QUESTION PERIOD — Agriculture and Forestry
Business of the Committee
April 19, 2023
As we heard earlier this week, it is National Soil Conservation Week, so I would like to direct my question to the Chair of the Senate Agriculture and Forestry Committee who has been a champion for the agricultural community in Canada — I thank you for that.
You have said, here in the chamber, that the soil health study being undertaken by your committee is long term and all‑encompassing because soil health is — as you have suggested — intrinsically connected to the health of Canadians, directly affecting our economy, our food security and our climate.
As always, the doers — those people who do things — lead. Can you tell us what the committee is hearing about soil conservation methods already being used by farmers, processors and producers to support Canada’s climate health?
I’ll ask my follow-up question as well: If you could share just one thing that we all need to know about soil health in order to highlight National Soil Conservation Week for Canadians, many of whom don’t follow our committees online, what would that be? Thank you.
Thank you, honourable colleague, for your question, and for your interest in the Agriculture and Forestry Committee. Senator Wallin, thank you for your work in advocating for rural Saskatchewan and beyond.
The Agriculture and Forestry Committee has, indeed, embarked upon a study on the health of Canada’s soils, as you noted — acknowledging that next year, the last Senate study on soil health entitled Soil at Risk: Canada’s Eroding Future will be 40 years old. Our committee chose to undertake a new study, and has had the opportunity to hear from 71 witnesses over 17 meetings since the chamber approved the order of reference and our committee meetings started last fall. These witnesses have been from across Canada, each in their varying fields of agriculture, and have contributed integral information that will help to complete our report.
We’ve heard excellent testimony from farmers who engage in no-till practices; from Indigenous agriculture leaders who are working hard to share data compilation and expand soil health operations across the country; and from many other experts developing beneficial techniques and innovations aimed at preserving the health of Canada’s soils. In our time conducting research, one thing has become very clear: Improving soil health is not a one-size-fits-all endeavour across the country.
I hope this study will also assist with food insecurity and help support our agricultural industry, along with other industries that rely on soil health. That’s why it’s important that the committee continues its work to engage in the soil health study.
I want to thank our witnesses to date for their testimony. The work wouldn’t be successful without them.
In regard to your second question, one thing that I think is important for Canadians to hear is that soil is a finite resource. As noted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the world’s topsoil could be gone within 50 years if the current rate of degradation continues. Furthermore, generating three centimetres of topsoil takes a thousand years, so we can’t count on that — 50 years is all we’ve got.
That’s why soil conservation and preservation are so important, and that’s why we need to continue. We all need to be thinking about soil health, and, as I mentioned, this is one week that we can do that. I would encourage our colleagues — and everyone — to learn more about how they can do so. Thank you again for your question.
