Co-operative planning needed to help Island agriculture keep growing, farmers hear

New London, PEI - (Prince Edward Island) Farmers need to adopt a collective approach of co-operation to find success in an industry that has forgotten the image of the family farm and become a corporate giant interested in cheap prices.

The status quo is not an option, Agriculture Minister George Webster said Friday (Jan. 30) at the annual meeting of the Federation of Agriculture.

We must not only accept change, we must welcome it. Out of each crisis comes an opportunity.

Webster called for a blueprint of change and was joined by a number of others who sounded the same alarm bells that PEI must find alternative crops and co-operative marketing or be slowly pushed out of commodity markets by cheaper offshore imports.

The corporations dont care if the farmer makes any moneythey want to ensure their shareholders make money, said Laurent Pellerin, a Quebec-based farmer and vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.

Pellerin said the federal government has fumbled the agriculture file and done little in recognizing a safe and secure Canadian food system is suffering at the hands of imported foods not required to meet the same standards as Canadian farmers meet.

Government needs a vision for agriculture and doesnt seem to care that we will have a shortage of domestic meat one day, he said. They see us just importing from other countries to solve that problem rather than getting behind a Canadian food industry.

Webster, who took over the agriculture portfolio only three weeks ago, said agriculture will come first with him, but encouraged all farmers to ensure they are part of the safety net programs available in case of crop failures.

Farming is the foundation of our way of life here, he said. And as long as I am minister, it comes first.

More than 100 people were told the current commodity model (selling into a cheap market pool) for so long is not helping Island agriculture and alternatives must be sought where quality draws better price.

The commodity market is based on quantity, not quality, and thats what we have to sell, he said.

Pellerin agreed and said the Maritimes could benefit by promoting its crops as unique in the market due to sense of place and pristine image.

While warnings were dire, Webster insisted Island agriculture would emerge from the dark tunnel.

Ive heard some farmers say they are one crop away from bankruptcy, he said. But we must adapt and government will use all the resources it can to make the change. But we need you to make it with us.

Federation executive director Mike Nabuurs said there is no silver bullet and the Report of the Commission on the Future of Agriculturerecommending a complete rebuilding of Island agricultureshould be followed. The commission contends following unique branding and product development, Island agriculture could double in production and employ even more people by 2015. The Guardian