Making farming more sustainable by helping farmers to decide rather than telling them what to do
Bibliographic Data
In Canada, the agricultural sector has long held a prominent economic, social and cultural position, from substantial evidence of extensive fishing and farming since the times of the first human settlements, to currently accounting for over 100 billion dollars of production and employing 2.3 million people. Steady growth in agricultural production in the country over several decades, supported by strong investment in public agricultural science, has allowed an increasing supply of a wide variety of food and agricultural goods to be available both within the country as well as allowing for substantial exports abroad and deep integration of the Canadian agricultural sector into global markets. Along with securing continued productivity growth in agricultural output for the future, policy makers and public sector agricultural scientists in Canada have become increasingly concerned with managing environmental externalities associated with agricultural production in order to achieve the objective of sustainable intensification of the sector. However, the process of identification of the best tools and practices to improve the sustainability of the agricultural sector in Canada has evolved over time due to shifting research priorities and dynamic changes in the problems facing the sector. In this paper we discuss applied and direct-to-farmer agricultural science research initiatives that are focused on identification and implementation of best environmental management practices at the farm level. We believe that involving farmers directly in scientific research and communication of scientific results provides for a deeper understanding of agro-environmental externalities. It also allows farmers to find greater adoption potential in their specific farm system, thus combining both environmental and economic sustainability. We trace the history of public agricultural science engagement with Canadian farmers to address economic and environmental problems in the sector. We then provide examples of successful public sector projects based in applied agricultural science research that foster effective farmer/scientist collaboration, leading to improved agriculture sustainability in Canada
Agricultural economics · Agricultural productivity · Agriculture · Business · Economic growth · Economics · Externality · Geography · Investment (military · Natural resource economics · Political science · Productivity · Sustainability · Agricultural Innovations and Practices · Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact · Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
Increasing homogeneity in global food supplies and the implications for food security
Nitrous Oxide (N 2 O)
What Is Regenerative Agriculture? A Review of Scholar and Practitioner Definitions Based on Processes and Outcomes
Exploring global changes in nitrogen and phosphorus cycles in agriculture induced by livestock production over the 1900–2050 period
Wicked Problems and Applied Economics
The Global Methane Budget 2000–2017
Soil erosion and the global carbon budget
Crop losses to pests
Ecosystem management as a wicked problem
The Evolution of Animal Domestication
Placing regenerative farming on environmental educators’ horizons
Increasing anthropogenic methane emissions arise equally from agricultural and fossil fuel sources
Supply of an ecosystem service—Farmers’ willingness to adopt riparian buffer zones in agricultural catchments
Legitimacy & Canadian Farm Animal Welfare Standards Development
Transformational adaptation on the farm
Economic Instruments and Environmental Policy in Agriculture
Reshaping the Landscape
Dilemmas in a general theory of planning
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,75 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2025 (4) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |