A good year for growing and policymaking in N.L.
/by Wayne Simmons
This summer has brought some great growing conditions across Newfoundland and Labrador, although it has been drier than we would like. This comes after a spring that was generally excellent, other than some late spring frost warnings.
Moving from the field to the policy arena, we now have another great opportunity to see good agriculture policy advanced and have our voices heard with the calling of the federal election.
This is the second time voting this year for people in Newfoundland and Labrador, as we had a provincial election earlier this year. The voters of the province chose Premier Andrew Furey to continue to lead us through the next four years. This also resulted in a new cabinet, with Derrick Bragg appointed as the minister of fisheries, forestry, and agriculture. We at the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture (NLFA) extend our congratulations to Premier Furey and Minister Bragg and look forward to working with them and other government officials.
Similarly, we look forward to working with the new federal administration after the conclusion of the federal vote on Sept. 20.
This is a challenging but exciting time. The pandemic is still with us, but the end is in sight as vaccines have been rolling out quickly across the province. We hope that once this pandemic is over, the public will continue to think about our food security situation. I know many farms across the province have adapted to new sales avenues and practices to adapt to the new reality, proving how resilient we can be. And no doubt, some of these new ways of doing business will carry on. For instance, offering online ordering is a great way to reach a broader audience and deliver a different experience to the customer.
Work continues on the NLFA’s many initiatives, including the climate change project, Agriculture in the Classroom, and the Young Farmers Initiative. This year, we received approval for a new position to serve as a link between work on the Young Farmers Initiative and Agriculture in the Classroom. This position seeks to “bridge the gap” between these programs. It will focus on high school programming and post-secondary programs and training, and on getting more agricultural content into education. We look forward to hiring someone and getting to work on this exciting new initiative.
There are also encouraging things happening with the provincial government regarding the push to increase the province’s food self-sufficiency to at least 20 percent. A recent series of proposals for cleared land resulted in three companies selected to start farming approximately 700 acres of cleared agricultural Crown land, which could result in more than 230 acres of new potato production every year. We’re encouraged by this development and hope to see more efforts to increase our provincial food production.
It’s also membership renewal time at the NLFA. I want to remind readers in Newfoundland and Labrador of how important it is to support the federation and give the industry a strong, unified voice. We encourage farmers across the province to take a good look at what we offer and the benefits available through our AgriVantage program. Full details can be found by visiting www.nlfa.ca.
We also hope that as we near the end of the pandemic, we will start to see a lot of you at in-person events again. The virtual world has been a great way to hold events during a pandemic, but it’s not a true replacement for traditional face-to-face participation.
I want to wish all our members and other readers across Atlantic Canada a great remainder of the season. Stay safe and we hope to see you all again soon.
(Wayne Simmons is president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture and is an owner-operator of Hammond Farm Ltd. in Little Rapids, N.L.)
