By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup for Wednesday December 14, 2022

Dec 14, 2022 | 2:01 PM

MELFORT, Sask. – The Western Canadian Wheat Growers (WCWG) are concerned with the federal government’s approach to improving agriculture environmental performance.

President Gunter Jochum said the group is worried upcoming consultations will lead to regulations that hurt consumers, decrease production, and amplify already extreme food inflation.

He said farmers are already committed to making their operations sustainable.

“We want to produce the most outputs with the fewest inputs and keep our operations going long enough to pass them to our children and grandchildren. That’s the definition of sustainability,” Jochum said. “With due respect to the federal government, we know farm sustainability better than they do. I’m concerned that what this is really about is setting up a system of higher costs and increased regulation for farmers.”

Jochum said WCWG will watch the consultations carefully and are prepared to use resources to tell average, urban, non-farming Canadians that their food supply and the cost of their food could be very negatively impacted.

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The effects of climate change are taking a toll on Christmas tree farms in British Columbia and beyond, with one forestry expert saying the sector that’s already shrinking and shifting will need to adapt in the coming years.

University of B.C. Forest Conservation Sciences Department head Richard Hamelin said the trees take eight to 12 years to reach the size most people are looking for, and young seedlings are particularly vulnerable to climate risks.

Hamelin said much of the province has experienced prolonged drought and extreme heat over the last two summers, and the seedlings have shallow root systems that don’t reach beyond the very dry layers of soil near the surface.

This meant swaths of seedlings were swamped or washed away during extensive flooding by atmospheric rivers of rain throughout southwestern B.C. in November 2021.

Hamelin said wet, cool soils increase the risk of root diseases, and older trees may survive but lose their needles or turn brown as a result of extreme heat and drought.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW