The Costs of Soil Erosion to Crop Production in Canada between 1971 and 2015

Abstract

Canada is known for its massive and fertile landscape, and one of the biggest industries in Canada is crop production, which is responsible for contributing to the national economy as well as the global food supply. Soil erosion is considered the top challenge facing Canadian farmers in the 21st century. This study aims to evaluate soil erosion’s impact on Canadian crop production, assessed based on the integration of soil erosion analysis and multitemporal crop market values from 1971 to 2015. Soil Erosion Risk Indicator models were used to assess soil erosion’s impact on crop productivity using the relationship of soil organic carbon with crop yield gain/loss. The total soil erosion cost of yield losses in the 44 years leading up to 2015 is estimated to be CAD 33.51 billion. 2013 was found to show the highest loss, with CAD 1.93 billion. Oilseeds, small grains, and potatoes were the major crop commodities that were impacted by yield loss as a direct result of soil erosion, the costs being 41%, 37%, and 15%, respectively. Ontario and Saskatchewan were the most impacted provinces, with costs of 45.25% and 22.50%, respectively. Four eras were detected in this research, each having unique soil erosion costs, which reflect different agriculture policy and soil conservation efforts: Era 1 (1971–1988), Era 2 (1989–1995), Era 3 (1996–2007), and Era 4 (2008–2015). This research is the beginning of exploring the cost of the environmental impacts on agriculture sustainability in Canada and supporting decision makers in adopting effective soil conservation strategies to mitigate these impacts.

Key soil properties and their relationships with crop yields as affected by soil–landscape rehabilitation

“…In the U.S. Corn Belt, soil degradation by erosion (largely tillage erosion) was estimated to reduce crop yields by ∼6%, causing $2.8 billion in annual economic losses (Thaler et al., 2021). For Canada, soil erosion had an estimated $24.8 billion (Canadian dollars) impact from 1971 to 2015 resulting from reduced yields (Badreldin & Lobb, 2023). These studies emphasize that although conservation practices may have reduced annual erosion rates in North America, the legacies of eroded soils and depleted soil organic matter continue to be a major factor limiting crop productivity and profitability.…”