Event summary produced by The Globe and Mail Events team. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.
Amidst an increasing global population and the urgency of climate change, Canadian farmers and technology innovators are poised to play a leadership role in sustainable agriculture.
Canada has set out to increase its exports of agricultural products to meet growing food demand around the world. At the same time, new opportunities are emerging for farms and farmland to contribute to targets of net-zero emissions. On Wednesday, June 8 the Globe and Mail hosted a series of discussions looking at this topic.
Missed the live event or would like to view it again? See the video player, below.
The event was opened with an Indigenous ceremony by Elder Whabagoon. Following the ceremony Evan Fraser, director of the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph and Ryan MacDonald, senior editor of climate, environment and resources at The Globe and Mail discussed top priorities for farmers and policy makers in the era of rising food demand and climate change.
The day’s first panel began with a conversation on the technology behind modern farming. Blake Weiseth, applied research lead at the GFM Discovery Farm; Jillian Moffatt, chief technology officer at McCain Foods, Christine Noronha, research scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and John Raines, president of TELUS Agriculture spoke about which current and future technological advancements hold the most potential to reduce emissions, improve efficiencies and increase production on farms.
Petrina Gentile, contributing writer for The Globe and Mail moderated the panel and then sat down with farmer Alanna Koch to talk about approaches she is embracing to improve crop yield, resilience and efficiency on her farm. Ms. Koch also discussed policy and regulatory supports farmers need to continue to produce food for Canada and the world through sustainable approaches.
Next Jan VanderHout, president of Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada, Adekunbi (Kunbi) Adetona, research scientist at the Canadian Energy Systems Analysis Research & Transition Accelerator, Claire Citeau, executive director of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance and Arzeena Hamir, co-owner of Amara Farm spoke with The Globe’s national food reporter, Ann Hui, about approaches to support agriculture from economic and sustainable viewpoints.
Kristjan Hebert, principal managing partner at Hebert Grain Ventures, closed out the day with a presentation on what tactics he is using on his farm to be more sustainable. He shared his insights on soil preservation, zero tillage, grass cover as well as the range of new digital and data tools he has adopted to make his farm more sustainable.
Watch the half day event via the videos below:
The Globe and Mail presented the event with sponsor support from McCain Foods. To learn about upcoming Globe and Mail events visit www.globeandmail.com/events.