Justin Trudeau proceeds with cap on fertilizer use despite risk of food shortages, bankrupt farmers

To stamp out climate change, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is proceeding with a plan that’ll effectively cap the fertilizer usage of farmers. It’s a move that’s expected to engender catastrophic financial losses for those reliant on farming for income, in addition to potential footage shortages.

“The federal government is looking to impose a requirement to reduce nitrous oxide emissions from fertilizers saying it is a greenhouse gas contributing to climate change,” according to the Toronto Sun.

“While the Trudeau government says they want a 30% reduction in emissions, not fertilizer, farm producer groups say that at this point, reducing nitrous oxide emissions can’t be done without reducing fertilizer use.”

And fertilizer use likewise can’t be reduced without engendering catastrophic harm to farmers and potentially the country as a whole.

“Farm groups, like the Western Canadian Wheat Growers, have said the federal plan will reduce crop output, reduce income for farm families and increase food prices in Canadian grocery stores,” the Toronto Sun notes.

This could even lead to food shortages.

The Western Canadian Wheat Growers have also accused Trudeau’s administration of reaching a decision on fertilizer without seeking their input.

“The target of an absolute reduction in nutrients used to produce our food was done without consultation with the fertilizer industry or Canadian grain and oilseed farmers,” a statement from them reads.

Farmers aren’t the only ones expressing exasperation over the prime minister’s plans. So are provincial ministers of agriculture like David Marit of Saskatchewan and Nate Horner of Alberta.

“We’re really concerned with this arbitrary goal. The Trudeau government has apparently moved on from their attack on the oil and gas industry and set their sights on Saskatchewan farmers,” Marit said in a statement.

Just like U.S. President Joe Biden and a number of other world leaders, Trudeau is hellbent on stopping the inexorable change of Earth’s climate by imposing diktats on vital industries, namely gas, oil, and now fertilizer.

“This has been the most expensive crop anyone has put in, following a very difficult year on the prairies. The world is looking for Canada to increase production and be a solution to global food shortages. The Federal government needs to display that they understand this. They owe it to our producers,” Horner added.

Making matters worse, it’s as if Trudeau in particular learned nothing — absolutely nothing — from Sri Lanka, where an outright ban on fertilizer imposed by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa wrecked massive devastation.

“One-third of Sri Lanka’s farm lands were dormant in 2021 due to the fertilizer ban. Over 90 percent of Sri Lanka’s farmers had used chemical fertilizers before they were banned. After they were banned, an astonishing 85 percent experienced crop losses. Rice production fell 20 percent and prices skyrocketed 50 percent in just six months. Sri Lanka had to import $450 million worth of rice despite having been self-sufficient just months earlier. The price of carrots and tomatoes rose fivefold. All this had a dramatic impact on the more than 15 million people of the country’s 22 million people who are directly or indirectly dependent on farming,” according to Michael Shellenberger.

“Things were worse for smaller farmers. In the Rajanganaya region, where the majority of farmers operate two-and-a-half-acre lots, families reported 50 percent to 60 percent reductions in their harvest. ‘Before the ban, this was one of the biggest markets in the country, with tons and tons of rice and vegetables,’ one farmer said earlier this year. ‘But after the ban, it became almost zero. If you talk to the rice mills, they don’t have any stock because people’s harvest dropped so much. The income of this whole community has dropped to an extremely low level.'”

Shellenberger is a dissident climate critic and founder of Environmental Progress.

Obviously, a 70 percent cap on fertilizer usage isn’t the same thing as a ban, but it’s certainly a move in the same direction.

Canadian farmers see the writing on the wall clear as day and are responding similar to their counterparts in the Netherlands, where the government has also been coming after fertilizer.

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