B.C. disasters, extreme weather show need for climate-resilient agriculture
Wildfires, sweltering heat and extensive flooding in British Columbia last year have underscored the importance of strengthening the agricultural sector's resilience to the effects of climate change and extreme weather, experts say.
“We should be building the infrastructure for the next 30 years, starting yesterday,” said Sean Smukler, chair of agriculture and environment at the University of British Columbia.
B.C. is “ahead of the curve” in Canada, he said, pointing to the government-funded Climate & Agriculture Initiative launched in 2013. It has developed eight regional adaptation plans along with climate-related resources for the sector, while supporting research at the farm level.
Still, the province's adaptation efforts have been incremental when they should be urgent, said Smukler,who's also the principal investigator at the university's Sustainable Agricultural Landscapes Lab.
He said funding is needed to match the scale of the challenge.
“We have to get going now or else we're just going to be in a reactionary mode constantly, and reactionary mode is going to be so costly, much more costly than if we were being proactive and planning out a viable future,” he said.
The second half of 2021 in B.C. offers a snapshot of potential costs.
Severe drought and destructive wildfires last summer prompted the B.C. and federal governments to allocate $20 million to help farmers and ranchers recover, while a summer heat dome scorched berry crops in the same prime agricultural area in the Fraser Valley that was devastated by floodwaters in November.
Dozens of blueberry and raspberry producers were affected, about 4,000 tonnes of stored and unharvested field vegetables were lost and an estimated 628,000 chickens, 420 cattle and 12,000 hogs died, provincial officials said at the time.
B.C. has so far provided $3.7 million in emergency funding to help farmers secure hay and forage for their animals along with $2.7 million to help dairy, poultry and pork producers avoid added expenses of feed delivery.
The province is working with the federal government to develop a “comprehensive financial support package” for farmers affected by flooding, with an announcement expected in the coming weeks, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.
Such extreme events are not the only threats to agriculture, said Emily MacNair, director of the Climate & Agriculture Initiative.
The province has yet to confront the challenge of ensuring there's enough water for food production over the longer or even the nearer term, she said in an interview.
The agricultural sector is one group of water users among many as communities across B.C. grow, she said, and droughts are worsening with climate change.
It's going to get drier, so it's logical to consider how to store excess water from spring freshets or heavy precipitation in the fall and winter, MacNair said.
B.C. is home to a high proportion of small, family-owned farms that produce a wide range of products, she noted.
Such diversity offers opportunities, she said, since smaller farms may be more nimble in experimenting with new methods or technologies to support resiliency, but they may also have limited financial capacity, time and other resources required to implement costly solutions.
Building a more climate-resilient agricultural sector also requires addressing broader issues in landscape management that affect agricultural operations, in addition to adaptation efforts at the farm level, MacNair said.
Logging and wildfires, for example, have affected the landscape's ability to store and regulate water, said Andrew Bennett, an irrigation designer who owns a small farm in Rossland, B.C., and works with the Kootenay & Boundary Farm Advisors.
The forest canopy provides shade, slows the springtime melt, and healthy trees prevent soils from eroding; rain and melting snow run more quickly off burned or logged slopes, leaving little water left come summertime, Bennett explained.
“We need to have mountain slopes that are treed, with deep soils, to hold water so it trickles out all season long.”
Soil is key to managing water, said Bennett, who works with his local municipality and wildfire prevention groups to divert wood waste that's usually burned or taken to the dump into soil to boost its organic content, a process called hugelkultur.
Logs break down much slower than chipped wood, keeping carbon stored for longer and acting as a sponge to increase the soil's capacity to store water, he said.
Much of Bennett's work with the Kootenay & Boundary Farm Advisors involves helping farmers improve the quality and capacity of their soils to increase yields and strengthen resilienceas the climate changes, he said.
The group also works with farmers to improve their irrigation systems and use water more effectively, but Bennett said they need more support.
Some are holding down other jobs just to pay for the farm itself, he added.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.