Research And Describe The Grain Farming in Canada

Grain Farming in Canada
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Grain Farming in Canada
Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u 1.Grain Farming in Canada PAGEREF _Toc482861821 \h 1a.Summary PAGEREF _Toc482861822 \h 1b.Location of Grain Farming in Canada PAGEREF _Toc482861823 \h 2c.Types of Products manufactured from Grains in Canada PAGEREF _Toc482861824 \h 3d.Physical Geography in Canada and Grain Farming PAGEREF _Toc482861825 \h 32.Future Sustainability of the Resources PAGEREF _Toc482861826 \h 4a.Impacts of grain Farming on Natural Environment PAGEREF _Toc482861827 \h 4b.Sustainability PAGEREF _Toc482861828 \h 5c.Balancing Individual wants and needs to sustain the resources PAGEREF _Toc482861829 \h 6d.Impacts of Government Legislation on the Grain Farming PAGEREF _Toc482861830 \h 63.Trade and Economy PAGEREF _Toc482861831 \h 7a.Importance of Grain Farming to Canadian Economy PAGEREF _Toc482861832 \h 74.Natural Resource in The News PAGEREF _Toc482861833 \h 9a.Threats affecting natural in Canada PAGEREF _Toc482861834 \h 9References PAGEREF _Toc482861835 \h 11
1 Grain Farming in Canada
* Summary
Effective implementation of the technology in Canada has led to the increased production of energy from grain farming. Grain farming in Canada produces sugar and other raw materials for the production of alcohol and biomass that are used as renewable sources of energy. This bio-energy is usually in the form of biomass that comprises organic materials from anaerobic digestion where methane is produced from the agricultural waste, and the sugar extracted from the grains for alcohol production which are then used as transportation fuel. The different types of industry that the grain farming support includes transportation industry whereby alcohol derived from sugar distillation are used in vehicles and other transportation means.
In addition, the agricultural industries in the country provide accessibility to the large and diverse biomass raw materials that are used for the production of energy which is the second most essential form of the renewable energy in Canada (Bradley, 2010). For example, the feedstock and grains such as corn, wheat, and barley are used as raw materials for the production of ethanol. Besides, the raw materials are used to produce biodiesel, vegetable oils, waste greases as well as animal fats. Thirdly, the biomass energy supports the hotel industry through the provision of renewable fuel or source of energy (Bradley, 2010).
* Location of Grain Farming in Canada
The vast land in Canada that is allocated for the grain production include Ontario that constitutes 61.7% of the total grain seeded areas followed by the Quebec at 30.2% with Manitoba contributing about 6.4% while others cover about 1.8% (Ramankutty, et al. 2008).
Figure 1: Map Showing Grain Farming Areas of Canada
(Ramankutty, et al. 1).
* Types of Products manufactured from Grains in Canada
Bio-energy produced from the biomass include bio-fuels such as liquid biofuels for running motor vehicles, forest residues for running pulp mills as well as other industrial activities. Other products include the sugar used for alcohol production, spent pulping liquor, the landfill gasses, vegetable oil, non-edible waste grease, animal fats and the organic municipal waste. The grains for renewable energy is derived from agricultural production that is done on large scale in different parts of the country such as Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and nova Scotia among others (Bradley 40).
* Physical Geography in Canada and Grain Farming
Canada is about 4,800 kilometers from the north to south and about 5,000 kilometers from the east to west. Therefore, it is 3.9 million square miles. Even though Canada forms a large portion in terms of space, about 90% of the land is cold hence does not have factors for agricultural production. The various regions that constitute farming areas include Western Cordillera, Canadian Plains, Prairie Plains, Arctic North, St. Lawrence Lowlands and Atlantic Region (Bradshaw, Dolan & Smit, 2004). The agricultural productive areas include Manitoba province, Saskatchewan, parts of Alberta that produce about 20% of the world's wheat. Other rich lands for agriculture are found lower sections of Ontario and Quebec. The types of soils in Canada also vary from black soils, dark brown soils to brown, especially in the Palliser's Triangle. These limited regions are well utilized for agricultural production that serves many sectors. Furthermore, the changes in climate and weather conditions have been of the greater essence to agricultural expansion due to continuous melt of snows opening more lands for agriculture (Bradshaw, Dolan & Smit, 2004).
Figure 2: Map Indicating the Types of Soil in Canada
(Bradshaw, Dolan & Smit, 2004).
2 Future Sustainability of the Resources
* Impacts of grain Farming on Natural Environment
Conducting agriculture with an environmental sustainability of production has been of the greater essence to the majority of Canadians. Thus, the potential impacts on the land use include deforestation due to expansion, changes in amenity of the land, impacts on biodiversity, soil erosion and decreased fertility, increased runoffs and poor drainage of water. Other impacts include greenhouse gas production, decreased air quality, use of pesticides and fertilizers that later affect the soils (Snyder, et al. 2009).
Table 1: Showing Natural environment and Impacts due to Grain Farming (developed from scratch)
Natural Environment Component

Impacts due to grain Farming

Land and water resources

Changes in land usage leading to deforestation, depletion of wetlands, soil erosion, poor drainage systems, aesthetic changes and depletion of grasses.

Biodiversity

Changes in natural habitat and biological conditions, negative impacts caused by pesticides, change in agricultural biodiversity

Soils

Soil degradation, increased soil erosion, salinization of soils, poor soil conditions, reduced organic matter content, low water holding capacity

Water quality

Water pollution and eutrophication, contamination of soils due to usage of phosphorus and nitrogen, contamination of trace minerals

Air

Reduced air quality, increased greenhouse gasses such as methane and carbon dioxide, air pollution caused by pesticides.

* Sustainability
Even though the above negative i...