Farms.com Home   News

Fertilizer Canada Supports Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Consultation with Stakeholders on a Sustainable Agriculture Strategy

Fertilizer Canada joined the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, her Parliamentary Secretary, Francis Drouin and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Terry Duguid, as well as Canadian Federation of Agriculture President, Mary Robinson for the launch of a sustainable agriculture strategy (SAS) consultation. We are pleased to see the Minister’s commitment to consult with key stakeholders in the agriculture sector as her department develops the SAS. Fertilizer Canada is also honoured to serve on the SAS-Advisory committee where we can share our expertise and knowledge. The goals set out in the SAS are important and necessary, but also ambitious. Engaging stakeholders in the development process is vital to ensure the SAS is realistic and achievable.

The use of fertilizer is an important part of sustainable agriculture, and vital to food security, as it increases crop yields, allowing for more food to be grown on less land, and helps replenish nutrients that contribute to soil health. Fertilizer Canada works closely with grower groups to support farming practices that optimize fertilizer use to increase yields while reducing environmental impacts, which is possible through 4R Stewardship (Right Source @ Right Rate, Right Time, Right Place ®). The SAS lays out five priority areas: soil health, climate adaption and reliance, water quality, climate change mitigation, and biodiversity. There are 4R best management practices (BMPs) that support each of these issues and as shown in our recently released Agri-Economic Report, 4R BMPs are the best tools we have available to optimize fertilizer use, which is why we continue to ask the government to develop a national 4R strategy. 

Source : Fertilizer Canada

Trending Video

Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Video: Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Darcy Unger just invested millions to build a brand-new seed plant on his farm in Stonewall, Manitoba so when it’s time for his sons to take over, they have the tools they need to succeed.

Right now, 95% of the genetics they’ll be growing come from Canadian plant breeders.

That number matters.

When fusarium hit Western Canada in the late 90s, it was Canadian breeders who responded, because they understood Canadian conditions. That ability to react quickly to what’s happening on Canadian farms is exactly what’s at risk when breeding programs lose funding.

For farmers like Darcy, who have made generational investments based on the assumption that better genetics will keep coming, the stakes are direct and personal.

We’re on the brink of decisions that will shape our agricultural future for not only our generation, but also the ones to come.

What direction will we choose?

On The Brink is a year-long video series traveling across Canada to meet the researchers, breeders, farmers, seed companies, and policymakers shaping the future of Canadian plant breeding. Each week, a new story. Each story, a piece of the bigger picture.

Episode 3 is above. Follow Seed World Canada to catch every episode, and tell us: Do you think the next generation will have the tools they need to success when they takeover? How is the future going to look?