Navigating Market Needs with Sustainable Growing Practices

By Harry Siemens

With growing demand from consumers in global markets to understand where their food comes from, farmers are more pressured to respond to this shift in the marketplace.

In introducing a panel at the recent Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) AGM, the value chain as a whole – farmers, processors, and retailers – must take on this work because of the significant market implications if there is no leadership in the future. Canada can only remain a leader in supplying consistent, safe, and high-quality food in global markets if we keep up with changing market needs.

Alanna Koch, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Global Institute for Food Security, and Ted Menzies an Alberta farmer and former federal Cabinet Minister provided insights on how farmers can navigate these market needs by adopting sustainable growing practices. The agricultural sector must take a leadership role to respond and promote these practices and efforts at continuous improvement.

Both Menzies and Koch raised some concerns on the messaging of sustainable agricultural practices.

“But our international customers depend on Canadian agriculture and food products coming to them because we do provide food security for many of those nations. In addition, we do have an excellent regulatory system,” said Koch. Canadian agriculture has many things to sell to maintain that market access. Science-based means strong regulations and farmers following the rules, ensuring they’re using registered products, and providing a safe supply of grains, oilseeds, pulses, and livestock products into the export value chain and supply system.

Her concern is that messaging seems different.

“Canada used to champion our regulatory system and spoke from a sciencebased perspective that we had the safest food supply,” said Koch. “Therefore, we could stand behind our regulatory system with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Pest Management Regulatory Agency, Health Canada and Agriculture Canada.”

The party in power only matters a little because the politics would champion the system, industry, agriculture, and food producers.

“However, it feels a little different now,” said Koch.

Koch said it feels the current Canadian government is saying that Canada isn’t good, there’s a problem in sustainability thus not leading edge.

“I’m all about continuous improvement and getting better. But I am concerned that the Canadian government is no longer championing what we have and not focusing on sticking to science,” said Koch. “If we don’t have science, what do we lean on? But, unfortunately, the public opinion comes and goes and is very fickle and isn’t focused on facts but often on fear or Twitter or Facebook or what their neighbours said.”

Canada still is a leader, but not a leader in communicating externally.

“But we do need to strengthen the advocacy by our Canadian government in international markets,” said Menzies. “Otherwise we’re going to lose market access. It’s going to cost us.”

Menzies said the government needs to champion the number of people this country feeds especially with food insecurity.

“And we are pivotal and have the responsibility to promote our agri-food industry, not just to feed ourselves,” said Menzies. “Yes, we need to be economically viable on our farm, but to help feed the world.”

Menzies worries about the fact that it is going back to the people that are making the decisions. The decisions don’t occur in the Department of Agriculture; rather it’s coming from Environment Canada. And those people have never been on a farm according to Menzies.

He sits on the board of Governors of Olds College and likes to help promote agriculture through the College farm, an AgSmart for two days in August. Recently several people from the provincial and federal departments of Agriculture, including associate deputies of ministers, came out.

“They were just gob smacked by what agriculture was doing. And I thought, ‘oh my goodness’, there is a disconnect.”

Menzies said they still needed to learn of the technology, the high tech, the improvements in genetics and how we’re handling our livestock. “So is there a disconnect and even more so with this present government. That’s the only political comment I’ll make.”