Environment

NFU comments on Draft Greenhouse Gas Offset Credit System Regulations

Submission to the Public Comment Period for the Federal Government’s Draft Greenhouse Gas Offset Credit System Regulations This brief technical submission to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) should be read in conjunction with the NFU’s longer document, A Critical Analysis of Greenhouse Gas Offset Schemes and Draft Offset Credit System Regulations, which provides background, Read more

Union Farmer Newsletter: April 2021

In this issue … Seed For Food System Resilience: Private versus Public Interest – by Cathy Holtslander Canada’s seed variety system is in US trade crosshairs – by Cathy Holtslander US farm groups and unions ask Biden to end CUSMA attack on Canada’s supply management systems – by Cathy Holtslander Vegetable Seed Snapshot   Seed For Read more

Federal Budget Creates Important Programs to Reduce Agricultural GHG Emissions

Today’s federal budget committed significant new money to programs to help reduce agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  New funding in Budget 2021 includes: $200 million over two years to fund programs to improve nitrogen fertilizer-use efficiency, accelerate cover crop adoption, and expand rotational grazing. In addition to new spending, the Budget allocates existing funds to create new programs, including: $60 million, over two years, from previously announced funding, for a reverse auction pilot program to protect wetlands and trees on farms;  $10 million to help farmers adopt clean energy solutions and begin to transition off fossil fuels; $50 million to help farmers purchase more efficient grain dryers; and Approximately $100 million of the money that farmers currently pay in carbon levies on natural gas and propane will be rebated back to farmers.    Read more

Supreme Court Decision on Carbon Pricing Important Step Forward

Le français suit NEWS RELEASE     MARCH 25, 2021 The National Farmers Union (NFU) applauds today’s decision of the Supreme Court of Canada to declare the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA) constitutionally valid.  This decision confirms the federal government’s jurisdiction to take strong national leadership action to curb greenhouse gas emissions and safeguard Read more

Imagine If: A Vision of a Near-Zero-Emission Farm and Food System for Canada

On March 18th, the National Farmers Union (NFU) released a new report: Imagine If… A Vision of a Near-Zero-Emission Farm and Food System for Canada.  The report takes a 2030 viewpoint and invites readers to imagine a wide range of positive policies and on-farm measures implemented in the 2020s to reduce food-system emissions and increase Read more

Indigenous, Environmental, and Agricultural Organizations across Saskatchewan call on the Province to halt the liquidation of Crown land

Indigenous, environmental, and agricultural organizations throughout Saskatchewan have come together to call on the provincial government to halt the sale of treaty land to private owners. Since 2007, the Province has auctioned off over 2 million acres of Crown land – totalling an area larger than Prince Albert National Park – with sweeping implications for Read more

Protection of Manitoba’s Democracy is Critical, says NFU

(Garland) — The National Farmers Union (NFU) in Manitoba objects to Bill 57, the Protection of Critical Infrastructure Act on the grounds of both substance and process. In November, the government introduced Bill 57 and passed it at First Reading without revealing its contents. This is unacceptable in a democracy. Not only is the bill’s apparent Read more

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