The B.C. Agriculture Plan

II. Meeting Environmental and Climate Challenges

The agricultural sector will contribute to our provincial greenhouse gas emission reduction targets through shifts in farm practices, development of new local markets and the advancement of new technologies.

B.C. leads the world in addressing the challenging issue of climate change, and agriculture plays an important role. Agriculture’s value to our way of life extends beyond the production of food. Agricultural and environmental considerations go hand-in-hand throughout the province, from land and water use to climate to air quality to conservation. This Agriculture Plan will dovetail with the B.C. government’s broad initiatives to address environmental and climate challenges and opportunities, to benefit future generations of British Columbians.

On-Farm Environmental Management

Strategy 5: Implement initiatives to improve environmental management in the agriculture and agri-food sectors.

Technological innovation and extension will be used to promote farm practices that ensure measurable results in minimizing the agriculture industry’s impact on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, water and air quality, and the environment generally. Building on the success of Environmental Farm Plans, we will continue to work with farmers to adopt beneficial management practices that reduce their impact on the environment. B.C. was recognized nationally for the Environmental Farm Plan program in 2006, and now has almost 2,000 farm plans completed on B.C. farms and ranches.

B.C. was the first province to enact provisions to enable the marketing of certified organic products and we remain leaders in growing and producing organic food. We will continue to examine opportunities for B.C. to take further advantage of the growing demand for organic food at the local, domestic and international level.

Ecological Goods and Services

Strategy 6: Implement approaches for farmers to receive benefits for ecological goods and services (EG&S).

Agricultural land provides ecological goods and services beyond food production that are recognized by society, such as provision of wildlife habitat, air quality and the conservation of biodiversity. We will begin to recognize the ecological goods and services provided by farmland and establish means of providing benefits to producers for these public goods. British Columbia’s wide range of bio-climatic zones has resulted in more wildlife species than any other province. Many of these species thrive on and near farms because of the extensive nature of farmland, often resulting in crop and livestock losses. To help limit conflicts between agriculture and wildlife, the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands and the Ministry of Environment will be addressing wildlife-agriculture conflict issues as a priority. As a means of recognizing the contribution of farmland in maintaining wildlife habitat, we will develop and implement a strategic wildlife damage reduction plan that will include compensation funding for B.C. farmers and ranchers.

Agriculture and Climate Change

Strategy 7: Address climate change and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from food production and processing.

Climate change has implications for B.C. agriculture in a number of ways. Agriculture is a contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, and must play a role in mitigating its own emissions through increased awareness (Environmental Farm Plans) and changed farm practices (Beneficial Management Practices). Agriculture is challenged with reducing greenhouse gas emissions from a range of sources, including livestock, manure, fertilizer applications, farm buildings and engine emissions.

The sector will also need to anticipate and plan for any impacts of climate change on its productive capability. Research and innovation will be key to addressing adaptation, and will ensure the agriculture industry can respond to climate change by taking advantage of new growing opportunities and reducing or mitigating the risk posed by the negative impacts of climate change. Finally, land use policy will be developed to provide appropriate incentives to ensure agriculture land retains its potential to sequester carbon, participate in bioenergy opportunities while balancing the need for food production and economic activity in rural communities.

Some advances have been made – in 2006, almost half of B.C.’s total land prepared for seeding was in no tillage and conservation tillage, up from 35 per cent in 2001, leading to improved soil carbon sequestration and storage. Increasing the adoption of beneficial management practices will result in farms supplying carbon credits to those industries that are restricted in their abilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, agriculture can play a significant role in mitigating climate change more broadly in B.C.

The bioeconomy refers to an economy in which goods and services are derived from renewable, organic materials rather than non-renewable sources such as fossil fuels. The new British Columbia Bioenergy Strategy: Growing Our Natural Energy Advantage will lead the bioeconomy in Western Canada. Agriculture will benefit from its participation in the Bioenergy Network that will research and invest in technologies that support new bioenergy initiatives, thus providing opportunities for the agriculture industry to diversify their income through producing feedstocks for this emerging industry.

We will facilitate opportunities to turn agricultural residues like plant material, animal and organic waste into renewable energy. This will have a positive impact on how waste is treated in rural communities and will help reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions. We will continue to assess the suitability of alternative energies for replacing fossil fuels or as an alternative income source. Support for industry in investing in alternative energy systems such as geothermal, wind, solar and biomass can reduce costs for farmers and contribute to producing energy for society.

The agriculture and food industries must take positive action to reduce their impact on climate. Actions are underway to meet this challenge and to further develop opportunities for the agri-food industry to benefit from its ability to help society meet its climate change goals.

Water Management

Strategy 8: Integrate needs of agriculture in provincial water management policies and programs.

As the agricultural sector is highly dependent on the supply of clean water, provincial water management will reflect the interests and needs of farmers and ranchers. Future planning for water will acknowledge the agriculture industry’s current and future need for water. Water management planning processes can provide clarity to agricultural users about sustainable water withdrawals, management of environmental impacts and could also establish water reserves for agricultural lands.

Programs on water infrastructure, water supply augmentation and water demand management can help to address potential shortages for agricultural and other uses. Programs will encourage agricultural water conservation and continued leadership on water use efficiencies. There must also be more coordination with local, regional and federal governments to address effective long-term flood control measures, fish habitat and drinking water issues.

Range Management

Strategy 9: Optimize forage production for livestock grazing on rangeland.

British Columbia is unique in Canada in that 94 per cent of the land base is managed by the Province on behalf of the citizens of B.C. Every community in the province depends to some degree on continued access to Crown land and the wise management of this resource. Management techniques to improve the quality of forage production on rangeland will be explored. As a consequence of the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic, it is also expected that forage production will naturally increase for a period of time, which could benefit the cattle industry if managed appropriately to minimize impacts on GHG emissions from land-use change. The development of a regional agriculture sector strategy has, for example, been identified by the Cariboo-Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition, and such initiatives will be pursued.

Invasive Plants

Strategy 10: Enhance and coordinate province-wide, invasive-plant management.

Many areas of the province have been significantly impacted by invasive plants – non-indigenous species – which have the ability to severely affect the biodiversity of our natural ecosystems and to permanently alter landscapes. The Ministries of Agriculture and Lands, Environment, Forests and Range, and Transportation and Highways will continue to build partnerships with stakeholders such as the federal and local governments, universities, the private sector, and the Invasive Plant Council of B.C. to develop collaborative strategies for effective invasive plant management.

A key objective is to strengthen the information base that is and will be critical to the success of invasive plant management. Further development of the information base will involve new research into the impacts of global warming on invasive plants; gaining a better understanding of which invasive plants have the greatest impact on the B.C. economy and on the environment; and inventory and monitoring projects that map species distribution and identify pathways for their spread. B.C. will continue to support and enhance the Invasive Alien Plant Program (IAPP), an innovative vehicle for all stakeholders to share invasive plant location and treatment information.

Another key objective is to continue piloting innovative programs for invasive plant management, and to gain a better understanding of which treatment methods yield the greatest benefits. Support for programs such as the Corrections Program and the Community Weed Pull Program will be continued, as will support for local weed committees. B.C. will seek funding partnerships to pilot new and innovative programs in areas such as early detection and rapid response systems, prevention, risk assessments and bio-control.

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