Melvin sees challenges, opportunities for agriculture

Kentville, NS - Government investment in farm infrastructure would have a huge impact on the rural economy and help facilitate the product innovation and marketing producers need to remain competitive in the global market.

Richard Melvin of Pereau, who was elected the new president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture (NSFA) in late November, says he sees challenges and opportunities ahead for the farm sector in our province.

Melvin joined the NSFA executive two years ago, which he said started him on a steep learning curve, not having been involved in the provincial aspect of the federation before. He said its a large organization with diverse membership representing 26 affiliated commodity groups and 13 county agricultural federations. Representatives of the 39 affiliated agricultural organizations form the council of leaders, which serves as the NSFAs sounding board and gives direction to the executive, assisting them in upholding their mission statement: To ensure a competitive and sustainable future for agriculture and a high quality of rural life in Nova Scotia.

Melvin said there are lots of issues and background to learn about as he moves forward and continues to work through the various committees and meetings. I guess I view it as a chance to help develop appropriate agricultural policy and strategy to help our sector better itself, he said.

Melvin said competitive forces of a global nature are one of the greatest challenges facing producers in Nova Scotia today. The cost of production increased dramatically over the last year because of high oil prices and this forced producers to decide whether to try to absorb the costs or pass them on to consumers.

Most farms in the province faced this challenge and, in general terms, probably suffered some erosion of their profit margins as a result. For the most part, he said, farmers were not in a position to pass along costs directly to consumers. Even though oil prices are settling back, Melvin said we now have a global financial crisis playing out. One fear among producers is that access to capital and credit will become tighter and it will become more difficult to finance operations.

If the situation becomes more serious, he said it could be a major impediment for farmers to produce and operate as they have in the past. With this volatility, Melvin said it could be nerve-wracking for any business operator to wait and see how it plays out and what the implications will be for individual businesses.

One ongoing challenge over the last decade that is becoming more of an issue is the lack of young farmers coming into the industry. The average age of a farm operator in Nova Scotia is now 57 years. Melvin said this trend must be turned around and more young people must be brought in to start careers as farm operators, but it will take incremental change. Like a freight train, you can see it coming, but its hard to stop it or turn it around. Young people are watching the farm business environment get tougher and are wondering why they would want to commit their careers to that.

However, Melvin said there has to be a turning point and many stakeholders see the buy local movement as the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of creating a business environment thats more profitable for young farmers. Consumer interest in Buy Local is growing and it has been documented that this is probably a durable trend that will be around well into the future.

A recent food miles study commissioned by the NSFA indicates that, in Nova Scotia in 1991, we spent 14.5 per cent of our food budget on foods produced in our province. By 2006, that was down to 8.4 per cent. Melvin said the decline in 15 years has been dramatic as we import more and more of our food. Coupled with the current financial crisis, he said were very vulnerable in terms of food security.

More people are thinking of buying local as they become more concerned with food security, and consumer demand is what drives the market. More demand for local food products will increase the market share for local producers. Melvin said the sea of different food offerings for consumers today is astounding and its almost overwhelming for local producers looking to maintain or increase market share.

He said there is a lot of talk about government stimulus to help the economy. It would help strengthen the industry and help position it to take advantage of emerging opportunities if funds could be diverted toward infrastructure investment on the farm and market development. Some farms are challenged financially when it comes to investing in infrastructure or marketing. Infrastructure funding could help the agricultural sector innovate new products and help turn the negative trend around.

He said the challenge is to lobby government to get the change in inertia needed to convince decision-makers to invest tax dollars in farm infrastructure. First, you have to get the idea across that it would be a great economic stimulus for rural communities and it would take a relatively small amount of money to have a huge impact.

It would add value to the rural economy for a long time to come, Melvin said. The Advertiser