Climate change means governments will have no choice but to pour more money into the agriculture industry to help it withstand extreme weather events, says University of Calgary professor Guillaume Lhermi. In the longer term, he says governments may want to consider making financial support for farmers conditional on certain environmental practices, such as soil health and biodiversity management.
Taxpayer money already supports the agriculture industry in Canada to the tune of billions of dollars each year, and some say the bill will go up as climate change-driven natural disasters make it harder for farmers to eke out a living. It is part of a suite of business risk management programs, all jointly funded by the federal and provincial governments through what is called the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.
It's not the first time drought has thrust a wrench into the province's finances — in 2021, Saskatchewan farmers saw one of the largest production declines in the province's history due to extreme heat and drought conditions. For the three-year period ending Dec. 31, 2023, more than $1.4 billion was paid out to Canadian producers in the form of disaster relief under that framework, which is called AgriRecovery.
While crop insurance will always be necessary, said Shannon Sereda, director of government relations for the industry group Alberta Grains, governments can mitigate against the financial toll of extreme weather by stepping up investment in agricultural research.