Agrifood can help Canada attain its climate, data, and export goals.   Ottawa—The agrifood sector is getting high-profile help in spreading the news that it can play a leading role in Canada's economic recovery and in the battle against climate change. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and nine other organizations and companies have launched the Foodlink Campaign to promote the sector internationally and on domestic issues. “The facts are that, the agriculture and agri-food sector is highly innovative and increasingly recognized as a leader in fighting climate change. “Canadian agriculture has a good story to tell. On a global average, about 23 per cent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions come from agriculture. Here in Canada, agriculture accounts for just over 8 per cent of our overall GHG. Canadian food producers are among the greenest in the world. On top of that, there is a high degree of carbon stored in the soil and governments are looking to farmers to meet GHG reduction targets,” the FoodLink Campaign says. Perrin Beatty, Chamber President and CEO, said, “It shouldn't take a crisis like COVID-19 for us to recognize the businesses in our national agriculture sector supply chain continue to deliver food to our tables in Canada and around the world.” One boost for the sector would come from governments tackling “endlessly overlapping federal, provincial and regional regulations,” he said. Agrifood businesses face high costs compared to their G7 counterparts and a recent survey “found 26.6 per cent of agricultural business owners reported government regulations as a key obstacle to their survival. “Canada must modernize its approach to regulations or risk severely hampering the economic potential of the agriculture and agri-food sector, one of its shining examples of business innovation. We need a regulatory environment that is consistent, predictable, timely, and supports innovation,” he said. “Today's farmer is highly-skilled and makes significant use of new technologies to meet economic and productivity objectives. Whether it's precision farming or other digitization, Canadian agriculture demonstrates an innovative mindset in keeping Canadians – and the world – fed.” Modern farms are “highly innovative, highly sustainable, and highly complex operations are frequently employing new technologies to meet climate change, production, and other objectives,” Beatty said. Agriculture “has not only reduced its carbon footprint through technology, but also through carbon capture in soil. Many of the foods you eat today may have been grown using drones and earth sensors, which allow for precise product applications and produce higher yields more efficiently over time.” From producers to processors to your plate, the agrifood sector “exemplifies highly innovative and complex operations requiring not only knowledge of land use and best environmental practices, but also significant skill in operating these new tools. These new precision agriculture tools are allowing farmers to produce more while reducing their environmental footprint.” The coalition supporting Foodlink also includes Canpotex, CN, CropLife Canada, Fertilizer Canada, Nutrien, Protein Industries Canada, Syngenta, Timac Agro., Bayer, Supply Chain Canada and UFA. 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.