Agriculture

A meeting of Canada's agriculture ministers later this month could be pivotal in the fight against climate change, according to a national coalition of farmers.

Satellite images taken between January and June show 4,000 square kilometres of forest destroyed — four times the size of New York City.

Farmers and scientists are increasingly observing that unusually high springtime temperatures can kill pollen and interfere with the fertilization of crops. Researchers are now searching for ways to help pollen beat the heat, including developing more heat-tolerant varieties.

Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Peggy Brekveld says urban development is putting enormous pressure on farmland, with 319 acres per day being swallowed up.

As global supply chains continue to struggle, food prices surge, and climate change threatens the world's farmland with droughts or floods, some farmers say that locally grown seeds are key to making Canada's food supplies more sustainable. 

Agricultural workers in the east and Horn of Africa are preparing for their most severe drought in 40 years, as authorities warn that higher temperatures and less than normal rainfall was recorded by weather agencies in March and April this year.

Climate scientists say plugging methane leaks and phasing out fossil fuels is necessary to avert catastrophic global heating.

Global atmospheric levels of the potent but short-lived greenhouse gas methane increased a record amount last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Thursday, February 7, 2022, worrying scientists because of the large role methane has in climate change.

The past decade has seen exploding interest in an approach to farming focused on soil health called regenerative agriculture, which proponents say can help fix the climate crisis. The problem? No one agrees on what regenerative agriculture actually means.

In five years, Canada’s largest renewable diesel plant will be converting canola oil to renewable fuel, but some experts say this alternative is not the climate solution it is made out to be.

Countries gathered for the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, have for the first time agreed that the world must transition to more sustainable farming practices if we are to mitigate climate change and prevent millions of people from going hungry.

When it comes to ending climate change, international climate negotiations have typically focused on ending the world's reliance on fossil fuels. Food — responsible for about a third of the world's emissions and vulnerable to a chaotic climate —has largely flown under the radar. 

Water is essential for human life yet doesn't get a mention on the COP26 agenda, writes Sonaar Luthra.

Because rural communities have fewer resources, disasters often hit harder and linger longer.

An international conference aimed at tackling hunger and reducing the environmental impact of our food could end up making the situation worse, including in Canada, a coalition of farmers, activists, and scholars are warning.