Many farmers are bemoaning the federal government’s goals for lower greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizers, while agriculture groups have differing views on how the targets are to be met.
In December 2020, Agriculture and Agrifood Canada released its “A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy” climate plan, which called for 30 percent less greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizer applications by 2030. In May, the goals were reiterated in a discussion paper that invited feedback until the end of August.
Last September, an analysis commissioned by Fertilizer Canada found that farmers would lose $48 billion in profits from crop yields between 2023 and 2030 if they used 20 percent less fertilizer over that period in order to achieve the 30 percent emissions target. In July, agriculture ministers from Alberta and Saskatchewan issued a joint statement against Ottawa’s “arbitrary goal,” saying, “We cannot feed the growing world population with a reduction in fertilizer.”…