Sustainability Through the Generations: How a Family Farm in Canada Continues to Evolve

August 12, 2020
Climate Change  Farmer Livelihood  Investment & Innovation 

Climate change will be felt across time zones, continental divides and political boundaries. But perhaps most importantly, while the effects will be felt most strongly by the next generation, it will take multiple living generations to enact climate change mitigation today. “We are the last generation that can prevent irreparable damage to our planet,” U.N. General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés warned in 2019 as she called for an “intergenerational approach” to climate change.

No one understands this reality more than farmers – across generations – who are the original stewards of the earth. With heightened access to technology, new generations of farmers have been able to leverage plant science innovations like precision agriculture, advances in crop protection, no-till farming and drought-tolerant crops to grow more with less.

Jake Leguee and his father, Russell, grow grain, oilseed and specialty crops in Saskatchewan, Canada. Pulling from lessons of the past and reflecting on the current state of agriculture, Jake shared his perspective on how climate change is impacting their family farm, and his viewpoints on how new technologies and innovations will help the agriculture industry to become even more sustainable in the next 25 years.

 

 

Jake’s father, Russell, has overseen the farm’s growth and efforts to become more specialized. Russell outlines that the rapid progression of plant genetics allows the farm to increase their yields.

 

 

Across the generations, the conservation farming techniques Jake and Russell leverage are helping them to produce far more than ever before while reducing their impact on the environment. New technologies and plant science innovations will help farmers like the Leguees continue to thrive amid global challenges like climate change.

More information about the Leguee family farm and their use of integrated pest management, no-till farming and cover crops is available here.