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The Food Issue

2016

Grains

West

18

BY TREVOR BACQUE

TABLE

TALK

FARMERS IN ALBERTA USE A WIDE

range of best management practices

(BMPs) to complete each growing season

successfully. Starting with preparations

prior to seeding and working through

harvest time, farmers have many ways to

get from A to B as efficiently as possible.

In order to determine the readiness of

farmers to embrace sustainable sourcing

schemes and find out where awareness

needs to be created, provincial farm

groups—including Alberta Barley and the

Alberta Wheat Commission—partnered

with market research firm Ipsos-Reid and

the Government of Alberta to conduct a

farmer sustainability survey. The Alberta

Canola Producers Commission and the Al-

berta Pulse Growers Commission are also

involved as program sponsors. About 400

Alberta farmers participated, discussing

BMPs on the farm. The results will give

industry members a fresh perspective on

the environmentally sustainable farming

practices currently being used in the field.

In a global marketplace, food security,

traceability, sustainable sourcing and

other “metrics” have become increasingly

important to consumers. The readiness

to respond to such changes begins at the

farm level.

“Sustainable agriculture is becoming

increasingly important in building mar-

ket-access opportunities and ensuring the

long-term viability of our industry,” said

Jolene Noble, co-ordinator of the Farm

Sustainability Extension Working Group,

created to assess and address areas of need

for on-farm sustainability extension and

education. Noble, who participated in Mc-

Donald’s Verified Sustainable Beef Pilot

Project, will work alongside Ipsos-Reid to

determine where farmers see themselves

in relation to international sustainability

standards and BMPs. One of the end goals

is to help align farmers with global sus-

tainability standards and BMPs through

developing programs that will address

gaps in their day-to-day operations.

Primary areas of assessment include soil

management (such as fertilizer use and

organic matter preservation), agrochemi-

cal handling and storage, as well as water

management.

This survey follows on the heels of a

smaller sampling done in 2015, in which

on-farm audits were conducted to give 33

Alberta farmers an idea of how their farms

rated against internationally recognized

sustainability standards.

With large retailers such as Wal-Mart,

Unilever and General Mills focused on

sustainability, traceability and safe pro-

duction, surveys like this will continue to

give farmers the ability to respond to the

sustainable sourcing needs of internation-

al markets and buyers.

When results are finalized, the survey

information will help serve as a sustain-

ability blueprint as market demands

continue to evolve. This could provide

Canadian farmers with a leg up on global

competition by having sustainability

metrics already in place on farms. Global

food security and environmental review

programs such as Hazard Analysis Critical

Control Point or the Environmental Farm

Plan are but two ways farmers can ensure

they balance farm profitability and sus-

tainability.

Charlie Arnot is CEO of The Center for

Food Integrity in Kansas City, MI, and

said crop farmers have a real opportunity

to define what sustainability really means

in the context of agriculture.

“We have to redefine what we think is

success,” said Arnot. “Frequently, we want

to solve problems in one year—change

nutrient management, seeds or chemicals.

We have to understand that earning and

maintaining that social licence is going to

require time and financial resources.”

People outside of agriculture are much

more interested in food than ever before,

and it’s this segment of the market that

needs to be engaged.

Many major companies are developing

proof of sustainable sourcing for the pub-

lic, but in the end, it all comes back to the

people who grow the crop: farmers.

“Since farmers are at the beginning of

the supply chain, seeing the opportunity

and the need to be engaged, those are two

critical components to protect and main-

tain that social licence,” said Arnot.

A Canadian Centre for Food Integrity re-

cently opened in Guelph, ON. Its aim is to

lead public discussion about generating an

understanding of the food system and how

to build consumer trust and confidence.

HIGHSTANDARDS

SURVEY TOHELP BENCHMARK

ALBERTA’SON-FARMPRACTICES

AWC director Kevin Bender (right) and Control Union auditor Doug Higgins go through one of the stages of a

sustainability audit as part of the Alberta Crop Sustainability Certification Pilot Project.

Photo: RobMcMorris