On the Canadian Prairies, decades of high-disturbance land management practices, including summerfallow and conventional tillage, contributed to soil erosion and declines in soil quality indicators, including soil organic matter (SOM). However, shifts to zero tillage, minimum tillage and continuous cropping following the adoption of genetically modified crops, instead of summerfallow have helped restore lost organic matter. To assess changes in SOM as summerfallow practices and tillage have been reduced and removed from land management practices, an online survey of Saskatchewan farmers was conducted between October 2024 and March 2025, with farmers voluntarily reporting summerfallow and tillage practices along with SOM level data. Results show that, between 1990-2024, the average number of annual tillage passes decreased 76% and the average percentage of summerfallow fields decreased 91%. Correspondingly, average reported SOM levels increased 41% between the periods of 1990-1999 and 2015-2024. Shifts towards sustainable management practices were made possible by adoptions of innovative technologies, including both genetically modified and conventionally-bred herbicide tolerant cropping systems and more efficient herbicides. The relationship between increasing SOM levels and the shift towards low-disturbance farming systems shows how innovative changes in farmers’ land management practices are helping to regain SOM previously lost to intense cultivation across the province.

The adoption of genetically modified canola in 1995 in Western Canada was done to improve the control of weeds during cropproduction. Thirty years later, Western Canadian agriculture has witnessed a complete transformation, whereby the use ofsummerfallow as the leading form of weed control has virtually disappeared, to be replaced by continuous cropping, zero orminimum tillage land management practices. Of course there are trade-offs. The removal of tillage practices has increased soilmoisture conservation and reduced soil erosion, but it has also resulted in an increase in herbicide applications. However, theenvironmental impact from the current suite of herbicides applied are considerably lower than previous ones, which often requiredsoil incorporation instead of foliar application. All food production practices have impacts on the environment and biodiversity,however, the key is to identify best practices that contribute to increased production coupled with a lower environmental footprint.This article reviews the transition that Western Canadian agriculture has undergone over the past 30 years, highlighting the benefitsfor the environment and biodiversity.

Innovations in plant breeding have made important contributions to food security and sustainability. Genome editing, a group of techniques that make it possible to precisely modify genome sequences, has a high potential to further advance crop breeding. The invention of the genome editing tool called CRISPR-Cas9 has made it particularly easy and cost-effective to modify a crops genome rapidly and in a precise and predictable way. The tool also makes it possible to modify multiple traits simultaneously. Another advantage of genome editing is that it does not require the introduction of genetic material from other species, an approach that is used in breeding genetically modified (GM) crops, which has been problematic for regulatory approval in several regions of the world. However, it still remains unclear how genome edited crops will be regulated and, hence, to what extent their full potential can be realized. This chapter provides a discussion of the food security and sustainability potentials from genome editing, as well as a discussion of the current global regulatory challenges.

Initial risk assessments of genetically modified (GM) crops began in the early 1990 s, focusing on herbicide tolerance and insect resistance, with approvals by the mid-1990s. These assessments compare GM crops to non-GM equivalents, a framework unchanged for over 30 years. Since the first assessment in 1994, over 4,400 evaluations have been conducted across more than 70 countries for both cultivation and food/feed use. To date, none have identified increased risk relative to conventional varieties. This article analyzes three decades of GM crop approvals, highlighting the consistency of scientific assessment processes. Fourteen crops underwent 692 cultivation and 1,891 food-release assessments for herbicide tolerance, while insect resistance accounted for 523 cultivation and 1,396 food-release assessments, largely involving Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). The findings underscore that GM crops are equivalent in risk to conventional varieties, supporting reliance on established international scientific expertise, particularly in resource-constrained regions.

Genetically modified crop adoption in Canada has been the key driver in removing tillage as the lead form of weed control, due to increased weed control efficiency. Land use has transitioned from the use of summerfallow to continuous cropping, predominantly involving zero or minimum tillage practices. Prairie crop rotations have diversified away from mainly cereals to include three-year rotations of cereals, pulses, and oilseeds. Total herbicide volume applied has increased as crop production acres increased, but the rate of herbicide active ingredient applied per hectare has declined. Diverse crop rotations allow for weed control using herbicides with different modes of action, reducing selection pressure for resistant weed development. Herbicide-resistant weeds are an important concern for farmers, as the loss of key herbicides would make weed control exceedingly more difficult. The objective of this case study is to examine herbicide resistance weed development in the Canadian Prairies and to identify changes in resistance development following GM crop adoption.

Inappropriate and often politicized regulations in many countries have limited the global benefits of agricultural biotechnology. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB) has proven to be one of the biggest barriers to biotechnological innovations, especially for food-insecure countries. The global movement of international agreements, such as the CPB, Convention on Biological Diversity, and Global Biodiversity Framework, contribute to the erosion of evidence-based regulation, enabling the development and spread of precaution-based regulatory frameworks. Despite 50 years of accumulated knowledge about the safety of genetic modification technology application since the Asilomar Conference, regulatory requirements are increasing, slowing innovation rates. This article discusses the importance of risk-appropriate regulation for innovation efficiency to avoid precaution-based regulation stifling innovation.

Wheat is a key agricultural product for Canada, the majority of which is grown in the Prairie Provinces and exported. While several new wheat varieties are registered each year, most of the wheat acreage in Western Canada is produced by a select number of new varieties. This study investigates the gap between recommended, registered, and commercially available varieties in Western Canada and estimates the R&D cost of non-adopted varieties. Results show a robust slate of commercially available new wheat varieties overall, as only 18% of proposed varieties did not receive registration and 7% of registered varieties were not adopted over the past 25 years. This translates to $3.25–$5.2 million in annual R&D funding invested in varieties that do not provide direct economic benefit to producers upon commercialization between 2000 and 2010 and $7.5–$12 million between 2011 and 2021. Non-adopted varieties may have value as parents in future crosses. In addition, Prairie-wide results reveal that varieties with higher yield and yield-enhancing traits such as disease resistance and lodging resistance are more widely grown. The current findings provide the best indicative data about the performance of wheat breeding programs and shed light on how Canada is performing with respect to research priorities and investments in varietal innovations. Limited and inconsistent varietal data across the Prairies and lack of transparent R&D costs on newly developed wheat varieties in Western Canada are among the challenges encountered in this research.

Fifty years ago, scientists developed a regulatory framework for the safe use of recombinant DNA that focused on potential biosafety risks associated with the products of genetic engineering (GE). This morphed into an expensive and lengthy premarket risk assessment requirement for GE agricultural biotechnology products triggered solely by the fact that modern molecular technologies were involved in the development of those products. This has limited the commercialization of GE crop products primarily to multinational enterprises and precluded the development of GE animals at scale. Gene editing offers an opportunity to rethink the regulation of agricultural biotechnologies, and several countries have determined that gene-edited products lacking any ‘foreign’ DNA will be treated in the same way as products of conventional breeding.

Regulations within the crop agriculture industry exist to ensure that products undergoing risk assessment prior to commercialization are safe for the environment and human consumption. Since 1995, these regulations have provided safe crops and foods for Canadians to consume, as no commercialized innovative product has caused any post-commercialization health or environmental problems. However, Canada suffers from a gap in its innovation pipeline in that far more investments go into the innovation pipeline than products come out. Canada is a global top ten nation in terms of innovation investments yet drops over ten positions when it comes to outputs. Additionally, Canada is one of the lowest ranked on the G30 list of countries in terms of regulatory burden on the economy. This article describes updates to the regulatory framework for plant biotechnology, highlighting recent changes regarding regulation of gene editing technologies and how these changes respond to previously identified innovation barriers.

Purpose: Food insecurity in Canada has intensified over the past decade, with rates reaching 22.9 % in 2022. This study evaluates the role of agricultural biotechnology, specifically genetically modified (GM) and gene-edited crops and crop protection technologies, in addressing the four core pillars of food security-availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability-within Canada's agri-food system. Design/methodology/approach: The article synthesizes national datasets, peer-reviewed literature, and economic modeling to evaluate yield gains, input cost savings, regulatory impacts, and consumer perceptions. Special attention is given to systemic barriers such as regulatory uncertainty, public skepticism, and inadequate farmlevel data infrastructure. Findings: Biotechnological innovations, including herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant crops, have contributed to more stable yields and lower production costs, indirectly affecting food affordability. However, their direct impact on retail prices is limited due to downstream costs. Key constraints include underinvestment in public R&D, regulatory ambiguity, and insufficient trait-specific data collection. Recent reforms have improved approval timelines for gene-edited crops, but public confidence hinges on clear policies and transparency. Practical implications: To integrate biotechnology into Canada's food security strategy, Canada must enhance data collection, improve regulatory clarity, and invest more consistently in agri-food R&D. These steps are necessary to align scientific advances with measurable improvements in food access and sustainability. Consumer acceptance is contingent upon perceived safety and sustainability benefits, highlighting the need for effective communication and governance. Originality/value: This article offers one of the first integrated evaluations of agri-biotech impacts on all four pillars of food security in Canada. It bridges technical assessments with socioeconomic implications, offering policy recommendations to better align innovation with measurable improvements in food system resilience.

CONTEXT: Policy issues in most nations include adapting primary agricultural production to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Commitments have been established through multi-lateral agreements targeting GHG emission reductions to abate climate change impacts. In response to policy initiatives targeted at industries such as agriculture, producers are adopting innovative production methods and technologies to provide environmental services and mitigate emissions. GHG emissions arising from livestock production contribute to a damaging narrative surrounding agriculture, particularly beef production. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is three-fold, quantifying (a) net emissions,2 (b) changes in practice, and (c) economic outcomes attributed to the forage production facet of cow-calf production. METHODS: The Saskatchewan Forage Production Survey was developed to gather forage management practices data, placing emphasis on land use and land management changes. Canada's whole-farm assessment model, Holos, was applied as a carbon accounting framework to derive the net emissions of the forage production cycle. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate carbon sequestration increased between the periods of 1991-94 and 2016-19. Gross emissions decreased to a larger degree and net emission results for the forage production facet of the Saskatchewan cow calf sector are -0.123 Mg CO2e/ha/yr in 2016-19. SIGNIFICANCE: Recommendations include the renewal of forage rejuvenation funding programs that may improve forage yields and carbon sequestration potential. Further, the expansion of term conservation easement programs to include non-native forage lands is recommended to incentivize the retention of forage land.

Innovation is of fundamental importance for improving food production, as well as sustainability food production. Since 1960, food production has benefited from innovations in plant breeding technologies, fertilizer, chemicals and equipment. These innovations have dramatically increased food production, while the amount of land used has minimally increased. However, future food production increases are jeopardized from widening knowledge gaps between rural food producers and large urban food consuming populations. Over time, that gap has fueled disinformation. The development of disinformation business models contributes to urban consumers receiving inaccurate information about the importance of inputs essential to food production, resulting in political pressures being applied that are targeted at reductions in the use of many food production inputs. The use of chemicals are a frequent target of disinformation campaigns. This article examines how the lack of government clarity about the safe use of chemicals contributes to a lack of public information.

Advances in plant biotechnology hold the promise of better agricultural productivity, bigger economic returns, less environmental impact, and greater food security. New scientific tools have outpaced regulations, leaving a policy vacuum that could break those promises. Within the last decade, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based genome-editing systems have become state-of-the-art plant breeding approaches that allow targeted (site-specific) crop trait improvement by introducing, silencing, or activating genes. The technology dramatically cuts the time and cost required to develop better disease-resistant and more climate-resilient crops. As genome editing can produce transgenic and nontransgenic outcomes, these new breeding technologies have challenged the regulatory system in many countries over the last decade, with the result that we have uneven oversight within and between countries. Such ambiguity has made only a very few CRISPR applications available on today’s market while preventing numerous others from moving beyond the walls of research laboratories. A few countries in the Americas decided to exempt nontransgenic genome-edited products from regulatory oversight, while the European Union (EU) regulates those novel products as equivalent to genetically modified (GM) traits. The Canadian novel food-based regulatory regime is unique; it is based on the principle of examining product attributes that affect food safety instead of focusing on breeding technology. This chapter discusses how Canada accommodates CRISPR applications in its science-based regulatory system.

On February 27, 2015, as part of the Agricultural Growth Act, amendments to the Canada's Plant Breeders' Rights (PBRs) Act came into force, making Canada compliant with Union for the Protection of the New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) 91. One objective of adopting UPOV 91 was that it would encourage increased investment in plant breeding, giving Canadian farmers greater access to new and innovative plant varieties that enable them to be more globally competitive. To assess whether the adoption of UPOV 91 impacted crop variety investments, a survey of Canadian public and private plant breeders was undertaken in 2021-2022. Results indicate that the length of research grants play a significant role in plant breeders' perspectives. Previous research indicated that the adoption of UPOV 91 provided minimal incentives to increase investments. Results of this survey indicate that 52% of respondents, either agree or strongly agree, that the amendments to the PBR Act have provided an incentive to increase plant breeding investments.

This article provides an analysis and evaluation of peer-reviewed evidence on the contribution of crop biotechnology to climate change mitigation and adaption. While there is a range of agricultural technologies and products that contribute to climate change mitigation, this literature landscape analysis focuses on the development of genetically modified traits, their use and adoption in major commodity crops and responsive changes in production techniques. Jointly, these technologies and products are contributing to climate change mitigation, yet the technology, the literature and evidence is still evolving as more sophisticated research methods are used with greater consistency. The literature analysis is undertaken with consideration of the consequential impact that regulatory regimes have on technology development. This assessment utilizes the Maryland Scientific Methods Scale and citation analysis, concluding that GM crops provide benefits that contribute to climate change mitigation.

This paper explores the scope for the newly emerging technologies, based on gene editing (GE) contributing to addressing the global challenges that we face. These challenges relate to food security, climate change and biodiversity depletion. In particular, it examines the science and evidence behind the most appropriate forms of agricultural production to meet these challenges, the targets set in the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) agreed to at the end of 2022 and the possible role of GE technologies in contributing to meeting these targets. It then examines the most risk-appropriate regulatory environment required to best facilitate the adoption of GE technology, drawing on the experiences of the impact of regulatory systems for other innovations used in agricultural and food production systems such as genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

The sustainable management of herbicides is critical to modern agriculture and the environment. This article examines the evolution and environmental implications of herbicide use in Saskatchewan, Canada, agriculture. It quantifies changes in herbicide use and their environmental impacts by analyzing farm-level herbicide use data from 1991 to 1994 and from 2016 to 2019 through the environmental impact quotient. Results confirm significant reductions in both environmental and toxicological impacts of herbicides used, underlining the pivotal shift from tillage-based weed control to herbicide-resistant cropping systems. The environmental impact of the top five herbicides (glufosinate, glyphosate, clethodim, imazamox, and 2,4-D) used from 2016 to 2019 is 65% lower than that for those herbicides (MCPA, 2,4-D, bromoxynil, diclofop-methyl, and trifluralin) used from 1991 to 1994, with a 45% reduction in the active ingredient applied per acre. Despite increased herbicide use due to more crop acres being seeded, the findings highlight a marked improvement in the sustainability of herbicide use, affirming the importance of technological advancements in agriculture. This research contributes valuable insights into long-term trends in herbicide use, offering a practical framework for informed decisions aligning with sustainable agricultural practices as well as reduced biodiversity impacts.

Sustainability labeling has been increasingly integrated into many food product labels in response to consumer interest in purchasing sustainably produced food. While a product label may contain the phrase "sustainably produced", little additional information is available to consumers regarding how sustainability has been enhanced, or the dimensions of sustainability encompassed by the label. Using data from a survey of 1416 Canadian consumers, we examine consumer perceptions of sustainability and preferences for broad versus narrow sustainability claims across several contexts, including the dimensions of sustainability and the scope of a sustainability standard with respect to compliance criteria, product coverage, and geographical coverage. We find low levels of consumer knowledge and understanding of sustainability labeling, heterogeneity with respect to which dimension of sustainability appeals to different types of consumers, and a general preference for broad over narrowly defined sustainability labels, particularly with respect to the scope of criteria encompassed by the label. Our findings suggest some confusion as to what constitutes sustainability in the context of agri-food, but that broader, more encompassing labels are likely to gain more traction with consumers. L'& eacute;tiquetage durable est de plus en plus int & eacute;gr & eacute; dans de nombreux produits alimentaires en r & eacute;ponse & agrave; l'int & eacute;r & ecirc;t des consommateurs pour l'achat d'aliments produits de mani & egrave;re durable. M & ecirc;me si l'& eacute;tiquette d'un produit peut contenir l'expression << produit de mani & egrave;re durable >>, peu d'informations suppl & eacute;mentaires sont disponibles pour les consommateurs sur la mani & egrave;re dont la durabilit & eacute; a & eacute;t & eacute; am & eacute;lior & eacute;e ou sur les dimensions de la durabilit & eacute; couvertes par l'& eacute;tiquette. & Agrave; l'aide des donn & eacute;es d'une enqu & ecirc;te men & eacute;e aupr & egrave;s de 1 416 consommateurs canadiens, nous examinons les perceptions des consommateurs en mati & egrave;re de durabilit & eacute; et leurs pr & eacute;f & eacute;rences pour des all & eacute;gations larges ou & eacute;troites en mati & egrave;re de durabilit & eacute; dans plusieurs contextes, y compris les dimensions de la durabilit & eacute; et la port & eacute;e d'une norme de durabilit & eacute; en ce qui concerne les crit & egrave;res de conformit & eacute;, la couverture des produits et la port & eacute;e d'une norme de durabilit & eacute;. couverture g & eacute;ographique. Nous constatons de faibles niveaux de connaissance et de compr & eacute;hension des consommateurs en mati & egrave;re d'& eacute;tiquetage de durabilit & eacute;, une h & eacute;t & eacute;rog & eacute;n & eacute;it & eacute; quant aux dimensions de la durabilit & eacute; qui attirent diff & eacute;rents types de consommateurs, et une pr & eacute;f & eacute;rence g & eacute;n & eacute;rale pour des labels de durabilit & eacute; larges plut & ocirc;t qu'& eacute;troitement d & eacute;finis, en particulier en ce qui concerne la port & eacute;e des crit & egrave;res englob & eacute;s par l'& eacute;tiquette. Nos r & eacute;sultats sugg & egrave;rent une certaine confusion quant & agrave; ce qui constitue la durabilit & eacute; dans le contexte de l'agroalimentaire, mais que des & eacute;tiquettes plus larges et plus globales sont susceptibles de gagner plus d'adh & eacute;sion aupr & egrave;s des consommateurs.