Environment

Farmers Can’t Do it Alone. What we need to fight the climate crisis. 

In inspiring numbers, young farmers are taking to the land to act on climate – but we know that our individual zeal, commitment, and fighting spirit will not be enough to achieve the drastic reduction in on-farm emissions that we so desperately need. “I can make my own individual actions but what we really need Read more

From the Frontlines: Notes from young farmers in the face of the climate crisis

The climate crisis is the greatest threat facing agriculture today.  As farmers, our livelihood is the land, and that puts us on the frontlines of the climate crisis.  As young farmers in particular, we are grappling with the onset of the climate crisis as a warning sign of what will come to define our lives.  Read more

To Fight the Climate Crisis We Need More Young People On The Land

While it is becoming increasingly precarious to pursue farming as a career, it is also becoming increasingly compelling to do so.  For many young people, farming offers a unique and bold path forward in the face of the MANY converging and compounding crises that threaten our future.   As we explored in “Why I Farm: Reflections Read more

Union Farmer Newsletter: February 2021

In this issue … Save our Seed! Do the CFIA seed survey today! Farmland concentration a growing problem in Canada, warns report – by Lois Ross Ranchers, First Nations unite against Rocky Mountain coal mining – by Steve Edgerton   Save our Seed! Do the CFIA seed survey today By Cathy Holtslander, NFU Director of Read more

Submission to the Land Matters Advisory Committee

Presented to the Committee in Summerside, PEI, January 12, 2021 District I, Region 1 of the National Farmers Union is appreciative of the opportunity to appear before the Land Matters Committee. We will begin our presentation by familiarizing committee members with our organization. Formed in 1969 on the national stage, the National Farmers Union is Read more

National Farmers Union Opposes Alberta Open-Pit Coal Mines

The National Farmers Union (NFU) opposes the Alberta government’s decision to rescind forty-four-year-old coal policy protections.  With this move, the government is permitting development of open-pit coal mines on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. The government proceeded without public consultation. The NFU supports the ranchers, farmers, and First Nations opposed to this environmentally Read more

National Farmers Union calls on BC Agriculture Minister to Stop Site C

Speaking for the National Farmers Union (NFU), Women’s President and Peace Region farmer Bess Legault has written to BC Agriculture Minister Hon. Lana Popham asking her to stand with farmers in opposing the Site C Dam project. The BC cabinet is expected to consult this week on a recent review by former deputy finance minister Read more

PEI’s Land and Water Need Protection, says NFU

The concerns surrounding our land can’t be separated from the usage of water. If exploitation of the land is allowed to continue, then exploitation of water will increase. The NFU takes the position that if the role of water is to be extended in agriculture production, then its usage must be a regulated part of a far broader strategy that addresses stewardship of the land and the greater good of farmers, the environment, and rural communities. Read more

Is a $4 Billion Irrigation Expansion a Good Investment for Saskatchewan Farms?

The greatest threat to Saskatchewan farms is climate change. Thus, we should ask: should the Saskatchewan and federal governments spend $4 billion on irrigation infrastructure? Can this investment really protect a significant number of farms or acres from climate change? Or could the money be better spent on other projects or in other ways? How should we spend taxpayers’ limited dollars? Read more

Tackling the Farm Crisis and the Climate Crisis

By publishing Tackling the Farm Crisis and the Climate Crisis, the NFU signals its commitment to participating in a meaningful conversation among farmers, scientists and policymakers that will evolve as our understanding and knowledge increases. The farm crisis is real, as is the climate crisis.  Left unchecked, the climate crisis will dramatically deepen the income Read more