Like most farmers, summer is a busy time for Ottawa-area farmer and climate advocate Stuart Oke, with both weeds and his crops growing at a relentless pace. Yet recent weeks have been particularly busy talking with politicians and like-minded farmers ahead of a major meeting where Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers will craft a five-year plan to spend billions of dollars in farm subsidies.
The plan — technically called the Agricultural Policy Framework or AFP — is the main document guiding how the government supports farmers. As a result, the meeting next week could give Oke and other climate-conscious farmers a window of opportunity to push the government to better support more sustainable farming practices.
These include helping farmers manage nitrogen fertilizers, manure, livestock, soil health and wetlands in ways that reduce emissions and…
