Ben Goderis - Growing Together: How Local Agriculture Shapes Our Environment

Ben Goderis' end-of-season presentation as part of the 2025 Youth Environmental Stewardship Program.

(0:00:00) Hello everyone, my name is Ben Goderis. I'm 17 years old and grew up in Swan Lake, the town. This is my first year with David in this program, and it's been a pretty fun summer. Having grown up in my family's grocery store, I don't have much of a background in environmental science, so this is a real eye-opener. This summer has given me a much clearer picture of the changes and challenges in the environment around me.

(0:00:29) This new perspective is something I'll carry with me when I go to Edmonton to begin my Bachelor of Commerce this fall. All right. Growing together, how local agriculture shapes our environment. My end of year presentation, as the title suggests, focuses on the impacts agricultural practices have on the local environment. More specifically, the agricultural impact on water systems, soil quality, and native species, as we've analyzed over the past six weeks. This presentation includes information from both Western perspectives and Indigenous knowledge.

Table of contents. So as I said before, I divided the impacts into three main sections. We have water systems, soil health, and disappearance of native species. I also included a part on different practices farmers can do to lower the impact on the environment.

Number one, water systems. Water is a critical component in agriculture practices. Without water, the agricultural industry would collapse, crops would fail, livestock would suffer, and forage crops would also die. So where are farmers getting all this water?

(0:01:56) Farmers in Manitoba often draw water from the Assiniboine River to irrigate their crops, especially during dry seasons, which can contribute to the lowering water levels. Notice all these tiny shelves in this picture. So this is the Assiniboine River. All these tiny shelves, each of those is a drop in water level throughout the season. So that's just how fast the water drops in one season. However, this drop isn't caused by irrigation alone.

(0:02:24) Reduced rainfall, upstream water use, and climate change also play major roles. sloughs, however, their drainage is primarily due to agricultural practices. When sloughs are drained to make more farmland, they can no longer store water and slowly release it into rivers, which reduces natural water reserves, worsens drought impacts, and harms local ecosystems.

(0:02:51) Another water-related impact is chemical runoff. So chemical runoff into waterways from nearby farms is another big issue. It is when chemicals that farmers use, so like pesticides, fertilizers, those are all in their fields and then when rain comes or when snow melt comes, it washes it away into bodies of water. So this picture is of the Swan Lake by The Rock. I don't know where The Rock is exactly.

(0:03:18) So there's a farm up here, let's say. They're using all these chemicals. Rain comes, washes it down into the valley, into the water. And that creates this guy. This is called blue-green algae. There's a chemical in there, or there's a bacteria. It's called blue-green algae. And that's very harmful to humans, pets, anything that lives. So you don't want that.

(0:03:45) Over time, this not only disrupts ecosystems, but can also contaminate the drinking water that we eat.

Up next is soil. Soil is another very important part in food production. Where does our food grow? In the soil. Soil provides essential nutrients and support for plant growth. It acts as a medium for root development, helps regulate water supply.

(0:04:11) and sustains microorganisms that enhance soil fertility. Healthy soil boosts crop yields and maintains sustainability farming practices. Issue is, soil just isn't as healthy as it used to be. So here is a picture of two types of soil. One's good, one's bad. The one on the left is the good one. During rainfall, sorry, farms at the top, no, where are we?

(0:04:41) Okay, yeah. Over the years, intensive agriculture has altered the quality of soil in Manitoba. Sure, modern farming practices have increased yields, like increased convenience, but at what cost? Repeated tilling, monocropping, and heavy machinery use have led to soil degradation and lost organic matter. This reduces the soil net, the soil's natural fertility, and water retaining ability.

(0:05:09) this is where you get that powdery texture on the right that can't hold water can't support root growth you don't want that and all this so when the soil is bad it kind of creates a cycle so soil is bad the food you're growing in it isn't going to be as good and then we eat that so it's a giant cycle soil. Erosion is another issue. It's harmful because it strips away nutrient-rich chop soils in both farmland and forests. In forests, this can damage tree roots, reduce vegetation growth, and make it harder for ecosystems to regenerate after a disturbance. Eroded soils also end up in waterways, harming aquatic life, clogging streams, and this also transports pollutions like fertilizer, pesticides, and heavy metals into the water systems.

(0:06:11) Native species is another thing we got to look at when we're talking about agricultural impact on the environment. So, these are three examples of native species. The wild bergamot, big bluestem, and black spruce. Nowadays, we are seeing less and less of these native species in the wild, and that's not good. Ecosystems need native species. They maintain biodiversity, support food webs, and ensure ecological balance.

(0:06:38) They have evolved with their environment, making them well-adapted to local conditions, which helps in nutrient cycling, soil health, and water quality regulation. Native plants also provide habitat and food for native wildlife, promoting resilience against pests, disease, and environmental changes. One of the main contributors to the displacement of native species is exposure to human activity or agriculture.

(0:07:07) Native species are often displaced when nearby ecosystems are disturbed by, for example, agricultural activities like this. Since native plants and animals depend on each other, actions like clearing trees, tilling soil, or draining water sources create stressful conditions for native species. These disturbances also make it easier for disturbance plants to move in, often through seeds carried by humans, animals, or equipment.

(0:07:36) while weakening the plant's ability to compete. This is why pristine areas tend to have wide buffer zones with ecosystem quality gradually changing closer and closer to get to the edge. So on the edge, ecosystems would probably be weaker as you move to the middle because it's less exposed to the agriculture.

(0:08:04) All right, now we need agriculture. We can't just get rid of agriculture. We need agriculture to live. So instead of getting rid of it, we can minimize its impact. And how do we do that? Here are three possible solutions. So holding water. Holding water, like sloughs and rivers, as opposed to draining them for irrigation, can be effective in the long run. It replenishes groundwater, reduces flood risks, supports habitat for wildlife, and surprisingly helps maintain

(0:08:33) river flow during droughts. It does this by releasing stored water at a gradual rate instead of rapidly taking it out of the water for irrigation. Polycropping and planting a cover crop is also effective. So as a farmer, monocrops may be convenient and easy to harvest, but there are alternatives to monocropping that have less of an impact on the environment. So polycropping is planting multiple crop species in the same field.

(0:09:03) And planting your cover crop is like planting seeds just to improve the soil health. So these work with numerous benefits. They improve the soil health, they prevent erosion, they also enhance biodiversity, reduce the need for chemical fertilizers, helps retain moisture, suppress weeds naturally, and captures carbon in the air so it doesn't lead to the environment. And trees. We all know that trees are good,

(0:09:32) but how are they effective in the agriculture industry. So, they reduce soil erosion, spray moisture, provide habitat for wildlife, block the wind, which creates wind erosion, and regulates the temperature. All this is crucial in the overall improvement of the ecosystems. That's everything! Thanks for listening, and make sure to check out

(0:10:00) our website!