YORKTON - The idea of sustainable agriculture has been one of those ‘hot button’ topics which occasionally pops up for the farm sector.
When farm groups use the term sustainable agriculture they tend to be pointing a finger at themselves for doing a good job of it already.
Government programs often are pushing for better from the ag sector, using the carrot of funding to get farmers to do more.
It’s an interesting dynamic made more dramatic by political overtones.
In Canada, especially on the Prairies Justin Trudeau has largely been vilified – some clearly warranted, and some he became the easy scapegoat for all ills – but with the Prime Minister disliked and mistrusted it certainly did not foster support for any ag programming suggesting greater sustainability.
Now pending the outcome of an obvious soon to be announced federal election all the rules are likely to change.
If you believe polls – and we are well out from a day at the poll that will matter -- Pierre Poilievre and the Conservative Party of Canada are likely headed to power.
Now the Prairies are likely to be largely send Conservative MPs to Ottawa, but even if they form government agriculture will not suddenly be a key issue – unless as part of a tariff war with the U.S.. Domestically, the farm sector just doesn’t carry enough votes to courted by MPs with legislation.
That said the environment isn’t likely to fare particularly well under a Conservative government, so sustainability may disappear from a lot of farm programming language.
That will doubly be the case stateside under a Donald Trump presidency.
Environmentally it’s likely to be back to something akin to the ‘wild west’ where anything goes and the long term effects are ignored in favour of profits today. Those policies are going to have a splash effect across North America.
Now back in mid-December producer.com noted “Canadian Canola Growers Association, Canola Council of Canada, Cereals Canada, Grain Growers of Canada, Pulse Canada and Soy Canada said Canadian agriculture is already the most sustainable in the world, and the Sustainable Agriculture Strategy must contain measures that are practical, science-based, market driven and beneficial for the entire sector as well as the environment.” That suggests strongly the farm sector wants changes.
Of course defining what each word in a line such as “practical, science-based, market driven and beneficial for the entire sector as well as the environment” is the difficult part. Definitions of each of those words would vary considerable depending on who, or what group was offering the definition.
And, we can’t forget at the end of the day farmers cannot be impeded to such an extent they can’t feed the world – which of course is paramount.
How production, profits, and environmental sustainability are handled in the turbulent years ahead will potentially define our world’s overall future.
