Agriculture Day and What it Means to You and Me

And what did you do on Agriculture Day this February 15? Well many will have yet to notice that it was Ag Day in Canada. Why? Because most people take their food for granted and others couldn’t care less.

Then we have the debate of so-called food securities and those who feel farming needs great improvement to be more sustainable.

Farming is everyone’s business, not only because it furnishes our daily food but because it is the base of many industries and so much of Canada’s trade and commerce.

Agriculture is our most important single industry.

As my mentor, colleague and friend, the fabulous ‘Big O’ said to me in December 2020 just before retiring on December 31 that year; yes,

I know Orion Samuelson, “Harry, ‘Serving agriculture, the basic industry,’ is such a privilege and honour,” and he retired after 50 years behind the same microphone.

Let’s raise a fork for the food we love and the people who produce it every time we eat. Orion also said, “If you eat you are involved in agriculture.”

February 15 Agriculture

Day across Canada was a day to celebrate Canadian agriculture, consumers, and farmers, and to engage in conversations about improving Canadian agriculture! One out of every 9 Canadian jobs is in agriculture or agrifood. Ninety-two per cent of Canadians say it’s important that the eggs they purchase come from Canada. There were over 190,000 farms in Canada as of 2021. Young people are getting involved.

Farming in Canada is a serious business! Like other natural resource sectors, farming contributes massively to Canadians’ livelihoods in several direct and indirect ways.

For example, hundreds of thousands of farming jobs exist across the country. In turn, these workers supply the raw goods the much larg- er Canadian food manufacturing and processing industries need to create many of the agricultural products we see stocked on the shelves in our grocery stores.

With Canada having so much land area spanning multiple landscapes, it’s no wonder that Canadian farmers produce such a diversity of crops and livestock products. As a result, we have abundant natural resources from blueberries and cranberries to beef and pork. And while we’re busy feeding ourselves and the world, farmers across Canada are intently focused on reducing their environmental footprint by adopting more eco-friendly practices. It’s a win-winwin situation for Canadian workers, our economy and the global environment when our agricultural sector is strong.

In 1900, consumers spent 50 cents of every dollar earned on food. Today, Canadians spend just over 10 cents of every dollar we earn on food.

Canada is the fifth largest agricultural exporter in the world. We produce about 85 per cent of the world’s maple syrup, and we are the world’s largest grower and exporter of flax seed, canola, pulses (peas, beans, and lentils) and durum wheat (the kind used to make pasta).

Here’s another interesting fact: 72.5 per cent of Canadian farmers are men and 27.5 per cent are women.

Author Kim Kooper of Chatham ON wrote, “Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian to command the International Space Station, grew up on a grain farm in southern Ontario.” He credits farming with teaching him how the machinery worked long before he received his first degree in mechanical engineering.

Farmers and food producers grow over 125 fruits and vegetable crops in Canada from coast to coast.

For me serving that basis, the renewable farming and food-producing industry gets more challenging yearly. Not because of age and maybe that too, but because certain elements in Ottawa to some of our farm leaders want to change how they farm. Despite following practices that improve the soil, increase production and serve the environment well, we still have nay sayers.

Here’s hoping you stand on the side of our farmers and food producers and continue to enjoy the healthiest, cleanest, safest, and most cost-effective food ever.