In what area has agriculture gone through the most change?
build these competencies
Cover photo: “Dominion Experimental farm, Lacombe, Alberta.” (CU1220054) Courtesy of Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary
building diversity in the food system
Prairie farmers had to deal with many challenges throughout the late 1800s and into the early 1900s. When the prairie sod was cultivated, the soil was exposed to prevailing winds. Famers and scientists became concerned about wind erosion of the soil.
Farmers in drier areas discovered that crops left fallow for a season helped to conserve the moisture in the soil. However, they also found that they had to till the soil to control weeds on this fallow land.
By the early 1930s, millions of acres of land across the prairies were tilled summer fallow. This made the topsoil susceptible to wind, and millions of tons of topsoil blew off these fields.
Strip farming was tried for several years by farmers in the Lethbridge area to try to reduce this wind erosion. Famers and scientists had found that soil along the edges of the fallow field wasn’t so susceptible to blowing. Strip farming helped reduce some wind erosion for many years. The photo to the right shows a wheat field with a summer fallow field in the background around 1919.
Scientists at the Dominion Experimental Farms recommended strip farming in a 1935 booklet, called Soil Drifting Control in the Prairie Provinces.
The Dominion Experimental Farms were working farms that were set up by the federal government to investigate agricultural problems and work with farmers to help solve these problems.
These experimental farms tested crops and the use of manure as a fertilizer. They also planted shelter belts around the borders of fields to reduce soil erosion and provide shelter from wind.
Additional experimental farms were started in Alberta in the early 1900s, as well as across other places throughout the 1900s. Some of these closed over the years, but the ones that remain are focused on environmental health, sustainable food production and food safety.
Agricultural researchers worked over time with farmers to try out different types of crops. For example, the Crop Development Centre in Saskatchewan looked at ways to grow pulse crops like lentils, faba beans, dried peas, chickpeas and soybeans.
Source: Wilson, T. (January 5, 2021). Strip Farming Helped Keep Alberta’s Soil in Place. Grains West online: https://grainswest.com/2021/01/strip-farming-helped-keep-albertas-soil-in-place/ Photo from Library and Archives Canada: 1939-441 NPC
changing roles and images of farmers
As settler farmers moved west to establish homesteads, women played an important role on farms. The advertisements that the Canadian government used in the late 1800s and early 1900s targeted women. However, the work that women did on farms and the contributions they made was not always recognized. They were seen as helpers on the farm, not as farmers themselves.
- Women’s role in agriculture is changing.
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- Between 2011 and 2016, the number of female farmers has increased by about 2 percent.
- In 2016, women made up 29 percent of all farmers. Among new farmers, about 58 percent were women.
Picture A Farmer is a short documentary film that follows three Alberta farmers challenging conventional ideas of women’s roles on the farm.
Watch this original project AGRICULTURE video interview to find out how Alberta farm and farming identities have changed over time.
The family farm has gone through many changes since Canada was colonized. Some believe that the family farm is a thing of the past. This is not true. The majority of farms in Canada are still family farms. Their importance to communities and local food production is still strong.
- There are fewer farms in Canada. There are also still many small farms.
- Over 96 percent of all farms in Canada are family farms. Families still produce much of the food in Canada.
- Small farms are decreasing. However, the number of large farms are increasing at a slower rate.
- These larger farms take up the majority of farmland in the prairie provinces.
- In Alberta, 6 percent of farms operate 40 percent of that province’s farmland.
- Manitoba sees 4 percent of farms operate and control 24 percent of the province’s land.
- 38 percent of Saskatchewan’s farmland is operated and controlled by just 8 percent of farms.
- In 2016, the average age of a Canadian farmer was 55. Many people involved in agriculture think that Canada does not have enough young farmers.
- However, there is a rising trend in the percentage of young farmers. Between 2011 and 2016, farmers under the age of 35 increased by 3 percent.
- In 2016, they made up just over 9 percent of Canadian farmers.
- Technology has allowed farmers to produce more with less labour.
- Organic farms produce food for local markets, like farmer’s markets. However, there are also very large organic farms that produce foods for global markets.
Indigenous perspectives on agriculture today
Indigenous farmers live across all regions of Canada where agriculture occurs. They make up about 3 percent of Canada’s farmers.
Most Indigenous agriculture is centred on farms that meet and improve their community’s food needs. Indigenous agriculture today is a mix of both traditional practices and modern agriculture. Sustainable practices are an important aspect of both. Indigenous people have traditional, cultural and spiritual connections with agriculture, the foods they eat and traditional medicine they use and the land they live on.
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Source: Agri Committee Report. House of Commons online. www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/AGRI/report-17/page-48
Chief Byron Louis of the Okanagan Indian Band explained how Indigenous agriculture can take various forms:
Going out west, there’s often the assumption that agriculture only went so far north, the southern end of North Dakota, but they’re having studies in Winnipeg where pollen from corn is actually being dug up in some of the archeological finds outside of Winnipeg. If you go further west, what we used was predominantly fire for agricultural purposes and production. Even for some of the waterborne uses of such things as wapato, an aquatic plant that grows in rivers, along riverways, there are sites that were prepared that go back 5,000 years.
Natan Obed, President of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, also describes how Inuit modify their land to support their way of life.
We do have, in the Inuvialuit region, a caribou population that is in a herd managed by particular individuals there. I can’t think of many other examples where agriculture, in the way in which you might think of it, is practised. On the other hand, we don’t just randomly go out into our homeland and magically find animals that we then harvest and prepare. We have a history of ensuring that the populations we interact with, say, a caribou population, are healthy. We have a history of improving fish habitat and creating spawning grounds in areas by strategically placing rocks or changing riverbeds. We have used the entirety of our homelands in the way in which you might have used five or 10 acres. We might not have been growing wheat, but we are still interacting with all living things in our environment and ensuring the health and success of all.
Source: Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food (2019). support of Indigenous Canadians in the Agriculture and Agri-Food Industry. House of Commons.www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/AGRI/Reports/RP10510119/agrirp17/agrirp17-e.pdf
food sustainability, past and present
The photo shows David Crowchild farming on the Tsuut’ina reserve in the 1930s. Crowchild worked to improve life and create jobs for the people of his community by building a school, repairing roads and establishing a farm.
Photo Source: (CU1129295) Courtesy of Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary
As a result of colonialism and residential schools, many teachings regarding traditional food systems were not passed on to new generations.
The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) is an organization that represents the voice of Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse people in Canada. The NWAC also works to help all Canadians understand that the agricultural industry includes traditional Indigenous food systems.
For Indigenous cultures, food is an integral part of their traditions. Their relationship to food is holistic and sustainable, based on mutual respect for the animals they hunt, and the fruits and vegetables they harvest. As knowledge keepers, Indigenous women have been and continue to be essential to the food system. They play an important role in transmitting cultural teachings and knowledge to new generations on how to prepare traditional foods. Each community has their own traditional foods relating to their location and means of hunting, foraging and gathering.
More Indigenous women are now combining traditional methods with modern agricultural practices.
