There are two ways to get a horse to carry a heavy load. You can hit it with a big stick, or you can provide a reward for work well done. Think of agriculture as the horse, and governments’ sustainability goals as the load farmers are being asked to carry. Too often governments reach for the regulatory stick rather than providing incentives for positive action, even though the incentive-based path will lead to greater success. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada just wrapped up consultations on a new sustainable agricultural strategy. We are at cross-roads as a country. We can either choose to accomplish our sustainability goals through an incentive-based approach, rooted in collaboration and partnership, or a punitive top-down process that...
