Sustainability of Canadian Agriculture 2023 Virtual Conference

Welcoming Remarks

Martin Scanlon, Dean, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Unviersity of Manitoba
Francois Eudes, Director, Research, Development and Technology Transfer - Alberta, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Co-chairs:
Kim Ominski, University of Manitoba and
Roland Kroebel, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Keynote: Are net zero emissions achievable?
Tim McAllister and Henry Janzen, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

In response to growing threat of damaging climate change, Canada has adopted a target of reaching 'net zero' by 2050, a challenge that affects all facets of society including agriculture. This reflective presentation will pose several questions: What exactly is 'net-zero' farming? Is it even achievable in Canada? What will be the impact of future system shocks like climate change or pandemics? What would it look like, and what changes might be needed to make meaningful progress toward this target? These questions will be addressed from perspectives of land and of livestock. Food is one of the necessities of life and can not be forgone in an effort to meet net-zero targets. If net zero by 2050 is to be achieved, it will require advancements and adaptation by the global agricultural community and society as a whole.

Crop Management CEUs: 1

• Achieving net zero with livestock production: what is possible
  Anne Mottet - Livestock Development Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations
  

  The presentation will cover the profile and breakdown of emissions from livestock production systems, the potential to reduce these emissions and to sequester carbon. It will give an overview of the main strategies for climate solutions in the livestock sector. It will also provide some examples of current strategies as implemented in High Income Countries and in Low- and Middle-Income countries, and of their impacts on production and emissions.

• The Role of Soil Management in the Path to Net Zero
  David Burton - Soil Scientist, Dalhousie Distinguished Research Professor, Director - Dalhousie's Centre for Sustainable Soil Management, Fellow of the Canadian Society of Soil Science.
  

  This presentation will focus on the GHG sources and sinks associated with soil management and the opportunities for soil management to reduce emissions and increase sinks to move to net zero emissions from agricultural soils. While most of my experience is with croplands I would attempt to reflect the potential that carbon sequestration in rangeland soils represents. 

• Dairy Farming Forward to Net Zero
  Korb Whale - 7th Generation Dairy Farmer, Director of Lactanet, Dairy Farmers of Canada and Cornerstone Renewables
  

  This presentation will outline the Canadian Dairy Industries Sustainability goals and our first steps on the path to net zero. How we hope to move forward get buy in, work collectively, and measure and report progress. I have been working actively to bring many Best Management Practices to our farms standard operating procedures and have worked with several researchers to collect data throughout the journey. These are ambitious goals, with major challenges and they will not be easy to achieve. I'm optimistic that by working together, aggregating our data, organizing our efforts, seeking support from an array of partners that we have the best chance of success. Which for me, would be 7 more generations able to produce food from this farm, while supporting our community, our planet and our profit.

HOLOS model workshop
Roland Kroebel – Researcher, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Sarah Pogue - Holos Model Developer, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Aaron McPherson – Software Developer, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Nutrient Management CEUs: 2
Crop Management CEUs: 0.5

Moderator: Emily McAuley

• Red River Metis Agriculture and Food System
  Dan Benoit
  
• Building Indigenous Leadership in Agriculture
  Kyle Bobiwash - Assistant Professor and Indigenous Scholar, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Manitoba
  
  Identifying historical and structural barriers that have limited participation of Indigenous people in science and agriculture is a responsibility for participants across all scales. Creating long-term strategic priorities and initiatives across the sector to build leadership and innovation in landbased practices all the way to jurisdictional decision-making, that center Indigenous people and principles, will enhance our ability to continue to meet the agricultural challenges of the future.
• Bridge to Land Water Sky

  

  Melissa Arcand - Associate Professor, Department of Soil Science, University of Saskatchewan
  Anthony Blair Dreaver Johnston - Special Advisor, Mistawasis Nehiyawak
  

  The Bridge to Land Water Sky is the first Indigenous-led agricultural Living Lab project in Canada. The Bridge is led by Mistawasis Nêhiyawak in collaboration with Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in Treaty 6 Territory of Saskatchewan along with partners from the Saskatchewan Aboriginal Land Technicians, North Saskatchewan River Basin Council, Redberry Lake Biosphere Region, University of Saskatchewan, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. This project will co-develop and test nature-based climate solutions with local Indigenous and non-Indigenous producers who farm on First Nations governed agricultural lands for climate change mitigation, but also to strengthen co-benefits, including biodiversity, water quality, and food security. The Bridge to Land Water Sky project will see producers and First Nations work towards a common goal of climate resiliency while committing to the protection of Indigenous values, Treaties, communities, and land, water, sky. In this presentation, we will discuss the Living Lab and the relationship-building that led to the collaboration necessary for its formation.

Crop Management CEUs: 0.5
Professional Development CEUs: 1

The living labs concept provides a new approach to agricultural innovation in Canada, which brings together farmers, scientists, and other collaborators to co-develop and test innovative management practices and technologies. Through a nation-wide network of living labs, the initiative focuses on innovative solutions to environmental issues related to agriculture, such as climate change, soil health, water quality and biodiversity. The goal of the program is to accelerate the development and adoption of sustainable practices and technologies by Canadian farmers.

This talk will show how the living labs approach is been used at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to develop and deploy natural climate solutions in Canada’s agricultural sector through the Agricultural Climate Solutions program.

Moderator: Tim McAllister

• Beef Production's Contribution to Biodiversity and Landscape Connectivity
  Majid Iravani - Applied Research Scientist, Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute, University of Alberta
  

  Habitat degradation due to land conversion is likely the most pervasive impact of intensive beef production on biodiversity. Conversely, it is also widely acknowledged that lands used by grazing cattle maintain a much higher share of native species and connected habitats than any other agricultural land. We assessed these two contrasting impacts of beef production on biodiversity and structural landscape connectivity across the province of Alberta. In this talk, I will present an overview of the integrated biodiversity and landscape connectivity modelling approach implemented. In addition, I will discuss the opportunities and challenges for linking monitoring data to policy-relevant indicators that support the environmental performance of all aspects of the Canadian beef industry at different levels.

• Beef and ecosystem services in Canada: an examination of synergies and tradeoffs
  Sarah Pogue - Holos Model Developer, AAFC Lethbridge Research and Development Centre
  

  In Canada, beef production operations sit within, and interact with, a broader social, ecological and economic context. Producing enough food to meet demand while also improving the sustainability of these systems requires a comprehensive understanding of the diverse linkages between their different components. In this talk, we will examine these linkages in relation to Canadian beef, considering all agricultural stages of the production cycle – cow-calf, backgrounding, finishing and feed production. This encompasses the relationships between governance and management, social and ecological structures and processes, ecosystem services and the potential effects on human well-being for these systems. We will also examine potential trade-offs and synergies in terms of ecosystem service provision in response to different farm management practices, and the importance of site-specific ecosystem service assessments and environmental stewardship policies that are tailored to different biophysical and socio-economic contexts across Canada.

• Birds as Indicators: Representing Impacts in the Agricultural Working Landscape
  Ian Cook - Grassland Conservation Manager, Birds Canada
  

  Biodiversity is documented to significantly contribute to agricultural resilience and stability. Birds represent a significant and sensitive component of the biodiversity in the agricultural working landscape and have high utility as biodiversity and ecosystem health indicators. Many species of birds endemic to the Northern Great Plains now rely on an agricultural working landscape and their populations have declined precipitously. For instance, grassland birds and aerial insectivores have each lost nearly 60% of their populations since 1970. Despite the urgent need to address biodiversity loss, biodiversity remains an externality in the Canadian agricultural system. There is a growing need for measuring and communicating biodiversity impacts throughout agricultural supply chains.

  This talk will discuss Birds Canada's work with the Bird-friendliness Index, an outcome-based indicator designed to represent and communicate the impacts of management systems and conservation measures on a bird community. This indicator may contribute to guiding management and enabling tools to incentivize biodiverse production systems and halting and reversing biodiversity loss in our agricultural working landscape.