Ian Wourms does not agree with the federal government’s approach.
“There’s a lot of misconceptions to the general public that is being misconstrued,” said Wourms.
He thinks that the wrong direction has been taken with this plan. He also thinks many misconceptions have been made with the confusing nature of the announcement of this plan.
“Nitrogen is an important part of a plant’s lifecycle, and it can only take it up in two plant available forms and whether that’s organically produced or synthetically produced, the plant don’t care,” said Ian Wourms an employee at Ren Gro Fertilizer Ltd.
Wourms wants Canadians to know that the farmers are not using an overabundance of fertilizer. The fertilizer is an expense to their business and the misconceptions of “too much nitrogen” being used are false.
Ren Gro Fertilizer is a provider of agriculture chemicals and is facing adjustments due to a climate change plan to decrease nitrous oxide emissions by the federal government. Ren Gro Fertilizer sits just outside Milestone, Saskatchewan on Highway 39 along a row of silos. Owner Rick Renwick started working on Milestone crops with his brother around 47 years ago.
Wourms says we are fighting a losing battle.
Wourms believes that the federal government is only going after a small piece of the pie. The federal government is introducing a stipulation on the number of nitrous oxide emissions generated from fertilizers. The government says that it is a greenhouse gas contributing to climate change. A 30 percent reduction in emissions from producers is the federal government’s goal.
The federal government has distinguished that they are aiming for a reduction in emissions, not fertilizer. Farmers and producers are concerned that reducing nitrous oxide emissions cannot be done without reducing fertilizer use. The challenge remains trying to distinguish what the federal government’s goal exactly is.
Wourms expressed concerns about a potential food shortage at the economic expense of such fertilizer reductions.
“If you reduce the amount of nitrogen a farmer can use essentially, what your gonna see is your yields decreased, and decreased yields means less food and countries will become net importers instead of exporters because they’ll have to get their food from another source,” Wourms said.
He also questions the federal government’s projections of success with this plan. And the homework done in order to implement these stipulations. Such as reducing emissions by intensity. This would mean looking at how much is produced compared to the amount of fertilizer used and making cutbacks accordingly. The federal government is looking to implement an absolute reduction in emissions instead.
Wourms stands firmly by his beliefs that farmers and producers need to be the ones that consult on this climate issue, not policymakers.
The proposal has a target of reducing absolute greenhouse gas emissions associated with fertilizers by 30 per cent below 2020 levels by 2030. This announcement has sparked a lot of discourse from provincial agriculture workers and ministers.
“Nitrous oxide emissions, particularly those associated with synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use have also grown significantly,” a news release from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada reads.
“The Government is focused on meeting this emissions reduction target through a range of policy measures and approaches, such as working with farmers to encourage broader adoption of new products and implementation of beneficial management practices, resulting in both economic benefits for farmers and environmental benefits for society. “
In a July 2022 press conference from federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and her provincial and territorial counterparts, the details of the “Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership” were announced.
Bibeau discussed the government’s projections imposing a reduction on nitrous oxide emissions clarifying the objective.
“I want to make sure that everyone understands that the project is about reducing the emissions caused by fertilizer and not reducing the amount of fertilizer directly,” said Bibeau.
Bibeau referred to the federal government’s 30 per cent target as ambitious and spoke to the longtime goals of the new policy plan.
“The idea is to invest in research and innovation,” Bibeau said “I am sure we will find a new type of fertilizer through better practices, through new technologies, ways to be even more sustainable because I know that our farmers and ranchers are already working hard in this direction.”
The Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership plan is a five-year agricultural policy agreement. The aim is towards the advancement, sustainable growth and competitiveness of the sector. The SCAP will replace the current Canadian Agriculture Partnership which is set to expire in March 31, 2023. Federal funding for the new SCAP plan is estimated half a billion dollars in funding.
The federal government’s 30 per cent fertilizer emission is not directly apart of the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership agreement.
Pictured: Ren Gro Fertilizer Ltd sits on Hwy 39 outside Milestone, Saskatchewan.
