For over 150 years, Canada has been a steady ally and close friend to the United States, but that long-standing relationship is now over.
President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada have forced our country to start thinking domestically. But restructuring an economy without our largest trade partner is no small feat.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government plans to speed up nation-building infrastructure projects that will diversify Canada’s trade away from the United States. The projects will include pipelines, nuclear reactors, and infrastructure like airports and railways.
The Liberals’ goal is to build a more economically independent Canada.
While this sounds great on paper, a few sectors are being overlooked, including agriculture. At its core, Canada’s agricultural sector is incredibly vulnerable. We import about 50 percent of vegetables and 75 percent of fruits, most of which come from the United States.
The federal government’s plans for the agriculture sector focus mostly on financial safeguards and supply-chain support via the AgriStability program. They don’t focus on helping Canadian farmers grow more diverse crops to sell on Canadian markets.
Canada exports much of our food. The two biggest exports are canola and wheat, both of which dependent on specific weather patterns that don’t always happen. They need rain to seed and grow, and drought can cut their production capacity drastically.
In 2021, drought reduced canola production by over 35 percent and wheat production by almost 40 percent in Alberta.
More recently, China, one of Canada’s largest agricultural trading partners, imposed a 100 percent tariff on canola oil, meal, and peas.
“New tariffs from China on Canadian canola oil and meal will have a devastating impact on canola farmers and the broader value chain at a time of increased trade and geopolitical uncertainty,” said Chris Davison, president and CEO of the Canola Council of Canada.
In 2024, Canada’s canola exports to China were valued at just shy of $5 billion.
Diversify, Diversify, Diversify
Dr. Karen Christensen-Dalsgaard, assistant professor for the Department of Biological Sciences at MacEwan University, believes crop diversification is necessary for a self-reliant Canada.
Diverse crops such as certain legumes, grains, and beans are resilient to drought. Christensen-Dalsgaard says crop diversification is worth pursuing for the nutritional benefits.
“The farther food travels and the longer it takes en route to the consumer, the more freshness declines and the more nutrients are lost…Many fruits and vegetables are engineered for a long shelf life, sacrificing taste and nutrition for preservation,” writes Holly Hill, a NACT Research Specialist, in “Food Miles: Background and Marketing.”
Christensen-Dalsgaard points to an analysis of over 5,100 experiments from around the world showing that crop diversification also improves crop production, water quality, pest and disease control, and soil quality.
Homegrown Success
Farmers like Lethbridge’s Blair Roth, are already taking steps to diversify crops in Alberta.
Roth helped make crops like dry beans, peas, and lentils a viable option for dryland farmers in Western Canada, earning himself a place in the Agriculture Hall of Fame earlier this year.
“So today, it’s a very viable crop option for farmers and provides a good alternative cash flow for quite a few farmers,” Roth told My Lethbridge Now.
Roth is a trendsetter in diversifying Alberta’s agricultural landscape, but Manitoba takes the cake when it comes to crop diversification.
Manitoba is home to four Manitoba Crop Diversification Centres (MCDC). These centres are non-profit, applied research organizations directed by local producers and the agricultural industry.
The MCDC’s main objective is to speed up the adoption of innovative, sustainable practices to boost farm profitability and drive growth across Manitoba’s agriculture and agri-food sectors.
Thanks to research done by the MCDC, crop diversity in Manitoba has improved. For example, soybeans went from almost no production in 2000 to over 2 million acres in 2017.
Other success stories include corn, industrial hemp, field peas, potatoes, and quinoa has shown potential.
Last year, the Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers and Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA) recognized the value of the MCDC with an almost $700,000 investment into the centres.
“This investment strengthens our partnership with the diversification centres. The more research we support, the more we can address farmers’ challenges and help them succeed,” Katherine Stanley, Research Program Manager for Special Crops with the MCA, told Steinbach Online.
With the threat of wildfires, droughts, increasing farmland prices, and tariffs, prioritizing crop diversification in Alberta is easier said than done. The province’s current strategy aims to address these issues with investments in agricultural expansion, exports, and irrigation.
Investments into crop diversification research have taken a backseat, but that could change in the near future with the revitalization of one of our own Crop Diversification Centres is underway.
