Soil Health
What is soil health?
Farmers, growers and producers depend on healthy soil to sustainably grow food for Canada and the world — but our soil health faces threats across the country.
Melting permafrost in the North, runoff from wildfires in British Columbia, industrial development in the Prairies and wetter climates in eastern Canada are negatively affecting the quality of Canadian soil.
That’s why senators decided to dig into the state of Canadian soil health and uncover ways to preserve this valuable natural resource.
The soil below our feet affects the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat.
But what is healthy soil?
A study with deep roots
In April 2022, the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry began studying the status of soil health in Canada. The study examined current soil conditions in Canada and soil’s effects on climate change, human health, food security and agricultural productivity, to name just a few areas.
Senators heard from more than 150 experts and undertook fact-finding missions to research labs, farms and ranches. The study culminated with a report, Critical Ground: Why Soil is Essential to Canada’s Economic, Environmental, Human, and Social Health, with 25 recommendations to federal government to improve the state of soil health in Canada.
Why is soil health important?
How does soil health affect all Canadians?
What is the state of Canada’s soils?
The Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry undertook a study on soil health in Canada to “dig into” these questions.
From farms and ranches to laboratories and meeting rooms, senators discovered what makes soil healthy, which forces threaten it and how to preserve and enhance this vital natural resource.
Senators cover new ground
Members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry participated in several fact-finding missions to meet farmers, ranchers, researchers and international experts, and to see first-hand the issues facing Canada’s soil conditions.
Fact-finding mission, Ottawa - Canada Agriculture and Food Museum
Senators took their study to the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum in Ottawa on Thursday, December 1, 2022. From left, Senator Mobina S.B. Jaffer, the museum’s director general Kerry-Leigh Burchill, and senators Pat Duncan, Victor Oh, Brent Cotter, Rob Black and Paula Simons.
Senators Simons and Black take a closer look at a pile of vermicompost as they learn how to maintain healthy soils.
Senator Oh takes a closer look at the roots of a plant.
Senator Jaffer takes a closer look at a pile of vermicompost.
Senator Simons gets her hands dirty for the Senate agriculture committee’s study on soil health.
Fact-finding mission, Guelph Ontario
From left, Senators Black, Duncan and Simons visited 3Gen Organics, a family-owned farm in Wallenstein, Ontario, where they learned more about organic farming practices in April 2023.
Senators had a hands-on experience at the University of Guelph’s Soil Health Interpretive Centre. Senator Duncan participated in a rainfall simulation experiment to observe water runoff from this alfalfa plant. Heather White, knowledge mobilization and communications coordinator with Soils at Guelph, guided the experiment.
Committee members also participated in a slake test at the Soil Health Interpretive Centre. A slake test demonstrates soil stability, and whether the soil is resilient to erosion.
Woodrill Ltd. agronomist Caleb Niemeyer shows senators Duncan and Simons how hydrochloric acid reacts to different types of soil. Woodrill is a crop input supply company and grain elevator business.
Operator Ben Bellman gives senators a tour of Woodrill. Senators learned about the company’s soil-mapping program, called GroundWork, that aims to help producers boost their crop yields.
Senators Black and Duncan dig into a soil health experiment.
Fact-finding mission, Rome, Italy
From left, senators Simons, Oh and Black participate in a panel discussion with Qu Dongyu, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome, Italy. (Photo credit: ©FAO/Pier Paolo Cito, Giuseppe Carotenuto)
Senators Black, Klyne, Oh and Simons tour the Maccarese Farm near Rome, Italy.
Fact-finding mission, Alberta and Saskatchewan
Members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry covered new ground in their study on soil health during a fact-finding mission to Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Senators met with farmers, ranchers, researchers and soil scientists in the region over four days.
Senators visited the Glacier FarmMedia Discovery Farm in Langham, Saskatchewan as part of the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry’s study of soil health in August 2023. From left, senators David M. Arnot, Sharon Burey, Paula Simons, Rob Black and Brent Cotter.
Senators Burey, Black and Simons inspect soil conditions during a visit to an irrigation farm near Carmanagay, Alberta.
Technicians at Environmental Material Science Ltd. in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan show senators Jaffer and Black how to assemble and install soil mapping sensors.
Senator Rob Black, right, speaks with Bill Newton at Mr. Newton’s South Porcupine Ranch in Willow Creek, Alberta. The ranch is home to native grasslands — some never cultivated — that are used for grazing livestock.
Critical Ground: Why Soil is Essential to Canada’s Economic, Environmental, Human, and Social Health digs deep into the critical role of soil in mitigating climate change, contributing to biodiversity and putting food on tables. The committee is urging the federal government to lead the way in protecting this vital national resource.