“It’s a critical time that we’re in, relevant to soil erosion, climate change, and everything that we’re doing with technology and innovation is to ensure that soil remains where it is,” said federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald at the announcement on Thursday morning.

“(The Strategy) is going to put an element of integrity on any research that’s being done in the future and hopefully that research can coincide with what we’re seeing here today.”

MacDonald made the announcement alongside Senator Rob Black. Black led a Senate study of soil, published in the report “Critical Ground: Why Soil is Essential to Canada’s Economic, Environmental, Human, and Social Health,” which was published in 2024.

Black also championed Bill S-230, the National Strategy for Soil Health Act, which aims to protect, conserve, and enhance Canadian soils and closely follows the 25 recommendations laid out in Black’s report. That bill passed in the Senate on Thursday evening.

MacDonald said Bill S-230 will inform the strategy.

Government ready to move forward: Black

During Bill S-230’s third reading, Senator Rob Black told the Senate Chamber it was bolstering to know “the government not only supports the bill but is ready to move forward before it is legislated.”

Reading the AAFC’s intention to develop a national soil health strategy during the third reading showed the value of the Senate, he said.

“It also put (the government) on record, on notice that we’re watching,” Black said.

According to Black, work on the strategy to safeguard Canadian soil could begin as early as April and be completed and officially launched by December 2027.  

Collaboration with farmers, industry pledged

Black said that ideally the national strategy will avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. It will include educational support, financial support, peer-to-peer networks, and a position for a national soil health advocate.  He noted that Australia’s soil advocates have been very effective in promoting the adoption of soil health practices, but acknowledged that the position comes with a cost.

Collaboration will play a key role in developing the strategy, with input from the Soil Conservation Council of Canada (SCCC), farmers, the agriculture industry, Indigenous communities, provinces and territories, and related ministries.

Black pointed to the ongoing work by the SCCC to develop a soil strategy, which MacDonald assured the AAFC will take on board rather than “recreating the wheel.”

When asked if this was a foundational step to recognizing soil as a finite resource critical to food security and sovereignty, MacDonald said it was an opportunity to “put a lens on soil health in this country.”

He acknowledged that farmers are among the best land stewards and that the strategy will ensure the work of farmers, Black and the Soil Conservation Council of Canada inform policies going forward.

Healthy soils important for all Canadians: Kruszel

The in-depth research by Black and the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry into Canada’s soil has highlighted the significance of healthy soil and the threats it faces said Alan Kruszel, Soil Conservation Council of Canada’s eastern producer director.

“Healthy soils are so important for producers as well as for all Canadians. Healthy soils provide the majority of the food we eat,” said Kruszel. “Soils help to purify our water, to clean our air and provide habitats for all kinds of life.”

Kruszel said the agriculture sector provides one in nine jobs nationally. Investment in soil health is ongoing through research, farm organizations, input suppliers and other groups to support the adoption of sustainable on-farm practices.

“Our intention through the National Soil Health Strategy is to optimize those investments through collaborations,” Kruszel said. “And collectively working to identify gaps in research, measurement, education and extension, and of course, resources while establishing priority actions that we can all work on.”

-Updated March 27. Clarifies that the government’s commitment to the soil strategy is separate from the passing of Bill S-230. Adds further comments from Black.

The post Federal government commits to national soil strategy as Black’s soil protection bill passes Senate appeared first on Farmtario.

Members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry will meet with stakeholders across the food supply chain, including agri-food innovators, researchers and food access organizations on March 5 and 6.

Why it matters: The Senate committee’s 2025 food security study assesses current food security in accordance with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Food Policy and explores ways to improve it.

The fact-finding mission will include facility tours to provide firsthand insight into challenges and opportunities related to food security, innovation and resilience.

The study will identify factors within agricultural production systems, climate change, corporate concentration in the agri-food sector, and related issues that influence food security.

A key focus will be on improving food security, especially for Indigenous, Black, Northern Ontario, rural and urban communities that face food access challenges.

It will also assess federal measures currently in place to address issues related to farmers, local food production, and food sovereignty, and identify potential areas for improvement.

The committee will examine the report on March 12 at 8 a.m. in the Senate and must submit its final report by Dec. 31, 2026.

The post Food security focus of Senate committee fact-finding mission appeared first on Farmtario.

Three new independent senators were announced Feb. 7, and Todd Lewis, who farms at Gray, Sask., is among them.

He is a fourth-generation farmer, most recently serving as the first vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. His appointment follows that of former CFA president Mary Robinson from Prince Edward Island, who was named to the upper chamber in January 2024.

Lewis said he was encouraged to apply by the increasing role the Senate has had in the parliamentary process the last few years, particularly since the minority government was elected in 2021.

“Ag in general, especially western Canadian ag, has been under-represented in the chamber,” he said.

Lewis was APAS president for five years and is also a rural municipal councillor in Lajord, where he is deputy reeve. He served on numerous committees, including the federal Crop Logistics Working Group, the board of the Western Grains Research Foundation and the Canadian National Railway’s agricultural advisory council, among others.

Locally, he has volunteered since 1975 at the Gray Cooperative Centre and Gray Cooperative Hall. He was a school board trustee and president of the rink board. He is a volunteer firefighter and on the board of the Riceton Volunteer Fire Department.

Robinson applauded Lewis’s appointment, calling it spectacular news.

“A senator who understands the challenges and opportunities western grain producers face,” she posted on X.

The CFA said in a statement that Lewis is an incredible leader and advocate for agriculture.

The six senators currently representing Saskatchewan include Lewis and David Arnot in the Independent Senators Group, Pamela Wallin in the Canadian Senators Group, Conservative Denise Batters and Marty Klyne and Tracy Muggli in the Progressive Senators Group.

—Updated Feb. 13

The post Former Saskatchewan farm leader appointed to Senate appeared first on Farmtario.

“The amendment will make sure that everybody that is on a farm and enters a building or an enclosed place will have to take the same behaviour and the owners of the farm will have to make sure that everybody is complying,” said Senator Pierre Dalphond, who proposed the amendment.

Bill C-275 is a private members bill that would amend the Health of Animals Act to increase fines for those who unlawfully enter livestock barns and processing facilities and act in a manner that might expose animals to disease.

Dalphond’s amendment, which passed with seven yes votes and six votes no, removes any reference to being on the premises without authorization.

He cited concerns about constitutionality—that the bill may be more about trespassing concerns than biosecurity. Trespassing falls under provincial jurisdiction. He also said that, according to expert witnesses, the risk of farm workers spreading disease was far greater than that of trespassers.

Senator Don Plett called the amendment “unnecessary and, in fact, very harmful.”

“At this point, producers still do not have the tools necessary to ensure compliance with these protocols,” Plett said. “They can enforce the protocols with their employees, family members and visitors, but they are helpless in one key area and one area only, individuals who come onto the farm without authorization.”

He took issue with the Senate amending a bill passed by the House of Commons with support from multiple parties. He accused opponents of the bill of attempting to delay the bill so it would die on the order paper—particularly if an election is called.

An bill amended in the Senate must return to the House of Commons to be debated again.

Animal advocacy group Animal Justice, in an emailed newsletter, celebrated the amendment as a “giant nail in the coffin of this dangerous proposed law.”

The organization said a similar bill (Bill C-205) died out after a similar amendment in 2021.

“When the bill was amended to focus on poor biosecurity practices on the farm owners and operators, it lost popularity and died when an election was called,” wrote Animal Justice executive director Camille Labchuk.

The post Biosecurity bill C-275 amended in Senate  appeared first on Farmtario.

Bill C-275 would amend the Health of Animals Act and make it illegal for anyone to unlawfully enter a barn or building where livestock are kept.

The private member’s bill was sponsored by Conservative agriculture critic John Barlow and passed in the House of Commons last fall with support from both opposition and government members.

Since the Senate committee began its study earlier this year, it has heard repeatedly that the bill should apply to everyone.

Last week, legal and scientific experts said the bill is entirely about trespassers.

Jodi Lazare, associate professor and associate dean at Dalhousie University’s Schulich School of Law, said courts look at what a law actually does.

“It’s quite clear that this bill is about shutting down activism and trespass, about protecting animal agriculture. In fact, it has been explicitly stated a few times now that this bill is about the protection of private property,” she said during testimony.

The bill doesn’t actually target the most likely sources of risk, which are the people who are lawfully entitled to be in the barn, she said.

University of Toronto law professor Angela Fernandez agreed.

“The legally present people are the problem in terms of biosecurity,” she said, adding there is a real risk that this bill, if passed, would be challenged.

Lazare added courts will look behind the name or function of a law to examine why it was passed and its practical effects. Laws have been found invalid on that basis, she said.

However, senator Don Plett said there would have been lawyers among the MPs who supported the bill. He suggested it could be improved.

Lazare said applying it to everyone would make it about biosecurity.

Amy Greer, associate professor in the department of population medicine at the University of Guelph, said she was sympathetic to the mental stress and anguish experienced by farmers who have found activists or trespassers in their barns.

However, she too said the biosecurity risk is low. The actual risk of a pathogen being introduced is the combination of the probability of transmission given an effective contact and the frequency that effective contact occurs.

“Even for easily transmitted pathogens, the current frequency of these trespass occurrences at a national scale, to me, would be incredibly low compared to the frequency of the occurrence of farm contacts for lawful reasons,” she told the committee. “As a result, the biosecurity risk associated with these trespass events is very low.”

Jan Hajek, clinical assistant professor and infectious disease specialist at the University of British Columbia, said he is among the 20 specialists who last year sent a letter expressing their concern about Bill C-275.

“The doctors were concerned that the way this bill was promoted misrepresented infectious disease risk and misused people’s genuine concern about biosecurity to pass additional anti-trespass legislation,” he said.

“In stating the need for this bill, some individuals repeatedly made unfounded claims that trespassers introduced infectious diseases on farm and pointed to devastating impact of diseases like BSE, or mad cow disease, a disease whose introduction had nothing to do with trespass.”

Hajek said the bill is unlikely to improve the health of animals but added trespass must remain illegal.

Government officials from Agriculture Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency noted that trespass is largely a provincial jurisdiction. Dr. Mary Jane Ireland, chief veterinary officer, said six provinces have passed enhanced legislation to prohibit trespassing where animals are kept.

Senators heard that biosecurity standards are voluntary and depend on species and individual producers. The CFIA does not track this information.

“We all agree biosecurity on farms is important, which is why I’m disquieted to hear you say that our standards are voluntary and that you’re not tracking the data,” said Alberta senator Paula Simons.

“So we don’t actually know how big the problems are. It would seem to be common sense that the bigger source of contamination might be from farmers not observing any standards than from protesters who have never been shown to track disease onto farms.”

Plett disagreed that trespassers have never caused a problem, citing the appearance of rotavirus for the first time in 40 years after protesters appeared on a Quebec hog farm and distemper at a mink farm in Ontario.

—Updated Oct. 6.

The post Senators told biosecurity bill C-275 is really about trespassing appeared first on Farmtario.

But some senators suggested it should apply to everyone who could potentially threaten biosecurity.

The bill was ushered through Parliament by Conservative agriculture critic John Barlow, and he was the first witness to address the Senate committee on agriculture and forestry.

“What we tried to do with this legislation was form a bill that would make it an offence to enter, without lawful authority or excuse, a place in which animals are kept if doing so could result in the animals being exposed to a disease or toxic substance capable of affecting or contaminating those animals,” Barlow said.

The bill arose from a 2019 incident in his riding when about 40 people entered a free-range turkey barn near Fort Macleod. They then reported themselves to the police.

Barlow said the same protesters were on an Abbotsford, B.C. hog barn the previous week.

“They were not following biosecurity protocols. They could have easily been carrying a disease from one farm to another,” he said.

After an incident in Quebec, rotovirus appeared for the first time in 40 years, he said, and the California government has said protestors could have spread avian flu and caused the death of 250,000 birds.

“We see African swine fever, avian flu and foot and mouth disease, and we certainly see what’s happening with H5N1 and dairy cattle,” Barlow said. “We have to take every step we possibly can to ensure that our livestock, food supply and food security are protected.”

Alberta senator Paula Simons wondered whether the bill is trying to prevent protests.

“I guess the question at the heart of this is, Is this a law that uses the legitimate concerns about animal health as a way to keep out all protesters whether they are actually a risk to the animals or not?” she asked.

Barlow said people such as feed deliverers go through biosecurity protocols but protestors do not. Protesters are free to make their case on public land, he said.

Simons said someone legally going from farm to farm, such as a delivery driver, could actually be a greater risk if they don’t follow farm protocols.

Senator Mobina Jaffer, an egg farmer who recently lost an entire farm to avian flu, said farmers are told by their marketing boards that they must allow organizations such as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on their property.

It’s confusing to decide who is there lawfully and who isn’t, she said.

As much as she likes the bill as a farmer, she wondered if existing trespass laws already cover the situation.

Barlow said fines under the Criminal Code are not large enough to deter people, and often no one is charged at all.

Although the bill doesn’t specifically say “protesters”, Simons said the goal seems to be stopping them and cloaking that in the legitimate concerns of animal health.

“If I were you, I would be positioning my bill not as an attack on protesters but as an effort to prevent the spread of disease,” she said.

Barlow said the Commons agriculture committee discussed broadening the bill but felt the focus should be on those not following or aware of rules with regard to animal health.

He said C-275 is not an “ag gag” law, nor does it ban whistleblowers who he said are morally and legally obligated to report any activity that puts animals at risk.

Matthew Atkinson, president of Manitoba Beef Producers and co-chair of the Canadian Cattle Association animal health and care committee, said the organizations support the bill’s intent.

“There is a critical distinction between visits offered to those willing to follow prescribed biosecurity measures and sanitation practices and trespassers who could intentionally or unintentionally endanger animal health, welfare and food safety,” he told the committee.

Asked about expanding the bill’s scope to include everyone, Lauren Martin, senior director of government relations and policy at the Canadian Meat Council, said the existing wording is fine.

“We believe that it is broad enough to capture the intended audience of unlawful trespassers, yet specific enough to really address many of the industry’s initiatives that already protect biosecurity on farms,” she said.

Simons asked if it’s possible to separate the real problem of biohazard and the “annoyance” of protesters, although she acknowledged that might not be the correct characterization.

Martin said the issue is not how often trespassing occurs, but the possibility that it will.

She said including everyone could make it too broad and difficult to enforce.

Atkinson added there could be unintended consequences of including everyone.

“The fuel guy and the fertilizer guy and the feed guy might not want to set foot on my farm anymore for potential there. We have agreements in place but if something like this was worded that way, that would be my only concern,” he said.

Earlier this year, a judge struct down sections of a similar law in Ontario after animal rights advocates challenged it on constitutionality grounds. The court upheld the constitutionality of the overall law, but deemed certain sections undue infringements on the right to freedom of expression, as they penalized misstatements like denying affiliation with an animal rights group.

Similar laws are in place in provinces like Manitoba and Alberta.

The post Biosecurity bill draws questions from Senate ag committee appeared first on Farmtario.

Chief among them are requests that the federal government designate soil as a strategic national asset and that the country have a national soil advocate, similar to Australia.

Critical Ground: Why Soil is Essential to Canada’s Economic, Environmental, Human and Social Health comes after two years of hearings and study.

It notes that since 1984, when Saskatchewan senator Herb Sparrow led the groundbreaking Soil At Risk report, soil management has improved and crop yield has increased with the widespread adoption of no-till farming.

However, “these gains have also masked the effect of continued soil degradation and loss of agricultural land in every region of Canada.”

It said climate change and extreme weather events, urbanization, and misread outcomes of soil management practices are contributing to those concerns.

“We do not have another 40 years to protect and conserve soil. We must act now.”

The report said Canada requires an overarching strategy to collect better data. It says a national soils institute database that shares information with provinces, academics and producers should be established.

Other recommendations include the creation of a viable carbon market for producers and a crop insurance program that incentivizes ecological goods and services provided by producers.

More to come.

The post Soil should be a strategic national asset: Senate committee  appeared first on Farmtario.

“Anything that makes capital more expensive right now, what with where interest rates are, where prime is, is a concern for farmers,” said Dave Carey, ACA co-chair.

Carey appeared before the Senate committee for banking, commerce and the economy alongside Cathy Jo Noble, vice president of policy and government relations with National Cattle Feeders Association, one of the ACA’s member organizations.

They asked senators to not support Bill S-243, a private member’s bill introduced by Senator Rosa Galvez in early 2022. The bill proposes to “align the financial sector with climate commitments through various measures,” says a legislative summary of the bill.

This includes reporting requirements, enforcement of commitments to climate targets, additional “capital adequacy” requirements for banks, appointment of someone with “climate expertise” to boards of reporting entities, and “establishment of climate alignment as a superseding duty for directors, officers or administrators of reporting entities.”

Neither senators nor the ACA representatives were able to articulate precisely how the bill would affect farms. However, since the bill makes mention of emissions from land use, and as agriculture is considered an emissions-intense industry, Carey said they were concerned about “unintended consequences.”

“Our concern… is that it may undermine the access to loans that are essential for the growth and sustainability of Canadian agriculture,” Noble said.

ACA is particularly concerned about ballooning red tape. Many business risk management programs funded through the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership (S-CAP) already have environmental strings attached. Farm Credit Canada has also been rolling out sustainability incentive programs, Carey said.

Noble said the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board is already working on sustainability disclosure standards, which will be aligned with global standards but tailored to Canadian needs. ACA is involved in the consultation process.

They don’t want the bill to move forward in a silo, Noble added.

“It’s the amount of changes happening in the sector at the same time, and the different pieces don’t seem to be in any way harmonized,” Carey said.

Some programs that incentivize farmers’ adoption of more sustainable practices are so cumbersome that farmers must hire accountants or consultants to even apply, Carey said.

“This is just one more thing on the pile that is starting to reach a limit for Canadian farmers,” Noble said.

Senator Galvez, who sponsored the bill, said the bill was actually attempting to harmonize things, not create more confusion.

—Updated April 25, corrects Cathy Jo Noble’s title

The post Carbon Alliance worries bill could add red tape, cost to farm lending appeared first on Farmtario.

She fills a vacancy in Prince Edward Island.

Robinson is a sixth-generation farmer and agribusiness operator in P.E.I. and current vice-president of the World Farmers’ Organization. She holds a bachelor of arts in economics and business.

She has worked for more than 25 years with the Robinson Group of Companies, which includes Eric C. Robinson Inc., Island Lime, P.E.I. Agromart and ECR Holdings.

She served as president of the P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture and chair of the Canadian Agricultural Human Resources Council. She has been on numerous boards, including the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity and Agriculture Canada’s National Food Policy advisory council.

Robinson has received recognition for her work as one of the Top 25 most powerful women in Atlantic Canada by Atlantic Business Magazine and the P.E.I. Women’s Institute Outstanding Woman in Agriculture Award.

Named to the upper chamber Jan. 22 by governor general Mary Simon, Robinson will serve as an independent senator. Prime minister Justin Trudeau said her experience in agriculture and business “will bring an important perspective to the Senate, where she will be a strong voice for Atlantic Canada.”

—Karen Briere writes for the Western Producer from Saskatchewan.

The post Robinson named to Senate appeared first on Farmtario.

This would align it with the deadline on the Liberal government’s heating oil carbon price exemption, said Senator Yuen Pau Woo, who tabled the amendment.

Bill C-234 proposes exempting fuels for grain drying from the price on carbon. It was recently amended to remove fuels for barn and greenhouse heating from the proposed exemptions.

Senator Woo’s amendment, if passed, would reduce the bill’s sunset clause to three years from eight.

“In my view, Bill C-234 is not good public policy,” said Woo. “This is why I oppose it as much as I oppose the Liberal government’s exemption for home heating oil.”

“Unfortunately, we have no ability to debate the home heating oil exemption,” he added.

Senator David Wells, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, spoke in opposition to the amendment. He said that while in committee debates in the House of Commons, MPs had agreed to reduce the sunset clause from 10 years to eight.

“There was no debate at committee on that in the other place, and they all agreed that eight years was fair,” Wells said. “Now we’re hearing from Senator Woo that not 10 years, not eight years, but three years is fair.”

Debate adjourned before the amendment could go to a vote.

Meanwhile, Senators agreed to send earlier complaints of bullying to the Senate’s ethics committee for further examination. This relates to a question of privilege raised in late November by Senator Raymonde Saint-Germain, which alleged some Conservative senators attempted to intimidate colleagues into giving way on the bill.

—Geralyn Wichers is associate digital editor of AGCanada.com. She writes from southeastern Manitoba.

The post Senate tables second amendment for Bill C-234 appeared first on Farmtario.