Farmers are increasing greenhouse gases in a number of ways from burning more fuels to decreasing the carbon content of soils, according to a new analytic report from the National Farmers Union.
It says something must be done to reverse the trends, else severe weather events will increase.
Stuart Oke of Ontario is past chairman of the NFU’s climate committee and said “as a farmer at the beginning of my career I am gravely concerned about how the increasingly severe and frequent weather events caused by the climate crisis will affect my farm long term.
“It is critical that as a sector we search for common sense solutions that can reduce emissions without adversely affecting the long term financial sustainability of our farms. To do nothing is not an option, but government needs to do their part to support this change if they want to have an agricultural system in another 20 years.”
The report said emissions have increased from 12.3 million tonnes (Mt) carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per year in 1990 to 13.8 Mt CO2e per year in 2021.
Rapidly rising emissions from fossil-fuel use are driving up total emissions. Emissions from farm fuel use in Ontario increased by 75 per cent since 1990.
Emissions from cattle, other livestock, and nitrogen fertilizer are all significant components of total agricultural emissions, it said.
The full report is online at https://www.nfu.ca/publications/ag-ghg-emissions-in-ontario/ . Ontario farmers boosting greenhouse gases
