Canada’s agriculture and food industry is doing fairly well, according to a report from the Centre for Agri-Food Benchmarking.
For example, greenhouse gas emissions have platueaud, soil health continued to improve and water quality remains good. But methane emissions are increasing and water use is increasing.
Food security is declining and now a quarter of Canadians are deemed insecure.
The agri-food sector’s economic contributions remain steady, but as a percentage of the Canadian economy are declining. The report raises concerns about increasing farm debt ratios and declining investments in research and development capacity.
Fatality rates are declining and wages are increasing, but mental health stress, inclusion gaps and temporary foreign worker non-compliance highlight ongoing vulnerabilities in the sector, the report said.
There is some missing data, said Amanda Richardson, executive director for centre, such as measurements for pest control and biodiversity, making it difficult to know whether there are improvements or declines.
The emissions sector featured a decline in livestock offset by an increase in crops resulting in an overall decline, the report said.
