallow areas where the soil can recover, and diversity. Conventional farmer Mark Dümichen also does everything he can to protect soil life on his land. For years, he has not tilled the soil after the harvest and sows directly into the field. His yields have stabilized since he began to work this way.

Isabella Krause from Regionalwert AG Berlin-Brandenburg is convinced after the experiences of the last hot summers that new crops will thrive on Brandenburg's fields in the long term. She has founded a network of farmers who are promoting the cultivation of chickpeas with support from the scientific community.