Cropping system resiliency under a changing climate in Canada

Understanding how climate change impacts crop growth and soil health in Canada and identifying ways to manage these impacts is especially important since temperatures in Canada are increasing faster than the global average. Historically we’ve seen how a warming climate can provide certain benefits as the available seasonal crop heat units and frost-free periods have increased over long-term historical averages. However, in the future, some agricultural regions could be subject to higher incidences of extreme drought, increased crop heat stresses and excess water. In this presentation, we will review the state of models and modelling procedures for predicting the impacts of climate change on cropping systems. We will demonstrate how crops in Canada may respond to climate change and discuss the benefits of adaptation by changing crop types, rotations, planting and fertilizer strategies.