Farmers are the original stewards of the land

Canada’s farmers are some of the most innovative and progressive professionals you will have the pleasure of encountering. They are also incredibly generous with their limited time, always taking the opportunity to educate anyone interested in learning more about their chosen trade.

Since joining Grain Growers of Canada a year ago, I have been extremely fortunate to be supported by a dedicated team of farmer directors, all of whom are experts not only in modern farming techniques, but also in sustainability, agricultural policy, international trade, transportation, and research. If it touches on agriculture and agri-food, you can be certain that they have delved into it.

This diversification and the acknowledgement of the need for a well-rounded understanding of the industry is exactly why Canadian grain growers are so successful. Farmers are their own best advocates and are working tirelessly to advance their needs with government and industry.

I had the chance to see this first-hand when I attended my first Grow Canada Conference in Ottawa last December. Far from being an exclusive gathering of agri-business, I had the chance to meet with the full spectrum of the industry. It was an incredible example of the partnerships that exist in ag, where seed, crop protection and fertilizer companies work with farmers to develop the products that their customers really need. I think we would be hard pressed to find another industry that is so inherently collaborative and sustainable in nature.

This is why it is so frustrating for me to hear claims that modern agricultural practices are destructive to our environment.

Time and time again, my members have asked “why would we damage the very earth that allows us to make a living”? This is of course a rhetorical question because the obvious answer is, they wouldn’t. Farmers have long been the original stewards of the land, adapting constantly and looking to the future with every action. Farmers were practicing sustainability before it was in fashion. Unfortunately, the general public is not generally aware of this important fact – something that farmers are working to better communicate.

According to Farm and Food Care’s Real Dirt on Farming, over 97 per cent of Canadian farms are family run. In many cases, the same family has worked the soil day in and day out for generations, developing a massive library of knowledge. They know which parts of their farm are wet, which parts tend to need more or less nitrogen, and they also know where soil change and erosion have taken place.

The UN General Assembly has declared 2015 to be the International Year of Soils. All over the world, once productive soils are being depleted by centuries of working the land to feed our growing population.

Today’s modern farming techniques take advantage of new developments in plant breeding, pest management and nutrients, allowing farmers to grow more with fewer inputs. Weed reduction products like herbicide tolerant seeds mean that farmers can now practice no-till farming. Leaving the soil as is rather than turning it prevents erosion and nutrient loss better than any other technique we have developed so far. Why? It’s simple – when you expose the soil to the air it dries out and nutrients are lost. In fact, it now takes 50,000 fewer gallons of irrigation water to grow an acre of corn today than it did in 1990.

Farmers have incredible tools at their disposal to ensure that they get the best yields possible with the fewest inputs. Every year, farmers undertake soil testing to determine which seeds will grow best the following season. Strategic crop rotation and fallow fielding are still key components of soil management, but the use of drones and satellite mapping is giving producers an even deeper understanding of their land.

In 1901 one farmer fed 10 people. In 2011 one farmer fed over 120 people, thanks in part to improved technology and efficiency. Yet, the number of farms in Canada has dropped by 60 per cent in that same timeframe[1]. Keeping in mind that, according to the UN, the global population is set to reach 9.6 billion in 2050, we need to continue working with our partners to develop techniques to grow more, on less land while maintaining our core sustainability goals. I personally think farmers are more than up for the challenge. After all, they have families too.

Bryan Rogers is the Executive Director of Grain Growers of Canada. He joined Grain Growers in March 2014.

[1] Real Dirt on Farming, Farm and Food Care Foundation