N.S. agriculture conference bringing the industry together
/by Emily Leeson
The first annual Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture Minister’s Conference will feature both local experts and speakers from afar. Topics covered at the event will encompass a broad spectrum of what the industry in Nova Scotia is doing well, what new opportunities are available, and how agriculture in the province can be best poised to weather future challenges. The conference will take place at the Halifax Convention Centre, March 3 and 4.
“Different perspectives from different places,” said Agriculture Minister Keith Colwell. That’s what he’s hoping attendees will be treated to.
“Farming for the future: thriving in a changing world” is the theme of this year’s conference.
Conceptualized after the success of the Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister’s Conference – now in its 22nd year – Colwell hopes that the agriculture-focused conference will chart a similar course. He said the province’s fisheries and aquaculture conference is now the biggest fisheries conference in Canada.
“The local commodities (associations) and the Federation of Agriculture have great meetings every year and they do a tremendous amount to support their members and to move agriculture forward in the province, but there’s never been a conference put together with everybody at once to talk about farming in the province, the opportunities that are available here and worldwide, and also to highlight the quality of product that we have,” said Colwell.
During the two-day event, topics such as food trends, greenhouse production, agri-tourism marketing, food hubs, sustainability, and climate change are on the agenda.
Pinning down those topics and choosing the speakers has been a long process. The 10-person committee comprised of industry members as well as government officials, including Colwell, has been at work on the conference for the last six months.
“We worked together to identify themes and speakers who have not been to Canada,” said conference manager Marilyn O’Neil, who is a development officer with the province’s Perennia Food and Agriculture Inc. “We looked at the leading practices throughout the world that we can bring to the conference.”
The event should offer a broad spectrum of knowledge and experience.
“People can get a sense of where we could be, where we are, and create that networking opportunity,” said O’Neil. “It’s the exchange and interaction that is so critical. It helps to move the industry forward. People are working so hard to ensure that their businesses are profitable and sustainable, and that’s what we’re trying to support.”
Victor Oulton, president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture, said that networking and working together as an industry have never been more important.
“We have to stand together more than we have in the past,” he said. “You can never stop learning. Things are always changing and evolving in the agriculture industry, as much as any other industry, so you have to be ready to accept what might be next on the horizon that you might be able to make a go with.”
Local speakers will include Josh Oulton of Taproot Farms in Port Williams, Luke den Haan of den Haan Greenhouses in Lawrencetown in Annapolis County, and Kelly Marie Redcliffe, market manager of the Wolfville Farmers’ Market.
Dr. Evan Fraser, who is director of the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph and holds the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Global Food Security, will speak on elevating Canada’s place in the global economy and take part in a panel discussion on climate change.
“The topic is so timely,” said O’Neil. “We are all suffering in our industry because of the effects of what is happening with our climate.”
Colwell similarly expects climate change to be a hot topic of discussion at the event. “Farmers are really seeing that now, unfortunately in a lot of negative ways, with the hurricanes and frost, rain at the wrong time of year or lack of rain, you name it,” he said.
The conference will also highlight the launch of a new “buy local” brand, which will speak to food security and help consumers identify locally produced items.
Organizers are expecting between 300 and 400 attendees from all corners of the farming and beverage industries.
“We want people to go to the conference and take something home with them that will change how they do their business,” said O’Neil.
“That’s what it’s all about,” said Colwell. “New ideas and approaches that maybe people have been thinking about or didn’t know about but that could really help long term. This kind of conference is about today but also to shape ideas for the future.”
