New AANB CEO thrown in the deep end during COVID-19
/by Anna Belliveau
I was born in Church Point, Digby County, N.S., and graduated from the former Nova Scotia Agricultural College with my bachelor of science degree in animal science and my master of science degree in animal genetics and biotechnology.
For these past 23 years, I have worked in the field of agriculture with the New Brunswick government, most recently with the New Brunswick Farm Products Commission. There, I got to know many of the producers and stakeholders who I will be working with as CEO of the Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick (AANB), in addition to many of the staff at the provincial Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries who I will need to collaborate with in this new position.
This position is a very important next step in my career path. It allows me to work much more closely with farmers, whether they’re raising livestock, field crops, or nursery products. With government, the relationship is significantly more arm’s-length. With the not-for-profit Alliance, all of our directors and all of our almost 900 members are producers.
I have for a long time wanted to be in a position to help producers in a more direct way and to make a difference in the industry. And what an interesting time of transition that I arrive in, when people around the world are reminded in no uncertain terms of the critical role played by the agricultural community globally.
To say that it’s strange to begin a new job in these times of isolation and working from home is really an understatement. I have only been on the job for a number of weeks now, and what a steep learning curve it has been! However, I think that my background will ease my adjustment time.
I have been in a steady flow of meetings with various committees and task forces, some of which the Alliance has set up, but many of which we participate in as an important voice for the farm community. These are tough and uncertain times for farmers, and the changes are fast and critical.
COVID-19 has produced a lot of unforeseen challenges and highlighted others that were known to us. One example is the shortage of labour on farms. This has been an ongoing issue of concern, and it has been largely addressed with temporary foreign workers, many thousands of whom work on farms across Canada. These people are not unskilled workers and they are not an easily replaced resource.
Plans were made to get this labour force in place in time for preparing acreage for planting and growing. However, they need to be quarantined for 14 days, during which time producers may be expected to pay for their accommodations and food. The provincial government has established a committee to find some solutions to this as well as to other farm labour issues.
Another new issue facing farmers is their inability to find a market for their products, and distribution channels they previously had are not available. The AANB sits on a committee that is looking at existing networks and how to increase production potential so that locally grown food is accessible to consumers and food security is ensured for all people of New Brunswick.
And a third problematic issue is the lack of abattoir space caused by the need for social isolation, and the lack of employees able or willing to work in such circumstances. This has led to some facilities facing 50 percent reductions in capacity, while some have closed completely. In keeping with our lobbying role, we are organizing a task force to assess and understand the issue. We will bring our findings to government and lobby for timely and appropriate action.
And we have ongoing initiatives such as the school-based Ag in the Classroom program and Open Farm Day in the fall, both of which are being threatened by COVID-19 restrictions.
In large measure, our response to COVID-19 is taking up almost our entire resources for the time being. I am counting on breathing space soon! I hope that in the coming weeks and months, actions related to our workforce strategic plan that are now being considered will come into play in order to help not only AANB members but all producers and stakeholders in the agriculture industry. The industry is the foundation for producing and processing the food that we consume.
(Anna Belliveau is CEO of the Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick.)
