MBP E-Newsletter July 29/2022

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E-Newsletter dsfsfa An update from MBP July 29, 2022

mbbeef.ca

Statement from Agriculture Minister Derek Johnson on Federal Greenhouse-Gas Emissions Reduction Targets (July 26, 2022 Province of Manitoba News Release) I am pleased to have joined federal, provincial and territorial ministers of agriculture last week in Saskatoon for an annual meeting that has brought agreement on several important issues including a new five-year Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership with a 25 per cent increase in its cost-shared portion. We also agreed on improvements to business risk management programs, such as an increase in the AgriStability compensation rate to 80 per cent from 70 per cent, for better economic sustainability.

Another aspect of the new agreement is a targeted threeto five-megaton reduction in greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. However, though a reduction in GHG emissions would be a positive step and is a priority for the Manitoba government, a new federal requirement for a 30 per cent reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 through the agricultural sector’s use of nutrients is based on broad assumptions that do not account for improvements already made by Manitoba farmers. A report by MNP for Fertilizer Canada states that a 30 per cent reduction in such emissions would require a 20 per cent reduction in the use of nutrients, which would equate to lower crop yields for Manitoba producers and hurt value-added businesses. A reduction in nutrients would also make increasingly expensive groceries even more costly and pose a risk to Manitoba jobs in agriculture and food processing.

Reducing emissions is the right path to take, though I strongly believe a more targeted approach that considers the state of change already adopted by Manitoba producers and the costbenefit of specific changes to reduce GHGs is crucial. Manitoba producers have been proactive in reducing the unnecessary use of nutrients and continue to make changes as beneficial management practices have evolved. Partnerships between producers, governments and the nutrient industry are an important tool to support change. For example, in Manitoba, the 4R approach to nutrient use has long been promoted and practised: • • • •

right source for the soil type, conditions and crop; right rate to achieve production goals, based on soil nutrients available and what the crop needs; right place where the nutrient is applied relative to the crop type; and right time for nutrient loss risks, how a crop uses nutrients, crop uptake and logistics.

Manitoba was the first Prairie province to complete the 4R memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Fertilizer Canada, and our province has worked with Keystone Agricultural Producers and Fertilizer Canada to promote 4R principles and practices since 2013 through a series of threeyear MOUs. I have asked the federal government for support for the 4R Climate-Smart Protocol and the partners are currently finalizing a fourth MOU. continued on page 3


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