Cereals Canada has published a new series of sustainability reports for the Canadian cereals value chain. The reports cover Canadian non-durum wheat, durum wheat, barley, and oats.
Six environmental indicators were used as markers of sustainability in the reports — carbon footprint, soil organic carbon, fertilizer use, irrigation, pesticide use, and soil erosion. These same indicators were used to compare Canadian cereal production to competitors, including Australia, France, Italy, Sweden, and the United States.
Report highlights suggest that Canadian cereals have a substantially lower carbon footprint than the United States and Australia when accounting for soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration, Canadian farmers produce the most protein per acre of wheat grown, and Canada uses less irrigation water to grow wheat.
Also, soil erosion in Canada has declined substantially and over 80 per cent of cropland in Canada is classified as “very low risk” for erosion.
“Canada is a global leader in the production of high-quality, nutritious, and sustainable cereal grains,” said Mark Walker, vice-president of markets and trade for Cereals Canada. “These reports confirm that Canadian farmers grow some of the most sustainable crops in the world.”
Read the series of reports here.
