During the morning session on Nov. 29 of the CFGA’s 14th Annual Conference, Ken Wall from Federated Co-op, Ross MacDonald from Regeneration Canada and Andrew Rushmere from Farmers for Climate Solutions participated in a panel discussion on industry-led sustainability programs with a focus on partnering for industry engagement. 

One of the questions addressed by the panellists was about gaps in policy and what they thought about the current program suite available in Canada. Do they have potential to fill these gaps and are there programs that can build to support the practices and bring the changes we need? 
 
Ken: The programs are generating a lot of interest now. The biggest issue is not enough people are talking about it. When the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) first came out in Saskatchewan, some 87 per cent went out to our company, because nobody else was promoting it. That has changed now, but the biggest issue is promoting these programs and not enough people doing it. 
 
Andrew: One of the gaps/needs at this point is to make sure the programs achieve the outcomes they intended, in a way that works for producers. The other thing is that there are a lot of programs out there working in a similar space, leading to confusion around which program a producer should choose. Initiatives to streamline programs and collaborate to make sure we’re not duplicating and are serving different populations are important conversations to have moving forward. At FCS, we’re already bringing these messages to AAFC, as we hear them from producers, how to improve existing programs or consider future programs.  
 
Ross: I’m a big fan of the forgotten fundamentals, when you look at the momentum of the programs, we have a lot of the same issues. Broadly we’re finding, there is money to throw at a problem, but often there’s a void of support. People are interested in engaging in a new system, but without support, there is no one saying, “here are some systems we can create.” And when you look across the border, they have these systems of support, which is a huge gap here in Canada. 

2023 conference recordings 

To hear all of this panel discussion, you can purchase access to it and all of the recordings from the 2023 conference proceedings. Note, if you attended the 2023 conference, the recordings are available for free to those who registered for the conference. For more information, email [email protected].  

2024 annual conference  

We’re heading to Guelph, Ontario Dec. 3 to 7 for the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association’s (CFGA) 15th annual conference. The CFGA is excited to partner with the Ontario Forage Council on this not-to-be-missed event that will celebrate the important environmental and economic role forages and grasslands play in Ontario, across the country and around the globe. 

This year’s theme is Roots to Success: The Foundation of Resilient Agriculture. During this not-to-be-missed three-day event, we will learn about exciting and cutting-edge happenings in the forage sector and gain valuable information and inspiration for anyone involved in the forage and grassland sectors across the country. Visit the conference website for more details.