He will be looking for agrifood organizations to support his proposal.   Ottawa—After pushing for a Senate agriculture committee study on soil health for almost a year, Senator Rob Black will have to wait a while longer before he knows if his proposal will be acted on. The Senate had its first full session Feb. 4 since last fall's general election and it will be several weeks before the committee memberships are decided. Black is hoping he will be back on the agriculture committee so he can push the soil study. In early February, he asked agrifood organizations and farmers across the country to send letters to the Senate stressing the need for the soil study. “Such a study would allow senators to hear from soil scientists, agronomists, farmers, agricultural organizations, and others across the country, and we would eventually provide the government with a comprehensive list of achievable recommendations for them to implement,” he said in a letter to them. “Many of you will agree that the degradation of Canada's soils is one of the biggest issues facing the agricultural industry and it also has major negative effects on the climate.” Letters of support will make it hard for senators “to ignore the benefits of moving forward with this study.” Since he first proposed the study last year, Black has repeatedly said an 1984 report on soil health by the Senate committee “was ground-breaking and widely distributed, and it is still heralded today as one of the Senate's best reports. “However, a lot has changed in the intervening 36 years,” he said. “Some farmers have transitioned to more soil-friendly practices, such as no-till farming, planting cover crops, and crop rotations. However, much of our soil has been eroded and continues to lose its organic matter. “Soil is one of our most precious natural resources,” he said. “Soil conservation is a pressing matter for the agriculture and agri-food sectors, and in turn for all Canadians, as we depend on farmers for our food. Unhealthy and poor soils lead to lower crop yields and thus smaller profits for producers and less food for consumption. “If we allow continued degradation of soil, food security will undoubtedly become a more widely-spread problem. Soil also has major implications for the environment. If we can keep carbon dioxide in the ground, the soil is healthier and so too is the atmosphere. “In a time where governments, businesses, and people around the world need to be doing all we can to reverse the effects of climate change and protect our environment, the health of our soils could play a significant role.” A soil study would allow the senators to hear “directly from people who work regularly with soil and depend on it for their livelihood. That will allow us to learn about the real 'on-the-ground' challenges and opportunities and to hear about strategies that producers are already using to preserve the nutrients in their soil.” The economic cost of investing in new technologies and processes is a barrier for many farmers but the government could make that easier, he said. “In the end, maintaining the 'business as usual' approach will ultimately be much more costly – economically and environmentally – as the amount of healthy, usable, nutrient-rich soil in Canada decreases.” The consequences of the problem “could be severe,” he said. Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.