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By Ciara Byrne (CP) – Dec. 13th, 2009

TORONTO — As agricultural experts met in Copenhagen on the weekend to gingerly build consensus on agriculture's role in climate change, some farmers in Canada offered another solution to farming's cost on the environment -change the way farming is practised.

"We clearly need to reverse directions," said Darrin Qualman, the director of research for the National Farmers Union, which is based in Saskatoon.

"We need to move towards lower emission agriculture and that means changing direction away from industrialized agriculture and globalization of the food system, but farmers need not fear that," he said, reassuringly.

Across an ocean in Copenhagen, Saturday's agriculture and rural development day brought together policy makers and negotiators, producers and the agricultural and climate change community to highlight the importance of agriculture in climate change.

The meeting of 300 delegates coincided with the United Nations climate negotiations.

Agriculture is a key issue for climate change.

The latest figures from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization says agriculture is responsible for almost 14 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Qualman, who didn't attend the meeting, said Canada plays a big part in contributing to these higher emissions.

"Canada has really built possibly the highest fuel use and highest carbon emission food system in the world," he said, blaming ill-thought out trade agreements, more exports and imports, and a "de-localizing" of the food system.

The solution to reduce carbon emissions, according to Qualman, is what some farmers are calling "re-localized agriculture," which brings not only local food to farmer's markets, but also means bringing local beef packing plants and processing facilities into communities.

"The current globalized, industrialized system, boy it's just farm crisis and carnage out there," said Qualman, adding that struggling farmers aren't seeing big profits under the current food production system.

For Colleen Ross, an organic farmer from in Iroquois, Ont., working in a local food system has meant higher profits and a lower carbon footprint for her farm.

"I think as farmers what we really need to do is re-learn how to farm in a bio diverse way," said Ross.

But Ross says the responsibility of changing the way farming is practised nationwide also depends on consumers demanding stores remove the "3,000 kilometre salads," from store shelves.

"The frustration that I have as a farmer is that we're doing all of the right things to heal our food system and our climate, but we need 98 per cent of the rest of Canadians to insist that this is the kind of food system they want back."

In Copenhagen, some farmers see it a different way.

Don McCabe, from the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, admits agriculture is a culprit of global carbon emissions, but he says it can also be a part of the solution.

McCabe said some of the talks have focused on the agriculture industry's ability to be a carbon offset supplier by mitigating and sequestering carbon emissions through improved management and no-till farming.

For McCabe, the issue of climate change is much larger than any local food initiative could fix.

McCabe argues the cost of production in Canada is higher than other parts of the world, which makes it harder for farmers to increase their profits.

"I farm in Southwestern Ontario, and with all sarcasm intended here, I don't grow bananas and oranges yet, even with global climate change," said McCabe.

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